Meetings are a weekly – sometimes daily – ritual for many library administrators and staff. Learning to lead and participate effectively in meetings results in better preparation to get the most out of your time. How to plan and facilitate an effective meeting and employ strategies to combat common meeting problems are covered.

Learn some of the best time management principles to increase productivity and assess the value of tasks. Discover the benefits of creating goals and how productivity is tied to the ability to assess time and establish priorities.

While most know that documentation is crucial to the continuity and sustainability of processes in library work, it is still an easy thing to write off as too hard. Lessons from the field of technical writing can help prioritize these important tasks. Identify how to incorporate key tips from technical writers to make documentation creation more efficient and useful.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is estimated to affect 1 in 44 children in the U.S. and to be present across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Librarians will benefit from learning about modifications that can enhance the library experience for individuals on the autism spectrum. This workshop will provide librarians across settings with a greater understanding of ASD as well as strategies for communicating more effectively with such patrons.

The National Alliance of Mental Illness estimates that one in five children, teens, and adults suffer from a mental illness. With libraries functioning as a hub of the communities they support, library professionals must be prepared to serve patrons struggling with mental health needs.

In an era of rapid technological advancements and evolving user expectations, libraries face the ongoing challenge of staying relevant and engaged with their communities. Design thinking, a human-centered approach to problem-solving, offers a powerful framework for librarians and staff to foster innovation and create exceptional user experiences. After reviewing the concept and theory behind design thinking, take a deep dive into each step of the process through discussions and exercises.

Effective communication is often what sets great leaders apart. Through listening, questioning, and refining, managers can assertively provide direction and effective feedback to staff. Learn about the importance of non-verbal communication, active listening techniques, how to influence others, and having difficult conversations with your staff.

Collaboration with faculty is a key component of librarians' jobs. Working with faculty on assignment design, instruction, student, support, programming initiatives, and research projects are a few of the ways in which librarians and faculty partner for student success. In this session, attendees will be introduced to best practices for working with faculty. Dr. Lauren Hays will share practical examples of how to approach collaboration and how to keep the momentum for collaborative projects.

Weeding the library’s collection is a vital piece of collection development because it provides a more accessible and attractive collection to patrons. Gain techniques for collection assessment, evaluation criteria, weeding policies, and best practices for weeding the collection. Provide effective communication about the process to staff and patrons.

Effective communications are vital for the success of libraries. Since most libraries have limited staff and financial capacity for communications efforts, it is critical to deploy these resources as strategically as possible. The concepts and skills covered in this course will help libraries approach communications in a way that builds commitment to their organization’s mission, strategic initiatives and outreach activities.