Continuing education and staff development are important aspects of any job. As a library worker, this is especially true. We work daily to maintain our standard of service in our community, keep up with literary and technology trends, offer fun and fresh programming, and learn about best practices for providing library service.
This year, our staff went to the Ohio Library Council Northwest Chapter Conference in Toledo, OH. It was a day full of learning and I, for one, am back in the office with a head full of ideas that I can hardly wait to try in our community.
I attended the following four sessions:
1. Creating Connections, presented by Amanda Bennett, Director at Ada Public Library
Amanda was an awesome presenter; energetic, genuine, relatable, and inspiring. She made me want to go out and plant a tree or something. She gave examples of successful programs done in the Ada community that involved reaching out and partnering with community businesses/entities.
2. 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, presented by Cindy Romick, Children’s Manager at Findlay-Hancock County Public Library
I LOVED this program. I can hardly wait to get it started at our Branch. The program is simple, but Cindy gave us details about exactly how her library runs it. The first part of my library system’s Strategic Plan is written as follows: “Create Young Readers: Early literacy. Children from birth to age five will have programs and services designed to ensure that they will enter school ready to learn to read, write, and listen.” (Paulding County Carnegie Library Strategic Plan 2014).
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is exactly aligned with this part of our plan, and I hope it will be a great success in our system. Look for it this fall!
3. Trivial Pursuits®: Quiz Shows as Off-Site Programming, presented by Jesse Henning, Youth Services Librarian at Westerville Public Library
This was a super captivating and fun session to attend. Jesse has charisma, and I am sure his quiz shows are great fun. The idea of off-site programming is really important and something I want to implement in our small town of Payne, OH. It provides an opportunity to collaborate with local businesses and to reach more people in our service area. I’m naturally a “behind the scenes” person, but I think hosting a quiz show at a venue in our town is something I would maybe possibly really enjoy. Who doesn’t love trivia!?
4. Food: A Tasteful Trend in Programming, presented by: Jen Downing, Upper Arlington Public Library; Bill Meltzer, Worthington Libraries; Erin Huffman, Westerville Public Library; Luke Powers, Delaware County District Library
We offer a Cookbook Club at our Branch–next meeting is Monday, May 4, at 6:00 pm!!–and have had success, but we wanted to find more ways to entice new members. The four presenters gave many new (to us) and delicious ideas for offering food programming. Bill said something in his presentation that I really liked: “While food is fundamental for life, the sharing of food is fundamental in forming community.”
Again, I have many ideas of community collaboration in mind. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for all upcoming events!
Overall, I think our team had a nice time and absorbed a lot at the conference. I know I did!
-Suzi
At the Corner of Main & Merrin 