Library Challenges & Opportunities

Friday, May 9th, 2008  – 9:00 to 10:30 am

What are the most creative libraries doing to engage current and potential users of the library? Join us as we explore great new ideas for reaching and engaging users and look at some results of users’ involvement in shaping library services, programs, and spaces. This program will go beyond PR, to involving our various communities of users in shaping the libraries of the future. Panelists include an accomplished library social marketer and outreach librarian, a very successful public library director who has integrated her library with other public agencies, a leader in college student engagement programs, and a recent MLS graduate exploring new ideas.

Please RSVP to Steve Baskin baskins@lvccld.org; seating is limited.

Training – Tools of Engagement: Attracting and Engaging Library Users

Library Challenges & Opportunities

Friday, May 9th, 2008 - 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time

What are the most creative libraries doing to engage current and potential users of the library? Join us as we explore great new ideas for reaching and engaging users and look at some results of users’ involvement in shaping library services, programs, and spaces. This program will go beyond PR, to involving our various communities of users in shaping the libraries of the future. Panelists include an accomplished library social marketer and outreach librarian, a very successful public library director who has integrated her library with other public agencies, a leader in college student engagement programs, and a recent MLS graduate exploring new ideas.

Speakers – Jennifer Edwins ; Mary Evangeliste ; Valerie Gross ; Jennifer Kelley

Please RSVP to Steve Baskin at baskins@lvccld.org ; Seating is Limited.

Trends, Fads or Folly: Spotting the Library Trends That Really Matter
Speakers: Tom Peters and Lori Bell
Broadcast Date: April 11, 2008 – 9:00am to 10:30am. PDT
Location: Virtual Library Training Room – Clark County Library

Please join the Virtual Library in this presentation.  Please let Steve Baskin baskins@lvccld.org know if you plan to attend the session. Seating is limited. 

In surveying the landscape of our profession and the technological trends that impact it, it is simple to identify several new technologies that “could” be used by libraries to improve or enhance the patrons’ experience with and perception of the Library. This program will investigate new trends in libraries such as patron-created folksonomic cataloging (del.cio.us, LibraryThing & the new breed of OPAC’s), libraries and librarians in virtual environments such as Second Life, as well as give an update on libraries and social networks (mySpace & facebook). Are these trends? Just fads? Plain old Folly? We’ll deal with a central question in this teleconference: To what extent do Libraries need to quickly adopt new technologies into their programs? Or, “just because you can do it, does that mean that you should?”

Please join us for The College of DuPage’s web cast of:

People Watching With a Purpose: Meeting Needs Before They Need It
Friday, February 8, 2008, 9:00 – 10:30 am PT
Location: Virtual Library Training Room

Speakers: Ann P. Bishop and Nancy Kranich
How many times have you planned and prepared a program or service based on what you thought was a “community need?” And how many of these didn’t quite work out like you thought? Libraries-public, school, and academic-are re-visioning their roles in communities, moving beyond the rapidly outdated paradigm of creating services for patrons and students and instead partnering with community members in building meaningful experiences: whether those happen within the library’s walls, on a digital network, or in cultural and political spaces. Taking an “asset-based,” grassroots view, librarians and library educators advocate using a “community informatics” model toward library services, where significant-even delightful-engagement can happen. In this program, we discuss this paradigm shift, why it’s so necessary, and what it “looks like” in the real world.

Speakers
Ann P. Bishop, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is also the co-director of the Community Informatics Initiative.
Ann’s work focuses on participatory and community-based approaches to the development of information systems and library services, especially those serving marginalized groups in society. Her principal partners in this work include SisterNet and B.T. Washington Elementary School in Champaign-Urbana and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago. She has served as PI or co-PI on research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, the W. C. Kellogg Foundation, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. She teaches courses in participatory action research, social justice in library and information science professions, and community information systems.

Nancy Kranich is a national library leader, speaker, and advocate; past president of the ALA, past Assoc. Dean of Libraries at New York University, and published author on topics of libraries’ roles in civic engagement, equity, digital technologies, and “the information commons.” Her provocative book, Libraries & Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty (2001) American Library Association was reviewed by Library Journal as demanding “…the attention of all librarians, trustees, and library educators. A genuine effort should be made to get copies into the hands of politicians and others who may have the power to affect the future of libraries, but not much understanding their importance to democracy.”

Please contact Steven Baskin (baskins@lvccld.org or 507.3410) with your RSVP for any of these sessions.

Coming Soon:
Library Spaces: Future Needs
Friday, March 7, 2008 – 9:00am to 10:30 am. PT Space is usually the most difficult to solve constraint on delivering library services. This program will explore current and future space needs and address how best to configure current space to meet new services.
Join us for an enlightening discussion about future library spaces and look at some of the more innovative use of library spaces today.

Trends, Fads or Folly: Spotting the Library Trends That Really Matter
Speakers: TBA
Broadcast Date: April 11, 2008 – 9:00am to 10:30am. PT

In surveying the landscape of our profession and the technological trends that impact it, it is simple to identify several new technologies that “could” be used by libraries to improve or enhance the patrons’ experience with and perception of the Library. This program will investigate new trends in libraries such as patron-created folksonomic cataloging (del.cio.us, LibraryThing & the new breed of OPAC’s), libraries and librarians in virtual environments such as Second Life, as well as give an update on libraries and social networks (mySpace & facebook). Are these trends? Just fads? Plain old Folly? We’ll deal with a central question in this teleconference: To what extent do Libraries need to quickly adopt new technologies into their programs? Or, “just because you can do it, does that mean that you should?”

Tools of Engagement: Attracting and Engaging Library Users
Friday, May 9, 2008 – 9:00am to 10:30 am. PT

What are the most creative libraries doing to get the word out about their resources and services? How are they involving current and potential users in developing future services, facilities, and collections? Join us as we explore great ideas for reaching and engaging users and look at some results of users’ involvement in creating new library functions, programs, and spaces.