Conference Schedule & Sessions

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All times are Pacific Time (PT).

 

Career & Professional Development

Emergent Technologies Marketing & Communications
9:009:50 am Opening Keynote: Connecting EDI Efforts With Everything the Library Does
10:00–11:00 am The Art of the Reference Interview Defy Distance: How to Use Virtual Reality to Engage Youth
Smart Facebook Marketing for Shoestring Budgets
11:10 am12:10 pm Project LIT Leads the Way to School-Wide Reading Culture Expand Library Access Through Self-Serve Technology
Fact-Checking News Media in the Digital Age 
12:101:20 pm Lunch on Own
1:202:20 pm Working with Communities Exposed to Trauma & Toxic Stress: How Libraries Create Resilient Communities Libraries & E-Materials Lending Up to BAT: How to Create and Build a Broadband Action Team in Your Community
2:303:30 pm Adulting 101 for Teens & College Students Not Enough Time? Let Students Do It! Student-Centered Learning in Makerspaces EDI in WLA and Our Libraries
3:404:30 pm
Closing Keynote: From Advocate to Activist


Presentation slides and supplementary materials are linked below in the name of each session. Presentation materials are provided for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Washington Library Association. WLA bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the materials or for that of subsequent links. Contact the presenters for answers to questions regarding its content.


9:00–9:50 am

Opening Keynote: Connecting EDI Efforts With Everything the Library Does
Connecting EDI Efforts to your everyday work provides an opportunity to deeply examine practices and policies in your library system. What does leading for equity mean? How is this relevant for the communities you serve? Where do you start? Join WLA leadership and CiKeithia Pugh, a Senior Associate at Equity matters, in conversation about EDI in libraries. 

Lucretia Robertson, EDI Task Force Member, Training and Development Manager, Kitsap Regional Library
Emily Keller, 2020 WLA Board President, Political Science and Public Policy Librarian, University of Washington Libraries
CiKeithia Pugh, Associate, Equity Matters


10:0011:00 am

The Art of the Reference Interview
There is one skill that is seen in virtually every interaction with a library patron—conducting a reference interview. In this session, learn about the art of the reference interview. We will discuss behavioral characteristics of reference service providers, the steps for conducting an effective reference interview, strategies for when a reference interaction goes wrong, and tips on how to assess your reference interactions in public, school, and special library settings.

Jodie Borgerding, Continuing Education Services Manager, Amigos Library Services

Defy Distance: How to Use Virtual Reality to Engage Youth
Are your patrons craving connection? Are you looking for ways to engage middle and high school students through global awareness? Virtual Reality provides an opportunity to have agency, experience the world, and learn emerging technologies in public, school, and academic libraries. Laura McGinty and TuesD Chambers are staff members at Ballard High School with a goal of building community and encouraging global awareness by defying distance through VR. They will share protocols, lesson ideas, and ways to engage family and community members in virtual reality. And, in the process, create ways for people to connect with one another.

Ms. TuesD Chambers, Teacher Librarian: Ballard High School (she/her), Seattle Public Schools
Ms. Laura McGinty, Science Teacher: Ballard High School (she/her), Seattle Public Schools

Smart Facebook Marketing for Shoestring Budgets
Learn the most effective, free strategies you can use today to promote your library, programs, and services on Facebook. During this 60-minute workshop you'll discover how this powerful social media tool can be effectively used to build stronger relationships with patrons, grow your ties with the community, and develop local partnerships. By the end of this intensive session you will have a clear idea on how to position your library as a hub for your community and make it easier for your patrons to connect. We'll cover current best practices and discuss how Facebook can fit into your larger marketing strategy.

Rebekka Van Der Does, Copywriter and Media Consultant, Media Sundries


11:10 am12:10 pm

Project LIT Leads the Way to School-Wide Reading Culture
Promote reading and build a school-wide reading culture with the student-led Project LIT Community, a national grassroots literacy movement. From  in-school student and teacher challenges to LIT lunches and even parent involvement in the reading lives of students, we'll look at how the student-created Project LIT reading lists can center a school's reading culture around the lived realities of their students. In addition, the Project LIT Community focused on rewriting the narrative of what literature is deemed worthy of academic study and authentically advocates for greater diversity in our libraries and classrooms.

Rebecca Wynkoop, Teacher Librarian, Seattle Public Schools

 Expanding Library Access Through Self-Serve Technology
Give your patrons what they want in small, rural libraries. More hours. More days. More convenience. More access to printing, internet, books, and quiet times. And do it without increasing staff. Learn how one library used expanded access hours, self-serve technology, and a remote security system to increase access from 27 open hours to 91 hours, 7 days a week.

Karen Kienenberger, Library Manager, Timberland Regional Library
Ryan M. Williams, District Manager, Timberland Regional Library

 

Fact-Checking News Media in the Digital Age
One of the biggest threats to our democracy is misinformation and disinformation. Politicians yell “Fake News,” users on Twitter like and retweet without giving any thought to accuracy, while Facebook publishes advertisements created through Russian troll farms to sow confusion and discord. These are all new challenges. We are living through a technological revolution which presents the need to teach skills that we weren’t taught when we were in school. But we are not powerless, we can develop skills to determine what’s real and what’s fake.

Liz Crouse, High School Librarian, Seattle Public Schools
Shawn Lee, Social Studies Teacher, Ballard High School


1:202:20 pm

Working with Communities Exposed to Trauma & Toxic Stress: How Libraries Create Resilient Communities
People who have been exposed to trauma and toxic stress are often unable to self-regulate and follow rules, which can manifest as unacceptable behaviors in the library setting. This session will introduce the latest science around ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), PCEs (Positive Childhood Experiences), vicarious trauma, and why self-care for staff is so important. Libraries buffer against trauma and build resilient communities, and, with additional information about trauma-informed practices, can have an even greater impact. We’ll look at strategies for understanding ourselves and building our own resilience, while also contributing to the overall health of our communities. This program will introduce tools for anyone who works with students and youth, as well as adult populations.

Mary Power, Program Manager, Sound Discipline
Stacy Lappin, Program Director, Sound Discipline

Libraries & E-Materials Lending
As more publishers have moved to metered access and even embargoing titles for library e-materials, libraries are rising up for access rights. Hear updates on conversations with publishers, ALA's public petition, the Blackstone Audio boycott, King County Library System's Macmillan ebook boycott, the state library's SimplyE ebook platform, public response, and possible next steps.

Lisa Rosenblum, Director, King County Library System
Cindy Aden, State Librarian, Washington State Library
Carmi Parker, ILS Administrator, Whatcom County Library System

Up to BAT: How to Create & Build a Broadband Action Team in Your Community
Nearly ten years ago, Stevens County formed a Broadband Action Team (BAT) to address the issues of broadband access, infrastructure, and adoption in rural, northeastern Washington. The team consists of agencies from across the county, ISP providers, and elected officials. The BAT team has leveraged grant funding, studies, and (a few) improvements. But, it has also garnered national attention and has allowed us to be part of innovative pilot mapping studies, presentations to legislators in Washington, DC., and in general a "voice at the table" at regional, state, and national levels regarding rural broadband. This session will map how we formed the group, how we keep it going, and how a BAT Team can help your community.

Amanda Six, Library Director, Libraries of Stevens County
Jessica Varang, Technology and Education Coordinator, Libraries of Stevens County
Debra Hansen, WSU Extension Director, Stevens County, Washington State University

2:303:30 pm

Adulting 101 for Teens & College Students (bibliography)
Adulting is hard! As education tracks become more academically intensive, there can be little room left for learning basic life skills. Young adults may feel lost when it comes to things like folding laundry, sewing on a button, balancing a checkbook, or cooking a meal. As libraries begin to take on more unique roles in the community, offering Adulting 101 programs to teens and college students is a great way to prepare young adults for their first steps into independence. This course will assess the growing need Adulting 101 programs, discuss the types of basic life skills teens want to learn, and look at examples of these types of programs.

Erin Gray, Library Services and Technology Trainer, Amigos Library Services

Not Enough Time? Let Students Do It! Student-Centered Learning in Makerspaces
Learn how one middle school librarian leveraged student ideas and MakerSpace concepts to create positive, well-attended school-wide community events, including a Haunted Library, Makerfest, and Harry Potter Land. Come away with ideas of how to hand over creative control to students and thus build in student ownership and voice while also managing the tools and processes to make an event possible. This is perfect for small public libraries and school libraries where you don't have enough time or staffing to plan, design, and execute whole events by yourself but do have a decent level of control over events in your library.

Erin Sterling, Teacher Librarian, Seattle Public Schools

EDI in WLA and Our Libraries
In the spring of 2019, the Washington Library Association (WLA) created a Diversity & Inclusion Task Force to recommend concrete steps the association can take to cultivate equity, diversity, inclusion, and access within the organization. The Task Force presented their findings at the July 2019 WLA board meeting, which led our incoming Board President to announce a focus on EDI work in 2020. Learn how the Task Force’s data and recommendations can be put to use in WLA, libraries, and other organizations.

Lucretia Robertson, EDI Task Force Member, Training and Development Manager, Kitsap Regional Library
Emily Keller, 2020 WLA Board President, Political Science and Public Policy Librarian, University of Washington Libraries


3:404:30 am

Closing Keynote: From Advocate to Activist
We are failing libraries with our current advocacy model. For libraries to get the funding and support we need, we have to move the conversation from advocating for libraries to creating activists for libraries. From the activists at EveryLibrary, learn to build actionable support from networks of change through community organizing and political action. Explore strategies and tactics used by some of the best community organizers, political action committees, and politicians. Discover the resources and skills that library activists need to increase funding and bolster political and community support.

John Chrastka, Executive Director, EveryLibrary
Patrick “PC” Sweeney, Political Director, EveryLibrary