Highlighted WebJunction Content for April

• Host Your Own Cardboard Carnival: It started as part of a Saturday program with underrepresented students in STEM, paired with mentors from Northwestern University to work on monthly engineering design projects. After several years of one-off projects, the Evanston (IL) Public Library teen services staff and their partners asked, "How can we get students to pursue a long-term project to build and strengthen STEM skills and bring the community together to celebrate their work?” From this, the concept of Evanston’s Cardboard Carnival was born.
• Libraries Learn from Eviction Focus: As a continuation of the Improving Access to Civil Legal Justice initiative, WebJunction focused on the eviction crisis, developing resources that strengthen library staff’s ability to respond to eviction questions with confidence and help close the justice gap in their communities. The complexity of eviction law and the high stakes involved make this a tricky reference topic, but we’re confident that you can expand your reference skills with the help of these resources.  
• Socially Connected Communities: Solutions for Social Isolation: A new report on Socially Connected Communities: Solutions for Social Isolation published by Healthy Places by Design highlights how librarians and other leaders can work together to address this issue. The report was developed based on a series of conversations in 2020 with nearly 60 people from diverse places and organizations who candidly shared their efforts to reduce social isolation.

WebJunction Webinars for You

These upcoming webinars are open for registration. If you can’t attend a live session, all WebJunction webinars are recorded and available for free in the Course Catalog.

Broadband Improvements: Free Planning Tools for Libraries

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 ◆ 3:00 pm Eastern ◆ 60 minutes

Registration: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/broadband-improvements.html

Access to the internet through broadband connections has become a critical service in libraries, allowing staff and patrons to learn, connect and grow. But libraries with limited support for information technology (IT) may be challenged with how to assess broadband and related technologies to keep these services up to date. Join this session to learn how to use the Toward Gigbagit Libraries toolkit―a free, self-service guide created to help libraries understand and improve their IT capacities and broadband resources. The toolkit can help staff better articulate the library’s needs to leadership, policy makers, and broadband service providers, in order to improve on digitally serving the community and planning for the future.

Digital Collections at Your Library: Community, Culture, and Connection

Tuesday, April 26, 2022 ◆ 3:00 pm Eastern ◆ 60 minutes

Registration: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/digital-collections-at-your-library.html

Digital collections at your library can preserve local histories and artifacts at risk of being lost. They offer an opportunity to represent the diversity of stories and voices in your community likely missing from your physical collection. But they are resource-intensive, requiring new skills, technology, and an ongoing commitment to maintain them. Understanding the full lifecycle of digital stewardship is critical to successfully providing digital collections. In this webinar, practitioners will share how their digital collections have enabled their community members to connect with unique histories and cultures, increase appreciation of local history, and foster connections across generations. You’ll also learn about a new series of free courses developed for small public libraries and tribal archives, libraries, museums.

Shannon White
Library Development Manager
Library of Michigan, 702 W. Kalamazoo, Lansing, MI 48909
Whites29@michigan.gov  517-335-1507 | www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan