Below you'll find the descriptions and links to the recordings of recent webinars hosted by the Four County Library System. If you have any questions, or would like a copy of the webinar slides or handouts, or you would like to request continuing education certificate for watching one of the recorded webinars, please contact Circe at cmckenney@4cls.org.
Below are the webinar recordings from 2024.
Collection Development Webinar Series- Acquisitions with Megan Biddle (4CLS) and Sarah Reid (4CLS)
How do you figure out which books to purchase on a limited budget? Join Megan and Sarah to learn about resources that can help you decide which new books will fit best in your collection! We’ll cover where to find reviews, which lists might be helpful, and what awards to keep an eye on. You’ll come away with a list of tools that can assist in making your purchasing decisions.
Recorded on Monday, February 12, 2024.
Collection Development Webinar Series- Intellectual Freedom with Steve Bachman (4CLS)
Given the current climate, any discussion of collection development needs to reflect the rise of censorship and challenges to intellectual freedom. While building a quality library collection it is important to be aware of the core principles of our profession. This session will examine those principles and how they come into play during the development and management of a library’s collection.
Recorded on Monday, February 26, 2024.
Kymberlee Powe, Children and YA Consultant for the Connecticut State Library Division of Library Development, dives into the makeup of the publishing industry. You will learn how to identify the difference between a diverse collection and an inclusive one, and walk through the logistics of performing a diversity audit of your collection. The examples and resources provided in this session will focus on youth collections; however, the methodology of performing a diversity audit, and the reasons to do so, are universal to all collections.
Recorded on Monday, March 11, 2024.
Programming for All Ages: Using Assessment Tools to Build from the Ground Up
Let’s talk about programming. No matter where you are in your library journey, it’s important to assess how you’re using your resources (financial, emotional, physical) to serve your community—and often, this starts with programming and an honest assessment of your capacity. Using my own library as an example, we’ll use an asset analysis framework to guide you through a community survey and then show how to implement new programs as part of a larger strategic plan for your library.
Recorded on Friday, March 15, 2024.
Censorship: Then & Now webinar with Terry Lucas and Mara Zonderman
Examples of censorship are popping up every day across the country. Is this just the latest example of the same attempts we’ve seen since we first put quill to parchment, or is this wave of censorship attempts something different. Join us as we talk about the history of censorship, the current climate, and everything in between.
Recorded on Thursday, March 21, 2024.
Are your library shelves overflowing? Do you need help in deciding how damaged is to damaged? How do you tell if a book’s information is still relevant? How do you decide which books to let go of? This session will give you an overview of criteria to use when making weeding decisions, as well as some reports available through BlueCloud Analytics that can show which books are spending more time on the shelf than in patrons’ hands.
Recorded on Monday, March 25, 2024.
Creating Fun & Engaging Displays at Your Library
Join us for a 'Creating Fun and Engaging Book Displays at Your Library’ webinar. We’ll be talking about why library displays are helpful and ways to create visually appealing displays that not only showcase your collection but also spark curiosity and engagement with your patrons. Plus, we’ll be exploring a range of resources to take your displays to the next level!
Recorded on Friday, April 19, 2024.
Marketing for Libraries: Getting the Word Out and Engaging Your Community
Marketing is not just for big business or big libraries. Small and rural libraries can greatly benefit from having an intentional plan for promoting their materials, programs, services, and staff. Learn how to determine your audience, pick the right platforms, and craft your messaging to help raise awareness about the library even with limited time, staff, and budget.
Recorded on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Planning programs is a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of work. When working with a small budget, struggling with other responsibilities, and trying to please your community, you can very quickly find yourself on the path to burnout. It's not easy to feel passionate and excited about planning programs when you're running on empty. So let's make programming fun again!
In this webinar, Chelsea Price, tiny library director and author of 209 Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets, offers up strategies for combatting burnout and feelings of job-related guilt, helpful resources for relighting your programming fire, and awesome program ideas to fit any budget.
Learn how to handle a bad case of the "shoulds" and how to rethink productivity during these trying times. Staff from libraries of any size will feel invigorated and inspired, with a long list of resources and ideas!
Recorded on Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets
The town of Meservey, Iowa has fewer than 250 residents and a tiny budget to match. Despite that, their public library has more than tripled their program attendance numbers in the last five years by hosting a number of memorable yet budget-friendly events. Director Chelsea Price, author of 209 Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets, will share lots of ideas for hosting inexpensive or free programs at your library, as well as discuss the importance of outreach and passive programming.
Recorded on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Connections: How Libraries Can Combat Loneliness
Loneliness and social isolation are rampant in America, according to many experts, exacerbated by COVID. The Center for Disease Control calls loneliness an epidemic, and says it has a higher morbidity rate than obesity (about the same as smoking two packs of cigarettes a day). Libraries can use programming to address this significant mental (and physical) health condition.
The Oceanside Library has created a program to combat social isolation/loneliness. The program, Connections, crosses all demographics and includes passive as well as active programming.
The presentation will address:
• Identification of existing programs which have an anti-loneliness component in them
• Creation of programs which have anti-loneliness as a key function
• Adjusting programs to have an anti-loneliness component
Recorded on Thursday, September 7, 2023.
Serving Diverse Children in Your Library via Inclusive Cultural Programs & Outreach
Do you practice cultural humility in your library? Do you know how to plan and promote programs and outreach activities for diverse groups of children and their families? How do you avoid unintentionally stereotyping cultural groups in your programming? Where can you find resources for planning the best programs that celebrate cultural diversity and connect children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds? This webinar helps librarians establish a foundation for understanding how cultural bias influences library services to diverse youth while exploring strategies and resources for program planning and outreach.
Recorded on Monday, September 25, 2023.
Security for Rural Librarians: Staying Safe at Work When Help is Far
Library staffers who work in a large urban or suburban library have the benefit of many co-workers, PICs, supervisors, managers, department heads, and directors to call on for immediate help, enforcing policies, and support, especially when it comes to dealing with challenging patron behavioral concerns. There is safety in numbers in larger branches, where you can change the ratios of confrontation and get help right away, including from branch security officers or local law enforcement. If you work in a rural library location — which can be defined as: having a police or sheriff’s response that could be 20 minutes to two hours away; working alone or with only one or two other colleagues in the building; working in a one-room facility, with only one entrance/exit door — you need to consider every available safety and security option. This webinar is here to help.
AUDIENCE: This webinar program is for all library employees who work in rural areas, as well as the library leadership that supervises these facilities, especially from a distance.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Recorded on Monday, October 16, 2023.
“Rediscover Why You Are Here” webinar with Priscilla Berggren-Thomas
Many of us were feeling burned out before Covid, and it’s only gotten worse. Between the challenges of the pandemic, sometimes dwindling budgets and circulation statistics, the undeniable amounts of inequality throughout the country and growing levels of misinformation, more and more it seems that revitalizing libraries requires also revitalizing ourselves and our staff. Along with the need for self-care, Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why offers library workers a way to re-envision why we are here and why it matters. What is a library’s reason for existing? And why have we chosen to be part of that movement? Come learn and be part of a discussion to rediscover what matters to us as librarians and as individuals.
Recorded on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.