Northeast Kansas Library System

Introvert-Friendly Workplace Keynote with Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler
2022-11-03 10:30 - 11:30 (America/Chicago) | Online
Introverts are thought to make up 30% to 50% of our population, but the professional world we are asked to thrive in is often centered around extrovert ideals.

Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, Lawrence Public Library, and NEKLS are partnering this fall to take a closer look at introvert inclusion in the workplace (specifically libraries). The keynote presentation by best-selling author Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, PhD is on November 3rd @ 10:30 AM. Then later this fall, on November 16 @ 10:30 AM, Brenda Hough and Anna Foote will facilitate a follow up online session where we will be able to have small group discussions on the topic.

This program will be open to staff from all library types in Northeast Kansas. The registration link is below (there will be a recording made available).

Learn more about this topic by reading Creating Introvert-Friendly Workplaces.

Register here: https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qfuCtrzMoGd3KDrj3gCNTwXNcTL9w-tHH

NEKL Foundation Board Meeting
2022-10-20 14:00 - 15:30, 2022-07-21 14:00 - 15:30, 2022-04-21 14:00 - 15:30 | NEKLS Office & Zoom
The NEKL Foundation Board meeting starts at 2pm. The end time varies.
The meeting is at the NEKLS office or via Zoom.

NEKLS Executive Board Meeting
2022-10-20 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-09-15 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-06-23 10:00, 2022-05-19 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-21 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-17 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-02-17 10:00 - 12:00 | NEKLS Office & Zoom
The NEKLS Executive Board meeting starts at 10am. The end time varies.
The meeting is at the NEKLS office or via Zoom.

Sunflower State Small Libraries - Lyndon Carnegie Library
2022-10-12 13:30 - 14:00 | Online
The October Sunflower State Small Libraries program will be on Wednesday, October 12 at 1:30 PM. Our guest is the library director of Lyndon Carnegie Library, Genea Reynolds (Thanks, Genea!!). Genea will be telling us about her library’s programming, the Carnegie building, and more. Please join she and I for this thirty minute conversation over Zoom–you can register to attend below.

https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvf-CtrTwtEtEu9KLR4X59T92FTMajms-U

If you are the library director of a small public library in Kansas, and are interested in chatting about your library in a future Sunflower State Small Libraries program, please let me know! – Dan (dalexander@nekls.org)

Fall Directors Institute - Baker Wetlands
2022-10-07 09:00 - 15:30 | Baker Wetlands Discovery Center 1365 North 1250 Road Lawrence, Kansas 66046 (785) 594-4700, Baker Wetlands Discovery Center 1365 North 1250 Road, Lawrence, KS, 66046, United States
Public library directors of Northeast Kansas, please join us on October 7, 2022, for the 2022 Fall Directors Institute at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM (doors open at 9 AM). Lunch and refreshments will be provided–this event is free to you–our treat. The presenters will be Savannah Ball (Servant Leadership in Libraries) and Scarlett Fisher-Herreman (Freedom to Read). We will have morning and afternoon opportunities to share and reflect. This workshop will be in-person only and no recordings will be made available. Please register no later than September 30, 2022, the registration link can be found below.

Questions? Contact Dan Alexander (dalexander@nekls.org).

Baker Wetlands Discovery Center
1365 North 1250 Road
Lawrence, Kansas 66046
(785) 594-4700
Schedule:

9:00 AM – Doors to Discovery Center Meeting Room Open
9:30 AM – Start Time – Introductions
10:00 AM – Servant Leadership in Libraries, Presented by Savannah Ball
11:30 AM – Break
11:45 AM – Your Personal User Manual – Reflection Activity

Noon – Lunch and Explore the Wetlands
1:15 PM – Freedom to Read, Presented by Scarlett Fisher-Herreman
2:15 PM – Break
2:30 PM – Issues in the Profession – Extended Group Discussion
3:30 PM – Adjourn

NEKLS Revenue Neutral Rate Hearing
2022-09-12 09:30 - 11:30

After-Lunch Course with Xan Goodman
2022-09-08 13:30 - 14:30 | Online
Cultural Humility
The third webinar in our After Lunch Course Series for 2022, coordinated by the 7 Regional Library Systems and State Library of Kansas, is open for registration. In this 60-minute webinar, library employees will learn about cultural humility as an approach framework to EDI (equity, diversity, inclusion) in libraries. Take part in this webinar to define cultural humility and learn strategies to apply it to the library’s work. Participate in this webinar to raise your awareness of cultural humility as a practice with the potential to meaningfully engage in lifelong learning and community connections.
Our Presenter
Xan Y. Goodman, is the co-editor of the ACRL publications, Co-design: Integrating the information literacy framework into disciplinary courses: Case studies from faculty-librarian collaborations abroad (2020), and Disciplinary Applications of Information Literacy Threshold Concepts (2017). Goodman is the author of a chapter on the social determinants of health as a threshold concept. As an experienced educator and presenter, Goodman has presented on cultural humility to regional, national, and international audiences. Goodman works at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas Libraries, where she supports four schools in the Division of Health Sciences: the School of Integrated Health Sciences, School of Public Health, School of Dental Medicine, and School of Nursing. Goodman is author of a three-pillar framework of cultural humility for libraries. Goodman is also a maker and enjoys making jewelry and tea brews.
When: September 8, 2022 01:30-2:30PM Central Time
Please register in advance for this meeting: https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwqceigpj0vH9FVK9Y1l8_IHIvbsJDjYkI9
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Materials on the Move: Strategies for Delivery, Distribution and Storage (Watch Party)
2022-09-08 11:00 - 14:00 | Online
NEKLS is making this workshop available at our office as a watch party. Let Dan know if you plan to stop in (dalexander@nekls.org). We can tune in to the Cultural Humility workshop with Xan Goodman at 1:30 PM if there is interest by our visitors.

Courier and delivery. Shared remote storage. Floating collections. Redesigned resource sharing. The delivery and distribution of library materials continues to evolve as libraries maximize service and efficiency for users. Finding scalable solutions for storage and sharing of physical library resources requires rethinking collection development, and reciprocal agreements, and long-term planning. This Amigos Library Services online conference will explore changes and trends in delivery, courier services, distribution, and storage of library materials. Potential presentation topics include but are not limited to:

Challenges and opportunities in delivery and courier services
Changes and new methods in collecting and distributing library materials
Shifts in resource sharing
Storage solutions

NEKLS Office Closed in Observance of Labor Day
2022-09-05

NEKLS Executive Board- No July Meeting.
2022-07-21 10:00 - 12:00 | NEKLS Office & Zoom
The NEKLS Executive Board will not meet in July.

NEKLS Office Closed in Observance of Independence Day
2022-07-04

After-Lunch Course with Martin Garnar
2022-06-09 13:30 - 14:30 | Online
Please register in advance for this meeting: https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYld-iorTIiG9ckbTCTnUvABZF4DXiX_tKB
The second in our After Lunch Course Series for 2022, coordinated by the 7 Regional Library Systems around the state of Kansas, is open for registration. This webinar will be all about Intellectual Freedom and common challenge issues happening all around us.
Intellectual Freedom: Fighting the Good Fight
With book bans all over the news, intellectual freedom is under attack, with a specific focus on materials related to or representative of marginalized communities. In this engaging presentation, you’ll hear about the latest challenges to books and programs, review tools and resources for engaging with community concerns, and have a chance to discuss what’s on your mind. Martin Garnar, PhD, is the Director of the Amherst College Library, chair of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, and editor of the 10th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual. His professional activities and speaking schedule reflect a profound inability to say no. A native New Yorker, Martin lives in western Massachusetts with his husband Mark and their impossibly cute miniature dachshunds.
When: Jun 9, 2022 01:30-2:30PM Central Time
Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYld-iorTIiG9ckbTCTnUvABZF4DXiX_tKB
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. This session will be recorded.

Trustee Training 2022
2022-06-04 10:00 - 11:30 | Online
The NEKLS 2022 Trustee Training will be online, on Saturday June 4 at 10 am (we are planning on going until 11:30 am). Our guest presenter will be Bonnie McKewon of the Iowa State Library, and her presentation is called: The Board’s Role in Storytelling. More information about this online presentation is below. For accreditation purposes, NEKLS requires a quorum of each public library’s board to complete two hours of training each year. This webinar, with the thought that the board will follow it up with a local discussion, will meet this requirement. The webinar will be available as a recording for those who need it. Please note that we do have other resources available for trustee training, but this will be the main live event we offer this year.
Registration for public library directors and their board of trustees is now open: https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMvcO6urj4iGtbQjz7diPw4R6N0m1Rz1F8I
Here is the link to the slides: The Board’s Role in Storytelling (pdf)
The Board’s Role in Storytelling

“The Board’s Role in Storytelling” suggests ways that trustees can relay more meaningful impact stories about how essential the library is in the community. Having some basic numbers at hand is a good start, having a ready elevator speech is a good next step. But telling stories about the difference that the public library makes in people’s lives leads to the most memorable conversations with friends, funders, and advocates.
Based on the book Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall. From Amazon: “…Telling stories well is a simple, accessible skill that anyone can develop. Kindra Hall offers specific, actionable steps that readers can take to find, craft, and leverage the stories they already have and simply aren’t telling…” There is no obligation to read the book prior to the program.
Objectives

[a] Share the ways in which your board members talk about library service in your circles
[b] Discuss ways in which your trustees can step into a more meaningful role in “telling stories that stick” about your public library

Bonnie McKewon is a consultant with the State Library of Iowa (Northwest District office in Sioux City) providing library management training and consulting for 92 public libraries in 14 Northwest Iowa counties. She conducts workshops and webinars for public library staff and boards on a wide variety of topics, from presentation pointers to formulating smart survey questions, from succession planning to encouraging tech savvy trustees.
With an affinity for library board training, she has created many board education programs, including a webinar series titled “The Boardroom.” In addition, she has taught in-person workshops and online board development programs for South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. She has presented at PLA and ARSL conferences, the Iowa Library Association, the Nebraska Library Association, as well as presenting national webinars for WebJunction.
Before joining the State Library, Bonnie was the Administrator of the Northwest Iowa Regional System and formerly the director of Spencer (IA) Public Library.

NEKLS Office Closed in Observance of Memorial Day
2022-05-30

Getting to Know PLIX
2022-04-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Online
You’re Invited!
Getting to Know PLIX

A webinar co-sponsored by NCKLS and NEKLS
Tuesday, April 26 2-3:30pm on Zoom
MIT Media Lab researchers have been teaming up with librarians across the country to create a variety of fun, 21st-century thinking educational programs under PLIX (Public Library Innovation Exchange). Join Jennifer McCulley, Youth Services Coordinator at McPherson Public Library and Creative Learning Ambassador for PLIX, to learn about the program. You will learn how to access pre-prepared activities, resources, online workshops for librarians, and a forum for you to use for help along the way. We’ll work through a sample activity to show you how easy it will be to facilitate creative learning in your library. Be prepared with some stuff from your craft supplies or recycle bin–because we are doing a program sample that will cost you next to nothing-Space Food!

Our facilitator:Jennifer McCulley is a mom of a 4-year-old, the Youth Services Coordinator for theMcPherson Public Library, one of 25 Creative Learning Ambassadors for PLIX,President of the Public Library Section, member of the William Allen WhiteCommittee, Ambassador for Plaid Enterprises and probably some other things that she has forgotten about. She loves baking, reading, and creating. She hates orange M&Ms.

Register here:
https://forms.gle/vRbyT8PCvwM9pPj96

Public Library Innovation Exchange (PLIX) Webinar for Youth Services Staff
2022-04-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Online
Save the date for this webinar starting at 2pm.

2022 Spring Directors Institute
2022-04-15 09:30 - 15:30 | NEKLS Office, 4317 W 6th Street, Lawrence, KS, 66049, United States
Save the date for the 2022 Spring Directors Institute hosted by NEKLS: Friday, April 15, 2022. This is a free event for Northeast Kansas public library directors held virtually and in-person at the NEKLS office. In-person attendance is now full and new registrations will be added to a wait list. The workshops listed below will be available live over Zoom and recorded.

Not Another Library Survey! with visiting facilitator Keith Rocci – 10:00 am (Preregister for Zoom Link)
Data Visualization On A Dime with visiting facilitator Linda Hofschire – 1:15 pm (Preregister for Zoom Link)
Schedule for in-person participants
Schedule for online participants

Event Registration
In-person registration closed.
Not Another Library Survey! – Keith Rocci
Library surveys are an important part of crafting effective library services. However, library users are constantly surveyed in all aspects of their lives. How do we get them to complete the survey? How do you get data that is valuable? This discussion will present a step-by-step approach to completing effective community analysis through relationship building and trust. By developing a culture of caring with your users they will be more compelled to be part of your evaluation of library services. Letting them drive the process is a great step toward usage statistics going up!
Keith is the Distance Education Library Department Head at Pima Community College. He has been in a library leadership role since July, 2015. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate level since 2005. Since August, 2010, he has been teaching for Emporia State University. He also teaches for the EDU Department at Pima CC. He has written one book (Library Research Strategies, 2013) and has presented at three national library conferences. (Internet Librarian, Computers in Libraries and ACRL)
Data Visualization On A Dime – Linda Hofschire
You don’t have to be a graphic designer to present your library statistics in a way that effectively communicates value. In this session, you’ll learn quick and easy tips for displaying your statistics so that they tell a powerful story about your library, whether your data visualization aspirations consist of adding a few Excel charts to a board report or designing a complex infographic for your website.
Linda Hofschire has more than 25 years of experience conducting social science research and evaluation and providing training in-person and online. She directs the Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL), an initiative originally funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to provide data and evaluation training for library staff. She is also the Instructional Designer for the IMLS-funded project Embedding Evaluation in Libraries, and the Training Coordinator for Infopeople, the national training arm of the Califa Group. Linda serves as the chair of the Public Library Association’s Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Committee, and was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2017. She is passionate about making data accessible and meaningful to users.

APPLE Kickoff and Retreat
2022-04-12 12:00 - 2022-04-13 13:00
This kickoff and retreat for the 2022 APPLE students is by invitation and starts at noon on April 12 and ends on April 13 at 1pm.

Library Giving Day
2022-04-06

After-Lunch Course with Andrew Smith
2022-03-10 13:30 - 14:30 | Online
Register here: https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwod–rqjsuG9enGQe5L8kh078M4ESFjq7D!
Writing policy for your library can be daunting. The State Library requires it, but other than that, what’s the point? You might hear that I don’t want to be limited in what I can do or that we did all that 20 years ago or that everything is working just fine as it is. Why waste time on a pointless exercise?
However, policy is a vital part of library operations. It not only serves as a guide to what you will do and how, but it provides protection for the library board, the library staff, the patrons and the community. Your policies must be current and suited to your library. One size does not fit all in the library world.
This webinar will explain the purpose of policy for your library and offer practical steps for either creating policy if none exists or reviewing old policy to make sure it is still fit for purpose. It will also offer suggestions on how to integrate policy review into the regular work of your library board so that your policy will always be up to date and meet the needs of your library. Helpful resources will also be highlighted.
Andrew Smith has been a member of the Emporia Public Library board since 2016 and is in his second year as board chair. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University where he teaches courses in library advocacy, collection management, multiple literacies in libraries and genealogy. He has been involved in library policy work for many years and has presented widely on the topic both in Kansas and at national conferences.

2022 Summer Reading Program Workshop/Family Idea Swap
2022-02-10 10:00 - 11:30 | Online
Save the date for Family Idea Swap. This session features… YOU!
Come ready to share your idea(s) for summer reading programs.
We look forward to seeing you on Zoom on February 10, 2022 at 10am for this 90 minute workshop.

2022 Summer Reading Program Workshop/Teen Programs & Ideas
2022-02-03 10:00 - 11:30 | Online
Save the date for this workshop featuring Marisa Hicking.
Teen Programs and Ideas will take place online on Zoom on Thursday, February 3, 2022, 10-11:30am.
