WebJunction content and upcoming webinars

Highlighted Content

Friends of the Library: Tools and resources

A Friends of the Library group can provide great assistance to libraries—often in the form of fundraising, advocacy, or reaching underserved groups. These resources can help you as you think about starting a Friends group, revitalizing one, or boosting their effectiveness.

Leading with compassion at the Charles County Public Library

The opioid epidemic continues to have a devastating impact in the United States. At the Charles County Public Library (CCPL) in Maryland, staff started looking at the opioid crisis through a lens of understanding and empathy to serve their community. Read this article to learn more about how CCPL staff responded to community needs with the help of WebJunction’s Opioid Crisis Support Kit for Public Libraries.

Advancing IDEAs: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, 7 January 2025

Read this Hanging Together blog post, part of a regular series on issues of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility, compiled by a team of OCLC contributors.

WebJunction Webinars

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.

Don't manage change—embrace it

Thursday, January 16, 2025 ◆ 3:00 pm Eastern / 12:00 pm Pacific ◆ 60 minutes

Registration: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/dont-manage-change-embrace-it.html

Trying to make changes at your library can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you get people on board? What do you do when you encounter resistance? Change management plans can help, but too often they frame the change as a problem to manage rather than an opportunity to reach for a shared vision. In this webinar, you’ll learn strategies for effective, positive change-making and examine how shifting your mindset to center growth and strengths can help you positively reframe change. You’ll also explore approaches to leadership, collaboration, and power-sharing that meaningfully engage impacted groups and plan for and address change anxiety and resistance.

Building community connections by hiring for cultural knowledge

Thursday, January 30, 2025 ◆ 3:00 pm Eastern / 12:00 pm Pacific ◆ 60 minutes

Registration: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/hiring-for-cultural-knowledge.html

Staffing demographics rarely match those of the communities they serve. Learn how valuing specific knowledge, skills, and abilities during the hiring process can develop a staff ready to serve a diverse community. Hear from Cultural Liaison Library Assistant staff representing Hispanic and Tribal communities, including the results of their efforts to build connections with and share stories of these communities. Attendees will be challenged to reconsider some common hiring practices and how to make them more inclusive. Hear a success story from a library that identified cultural knowledge gaps and worked with community stakeholders during the job posting and selection process.

Empowering teens: Enhancing information literacy through games and interactive programming

Thursday, February 6, 2025 ◆ 3:00 pm Eastern / 12:00 pm Pacific ◆ 60 minutes

Registration: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/empowering-teens.html

You can help your teen patrons to become better navigators of the information that they find online. Come learn about how you can offer fun and engaging experiences that bring teens to the library and build their information literacy skills. Researchers at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public will walk you through programs developed with public libraries, including an escape room game and youth video program. You’ll also discover activities adapted from school libraries that help teens reflect on their interaction with social media and give them the tools to verify questionable posts.

Turn strategy into action with Theory of Change

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 ◆ 3:00 pm Eastern / 12:00 pm Pacific ◆ 60 minutes

Registration: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/turn-strategy-into-action.html

You're getting ready to implement a change at your library, from a new strategic plan to a major project. How do you get your staff, partners, or community to understand and align with this new direction? Theory of Change is a powerful tool to help you define a shared vision that everyone can strive for together, while allowing flexibility and autonomy in how they get there. In this webinar, you’ll learn how one library is using Theory of Change to drive strategic alignment while reducing bureaucracy. You will learn how to identify the core concepts of Theory of Change and how they relate to change in libraries and apply the principles to a strategic change in your library.

This program is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Cathy Lancaster

Youth Services Coordinator

Library of Michigan
702 W. Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI 48915
My Pronouns: She/Her/Hers - See www.mypronouns.org to learn more.

LancasterC5@michigan.gov | 517-335-8129 | www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan
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Join the MiYouth Listserv, created for Michigan public library staff to share and discuss children and teen programming and services.