Preconference Details

Monday, Nov 14

Morning Session: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 

Your choice of: 

The number one question facing many libraries right now is: how long will it take us to rebuild use of our physical space and collections lost in the pandemic? One promotional message is not going to grab the attention of all your community members. In this two-hour, interactive session, participants will learn to focus their energies on core audiences, including readers. Attendees will come away with actionable strategies for creating specific, targeted messages to re-energize those patrons. This session will include best practices for email, social media, in-person, and print promotion. The session includes activities designed to help library staff put together a plan to use their core brand (books!) to draw people back to the library and get them to use other services.  

Learning objectives:  

1. How to focus efforts by centering rebuilding promotions in the library's overall strategy, set SMART goals for promotions, and identify target audiences.  
2. How to use the library’s collection to draw users back to the library and target the marketing of other library services to those readers.  
3. How to measure promotions in order to identify what works and replicate that success.  

Angela Hursh blog: https://superlibrarymarketing.com/  

OR 

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, libraries are not neutral information spaces. As cultural heritage institutions, they are informed by and – in turn – inform larger macrocultural processes, which traditionally have been used to perpetuate the dominance of specific culture groups over others. However, as it the charge of libraries to serve diverse patron populations, librarians have the opportunity to embrace the principles of DEIJA and to begin dismantling library policies and practices acting as systems of cultural oppression. They can accomplish this by adopting a culturally responsive lens and using it to think reflectively and critically on the role of libraries within their diverse communities. 

This preconference workshop is for all types of libraries/librarians and will:

1. Present an overview of libraries as cultural heritage institutions
2. Provide examples of how libraries have been used to either perpetuate or challenge dominant culture groups
3. Discuss how you can begin adopting a culturally responsive lens in your own libraries.

The goal is for everyone to leave with a deeper understanding of these concepts and to adopt a tool that can be used to help academic, public, school, and specialty librarians further advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion within their own communities. 

Afternoon Session: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM 

This 3-Hour preconference will introduce the idea of Trauma Informed Care (TIC) and apply it to library work. Empathetic service, positive patron encounters, and a more trusting workplace are only a few of the benefits that this approach offers. The first hour will focus on education, along with opportunities/invitations for reflection. The second hour will go into depth with the six pillars of TIC framework, with some exercises/reflections. The third hour will focus on revising and/or creating policies that honor the TIC framework. Rebecca Tolley is the author of A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services. https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/trauma-informed-approach-library-services  

A box lunch will be provided to registrants of both pre-conference sessions.