All Sessions

Targeted at library directors, department heads and senior staff from public, academic and special libraries, this hands-on workshop will train participants in dialogue facilitation skills with proven success in strengthening partnerships, building effective teams across departments and organizations, and raising the profile of the library as a center for community life. Participants will leave with valuable facilitation skills that can immediately be put to use for their libraries and communities.

Has your library stalled in its attempt to develop a fundraising strategy? Are you trying to raise the community's awareness of the value of your library? Two years ago, the New Jersey State Library launched a public awareness campaign with famous athletes and authors serving as Library Champions, and with the help of marketing and development teams, leveraged those champions into an effective fund raising vehicle. Workshop participants will learn 1) how to recruit celebrity champions and local heroes to promote your library; 2) how to leverage library champions, build a donor database and raise big money for your library; 3) how to build a donor development strategy for everyone in your library; and 4) the essential publications your library must produce to secure funders.

Hear from speakers who've successfully built public library/correctional setting partnerships, and learn how to build these kinds of relationships step-by-step. Public librarians and correctional librarians interested in creating literacy and reading program partnerships for youth in detention centers and adults in jails or prisons will not want to miss this half-day workshop that will cover such difficult issues of collection development, security, and staff interactions.

Turning the Page 2.0 addresses core issues of advocacy, communications and relationship building in a convenient blended-learning format. This half-day kickoff introduces librarians and supporters to the 6-week course, which will include virtual classroom sessions and self-paced online work aimed at completing an individual advocacy work plan. Attendance at this meeting is encouraged but not mandatory for the 6-week course. Please learn more about the course before registering for this preconference by clicking here:http://www.ala.org/pla/education/turningthepage. Free preconference; advance registration required.

“The library is all about books.” “Libraries can’t charge for services.” The customers don’t want to learn.” “We must have databases!” When we have a mental model of something, it shapes our behavior and limits our creativity in finding solutions. With all the changes in the library world, innovative, out of the box thinking is required. Come do some mental model busting and experience how shifting your thinking can open a new world of possibilities for you and your library.

Walt Disney’s edict was “Give the public everything you can give them.” Even today, everyone at Disney strives to exceed customer expectations every day. Uncover the secrets behind the Disney service culture. In this program you will examine the model for delivering world-class guest service and discover ways to create a consistent, successful environment for both employees and customers. You can then use these ideas to transform and improve your own library service.

Based on the self-development style of the popular publication Be a Great Boss: One Year to Success, this new project focuses on a year of education and exercises to foster team building. The preconference will introduce attendees to both the habit of continuing one’s own professional learning and to the value inherent in building and sustaining strong teams in any organization.

This full-day interactive workshop is designed for new business librarians; generalists who have assumed responsibility in business librarianship; or librarians who handle business reference-related inquiries in all types of libraries including academic, public and special libraries. This workshop will provide librarians with a broad conceptual understanding of business topics in four major business disciplines: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, and Management. This preconference will complement Business 101, which focuses on business reference, business resources, and collection development. This is a repeat and updated version of the 2009 preconference.

ALTAFF’s popular Nuts & Bolts is jam-packed to inspire Trustees, Friends, and Foundations. Coffee begins at 9:30 a.m. followed by topics including engaging volunteers for you library and Friends group, advocacy, social media, and inspiring success stories. Lunch on your own. The afternoon session begins with David Levinson, author of “Everyone Helps, Everyone Wins.” Deborah Stone from ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom will talk about current hot topics followed by the popular roundtable discussions. Please RSVP to altaff@ala.org if you plan to attend.

Looking for inventive ideas for promoting library services? The New Jersey State Library developed "The Outspoken Library" to promote free online services that are available for print-disabled people. This program allows library customers to access services administered through the State Library's Talking Book & Braille Center (TBBC), including audio newspapers (TBBC's Audiovision and NFB's Newsline) and the Library of Congress's Braille and Audio Reading Download service. Find out how to establish and market these valuable resources.

This program will outline a theoretically driven pragmatic approach to leadership by presenting leadership styles and appropriate applications to give the participants a solid cookbook approach to resolving various situational and structural issues.

Jay Johnston is Director of the Farmington Libraries, Farmington CT. His vision, knowledge of technology, coalition building skills, and belief in the importance of the public library sustain his dedication to a staff-centered, customer-focused, high-energy leadership model.

Christine Bradley is currently the director of Norwalk Public Library.

Discussions of interest to trainers for the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.

Do you belong in RUSA? Come learn more about this the Reference and User Services Association--a division of ALA. We represent librarians, library staff and leaders in readers' advisory, collection development, genealogy, reference services, adult services, business reference, archives, interlibrary loan and resource sharing, reference technologies and more. Current members looking for ways to get involved with the division are also welcome to attend.

Executive Board meeting of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA).

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Join us for a discussion of our experiences organizing, planning, and promoting a series of writing workshops for military veterans in the Washington, D.C. area. Our project builds upon the work of Amy Hartman and Holly Baumgartner that was featured in American Libraries in November 2011; as federal librarians, we were eager to extend such an excellent opportunity for education and lifelong learning to a greater number of veterans. Come learn about the importance of community programming for military veterans, the challenges that libraries may face in the process of developing programs for veterans, and the steps involved in designing our writing workshops! Attendees will gain an appreciation of the art of writing memoir, and will learn that memoir writing offers non-professional writers opportunities to enrich their lives by creating stories based on life experiences, as well as to contribute to the cultural and historical record. Presenters will also discuss marketing, outreach, and promotion of writing workshops, and strategies for overcoming the challenges associated with recruiting participants. We hope you will join us!

Speakers:
- Nancy Faget, Information Resources Branch Chief, Army Research Laboratory; Michelle Dunaway, MLIS Candidate, University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences, and ALA NMRT-FAFLRT Liaison, 2011-2012

ALTAFF members and potential members are invited to learn more about the organization, how to become active, and all the resources available to members. Topics include an introduction to ALTAFF, networking and qualities of a leader, ALTAFF tools of leadership, presidential goals for the upcoming year, and mechanics of committee involvement. Incoming committee members and chairs should attend. All are welcome to attend to learn more about ALTAFF and getting involved with this dynamic organization.

The Carnegie Medal/Notable Children's Videos Committee is beginning work on evaluating and considering videos for inclusion on the 2013 Notable Children's Videos list.

The committee identifies collection development education needs; creates guidelines for improved training; and informs the library and information community on collection development education issues and practices.