Recordings & Resources

Being a Trustee is an important job. You are part of a team that represents the tax payers, oversees the Library Director, and advocates for libraries. However, where exactly do your duties end and the Library staff's begin? This line, while very clear from a legal standpoint, can become a bit fuzzy in practice. Join Becky Spratford, a 20 + years librarian and 5 term library trustee as she helps you understand how to walk the fine line between being a leader and being in the way. She will go over how you as a Trustee can best help the Library thrive, noting when you should step in but also when you should back off, strengthening all of Wisconsin's Libraries in the process.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) impacts all communities and all aspects of librarianship. Library Boards of Trustees have an important role in supporting EDI and related initiatives. This webinar will help trustees and library directors understand how to incorporate EDI into policy development, strategic planning, funding initiatives, board development, and more. Anne will present a variety of interactive scenarios in which EDI issues are a factor, with time for Q&A and discussion. In this webinar, Anne Phibbs, PhD, Founder and President of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, will give a basic introduction to EDI and discuss what library trustees and boards need to know about EDI.

Throughout the response to the public health event, the Department of Public Instruction Division for Libraries and Technology, Public Library Systems, Public Libraries and other partners have been extraordinarily collaborative in our efforts to support the Wisconsin library community. These efforts have allowed us to see new ways for how libraries and systems can be connected and work together in the spirit of PLSR. Through this lens of cooperation and continuous improvement as libraries bounce back from the impact of the pandemic, we continue to move our efforts forward to implement the recommendations of the PLSR Steering Committee. This presentation will include an overview of the PLSR process and an update on the progress of implementing the seven recommendations including information about specific activities and timelines. There also will be time for questions, comments, and input from attendees.

Millennials are more likely than other adults to have visited the library recently. However, most Friends and Trustee boards do not have even a single Millennial member (Pew 2016, ALA 2018). What accounts for this discrepancy, and how can we rectify it? Learn how to attract Millennials to your Friends group and Board of Trustees, and turn the largest generation of library users into your best advocates.

Librarianship as a profession has a set of core values. But where do they come from, and what do they mean? Library technologist Jessamyn West will talk about the things that make up the core values of librarianship and discuss the tensions that exist between some of them.