Concurrent Sessions: Thursday, August 2
Session A: 10:15-11:15
From Backstage to Onstage – Bringing Language to Center Stage
Bonnie Roos – Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Library – Washington
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Library works to break down the fourth wall by becoming a leader in the quest to revitalize an endangered language. Learn how one small rural library engages partners and audiences to connect people with their culture and language.
From Making to Manufacturing – Next level Community Engagement
Connie Behe, Megan Glidden – ImagineIf Libraries – Montana
How can libraries take the Maker Movement to the next level? By connecting Makers and Manufacturers! We brought together manufacturers, makers, schools and economic development groups to launch the first Manufacturing Technology Expo / Maker Faire, attracting the attention of Make Magazine. We convinced our partners to see workforce development through the lens of 21st-century skills, solidifying our spot at the table for future economic development conversations. Join us to imagine possibilities for creative community partnerships. (From Making to Manufacturing – Slides )
Creating Civil Engagement
Gavin Woltjer – Billings Public Library – Montana
This program explores how libraries play an integral role in creating and sustaining a platform for civil engagement and community conversations. Through community conversations, a greater populace is able to make their voices heard, hear about the “other” perspective, and explore the topic within their own sphere of influence. In the time we live in, we have to learn to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.
Stimulating Summers, Enriching Young Minds
Carolyn Petersen, Jeff Martin – Washington State Library – Washington
Challenge: libraries in Lincoln and Adams Counties in Washington needed to demonstrate they could help move their communities forward
Need: few summer daycare options and summer slump
Idea: what if libraries ran a literacy-based summer day camp?
Discover how Stimulating Summers, Enriching young minds day camps turned out.
Session B: 11:30-12:30
PNLA President’s Session: Pathways to Leadership
Rick Stoddart – University of Idaho – Idaho
Join the Pacific Northwest Library Association members as they share their leadership stories using visual storyboarding. The presenters will share the challenges, successes, and critical incidents that have shaped their view of library leadership. Participants will have the opportunity to develop and storyboard their own leadership stories. Sharing our leadership journeys with others creates opportunities to better understand the skills and experiences necessary to be a strong library leader.
Networking and Collective Impact (Collective Impact PNLA)
Mary DeWalt – Ada Library – Idaho
Are you interested in making a difference in your community through collective impact? Are you already involved in a project that employs institutional collaboration? Join an interactive discussion on the concept of collective impact and share your community endeavors or ideas for collaboration with others.
So That Everyone May Have a Voice
Catherine McMullen – Multnomah County Elections – Oregon
Oregon may be the easiest place to vote in the US; we don’t want that honor alone. Opportunities abound for library professionals to increase patron understanding of voting and empower them to be successful voters. Librarian-turned-Elections Official will share how libraries can help everyone have a voice in the electoral process. The program is neither political nor partisan.
Library Card Campaign (FSPL Library Card Campaign)
Michele Fedyk, Kerri Twigge – Ft Saskatchewan Public Library – Alberta
Learn how to successfully launch a library card campaign that will not only increase your library membership but will take your library out into the community raising awareness and establishing rich partnerships with a variety of agencies and individuals. The Fort Saskatchewan Public Library will share the success and lessons learned from its year-long library card campaign that included card sign up tables, a fun mascot, and other unique marketing, outreach and library events.
Session C: 2:15-3:15
Playwork in the Library
Martha Furman – ImagineIf Libraries – Montana
ImagineIF is all about the wonder, adventure, and exploration that naturally happens during play. In playwork, a movement that began in postwar Europe, children’s play is self-directed, intrinsically motivated and freely chosen. We will discuss how libraries can include elements of playwork, ensuring that the children we serve have opportunities to play freely and build skills by taking risks. Participants will find out how libraries can incorporate elements of playwork in their offerings for children in order to build more capable, competent and connected communities.
Reading the Region 2017-2018: Book Award Programs and the Latest Award-Winning Titles from Around the Region (90-minute session 2:15 – 3:45)
Jan Zauha and members of the PNLA Board
Join members of the PNLA Board and others for a rapid round of book talks featuring award-winning titles for 2017-2018 from Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Books for all ages and interests will be previewed and displayed. Award programs and reading initiatives from throughout the region will be highlighted. (Reading_the_Region_2018_bib)
Writing From Life – Breaking Author-Audience Barriers
Sneed Collard – Author – Montana
Acclaimed children’s author Sneed B. Collard III shares how he turns real-life experiences into books that both connect with and inspire readers. He will be joined by his 15-year-old son, Braden, who helped photograph and appeared in Sneed’s new Adult/YA memoir, Warblers, and Woodpeckers: A Father-Son Big Year of Birding. Sneed will be available following the presentation to sign copies of his books.
Breaking the Ice
Pam Hensley – Montana State Library
Handout:PNLA 2018-BreaktheIce
Bringing Authentic Indigenous Resources into Your School (90-minute session 2:15-3:45)
Terri Mack – Strong Nations Bookstore – British Columbia
Connecting You with Indigenous Content:
• Why? Why do we need to hear personal narratives to support our own understanding?
• What? What is authentic Indigenous content?
• How? How do we bring in authentic Indigenous content across the curriculum?
Learn why authentic content is relevant, learn to identify authentic indigenous content, and learn to use authentic content confidently. Please come with any “big questions” that you may have.
Session D: 4:00-5:00
A Librarian Walks into an Elevator… (90-minute session 4:00 – 5:30)
Lauren McMullen – Montana State Library – Montana
…or a bar, or a grocery store, or an office waiting room. You never know where you’ll run into important stakeholders or potential partners. Every chance meeting is an opportunity to make a new community connection. Are you ready with your library message? Learn how to craft an elevator speech that can be adapted for any situation, and practice it with your peers. (Elevator Speech Presentation – PNLA, Elevator Speech Handout – PNLA)
Tales of a Wine Librarian
Kim Buschert – University of British Columbia Library, Okanagan Campus – British Columbia
“So, you’re the Wine Librarian?” Learn about a Library-Faculty-Community partnership focused on relationship building, information sharing and the co-creation of knowledge. Hear about the successes and challenges of an embedded academic librarian whose aim is to help extend the reach of the university and the library in non-traditional ways.
Community Surveys: “Tell Us What You Think!”
Patricia Tully – Ketchikan Public Library – Alaska
In the summer of 2017, Ketchikan Public Library conducted a community survey to prepare for strategic planning. The Library devised a number of ways to elicit responses from non-Library users. This program will review the results of those efforts, and how they informed the Library’s strategic plan.
Tandem Training of Student Employees at the Research Center: Learning from Each Other to Provide Excellent Service
Mary Anne Hansen – Montana State University – Montana
Learn about MSU Library’s efforts in integrating student employees into a tiered approach to providing research assistance. Learn about our experiences in having students work in tandem with librarians, plus ideas for a training continuum. This could be adapted to school or public library settings with student assistants and/or volunteers.
Session E: 9:30-10:30
Your Library within your Community
Gavin Woltjer – Billings Public Library – Montana
Every community has their own identity. Based on this identity, libraries can use this to shape their services, expertise, community partnerships, outreach, and leadership. Instead of wishing your library was like another library, create your library’s identity based on your community’s wants, interests, and needs. Use your library’s identity to craft for library’s narrative for years to come!
What the Center for the Book Can Do For Your Library: Perspectives from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Washington
Linda Johns (Seattle Public / Washington Center for the Book), Kim Anderson (Humanities Montana / Montana Center for the Book), Page Brannon (University of Alaska Anchorage / Alaska Center for the Book), Nono Burling (Washington State Library / Washington Center for the Book)
Youth writing contests, literary awards, author events, writing workshops, and a state-wide book week — come find out about the programs the Centers for the Book in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Washington offer libraries and readers. All four states are affiliates of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
Breaking Down the Archival Wall: Science Fiction Fandom in the Northwest
Erin Passehl-Stoddart, Ashlyn Velte – University of Idaho Library – Idaho
What is the history and significance of libraries collecting science fiction fandom materials from Canada and the Northwest from the 1970s-2000s? This presentation will discuss the recent donation of 325 boxes of books and archives and project management under constraints such as time, staffing, cataloging, subject expertise, space, and budget.
Building Programs Beyond the Fourth Wall (Slides)
Kendall Brookhart – Pierce County Library – Washington
Discover how Pierce County Library transformed passive resource lists into our successful, interactive Microsoft Certification Program. Gain insight into how we broke communication barriers, learned how to better engage with online customers and keep them coming back. And discuss the tools and partnerships we utilized to design the program.
Session F: 11:15-12:15
Thinking_Outside_the_Archive_Walls
Jan Zauha – Montana State University Library – Montana
Has your community book group hit the wall? Would you like to take your meetings to the next level? Explore how free digital archives can enrich book discussions by providing inside knowledge about history, authors’ lives, and writing processes. Identify best ways to find and include primary sources in discussions.
Rural Libraries: Collaboration, Creativity, and Community
Maureen Penn – Lac La Biche County Libraries – Alberta
The Lac La Biche County Libraries place a huge emphasis on forming relationships with various local organizations and groups to efficiently support the needs of our community. We will show how this collaboration allows each partner organization to utilize each other’s’ strengths, provide more services and foster creativity.
Library Lights Out: Breaking the Fourth Wall by Bringing Library Outreach Back into the Library
Qing Meade, Justin Otto – JFK Library, Eastern Washington University – Washington
Librarians from Eastern Washington University (EWU) will discuss Library Lights Out, an annual library outreach event, occurring in the library in partnership with Housing and Residential Life. Students spend the night in the library and participate in educational and fun activities like a library scavenger hunt and team-building ice-breaker games.
Session G: 2:00 – 3:00
Bringing Storywalk ™ to Your Community (StoryWalks for PNLA)
Suzanne Davis – East Bonner County Library – Idaho
The East Bonner County Library is part of a partnership that maintains two permanent StoryWalks™ in Bonner County. We also support temporary StoryWalks™ for special events. StoryWalks™ in your town. StoryWalks™ are picture books that have been deconstructed and posted along a path. Families read the story as they walk together.
Partnership Pursuits: Expand Access, Demonstrate Value
Megan Stark, Wendy Walker – University of Montana – Montana
The growth of open-access content is an opportunity for libraries to expand across the stage to reach new audiences. Learn how the Mansfield Library collaborated with the University Press to highlight their shared missions of publishing digital scholarship and increasing access to regional content around the globe.
“You work there?”: Reflections on Work as a Vendor, Academic Librarian, and Public Librarian
Emily Hamstra – Washington
What is an academic librarian good at? A public librarian? A library vendor? One librarian will share her experiences working as each, focusing on the strengths and challenges of the work. Through reflection and discussion, participants will begin to break down the walls between public libraries, academic libraries, and vendors.
“The Care and Feeding of a Librarian” – a Life Lesson
Angela Archuleta – Lewistown Public Schools – Montana
If we take care of ourselves, it often leads to us “breaking the fourth wall” and connecting to those that matter most. The presenter will share some fun ideas to keep your sanity in this crazy world of library.
Session H: 3:30 – 4:30
How to Fix a Toilet (and other things library school didn’t teach me)
Mark McHale – Stony Plain Public Library – Alberta
Turns out when you’re actually running a library knowing the limitations of different metadata standards isn’t that helpful. You know what is helpful? Knowing how to fix toilets. This presentation will show you handy things for librarians to know, that coincidentally have metaphorical applications to the rest of librarianship.
Breaking Cultural Barrier Walls
Pam Henley – Montana State Library – Montana
Libraries today have visitors from all over the world, but are you familiar with cultural differences you might encounter when trying to assist these new patrons? A little awareness goes a long way in making their experience more pleasant and your library service more successful.
ABC’s of DNA – Unraveling the Mysteries of Genetics Information for Consumers
Carolyn Martin – University of Washington Health Sciences Library – Washington
Librarians working with the public need to be aware of issues surrounding genetics and resources to assist patrons in locating and evaluating sometimes complex and confusing information associated with their health. The session will cover genomic health literacy, provide reliable resources regarding health conditions, privacy, genetic testing, and precision medicine.
3:00 – 5:00 – President’s Reception – Let’s Talk!
Designed to be a networking and conversation opportunity before, during, and after the sessions! This will be a great chance to snag one more chat with new friends and professional contacts, and PNLA Board members will be on hand to discuss your visions for the future of PNLA.