2014 MHLS Advocacy Boot Camp

Learning Objectives:
This workshop is designed to help library stakeholders feel more comfortable and confident in their
role as advocates for their local library and libraries in general.
In this workshop we will:
Explain the basics of library funding at the local and state level
Explore messages that work with voters and legislators
Develop skills to deliver advocacy messages effectively
Newsletters & eNewsletters: How-to, Best Practices, Tips & Shortcuts
Target Audience: This event is appropriate for any staff, trustees or Friends interested in improving
the librarys communication with the community. It will be useful to you whether your library already
has a newsletter or you are just thinking about starting one.
The workshop will cover:
Why print newsletters are still a good idea
How to streamline newsletter production at your library
eNewsletter basics (Constant Contact will be featured)
Content tips
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic - Facilities Maintenance & Planning for the Future
The workshop will cover:
Maintenance,
Space planning,
Space savers, and
Expansion planning
Friends Matter Event
The Friends Support Group will talk about best practices for Friends publicity - bring your brochures,
fundraising materials, program flyers and a print out of your web page if you have one!
Special Guest Speaker: Local author Marshall Karp will be in attendance! A dedicated library lover and
mystery writer, Marshall will join us at dinner to talk about his experiences as a writer and his love of
libraries. Be sure to check out his books: The Rabbit Factory and Bloodthirsty
Adult Programmers Users Group
Target Audience/ Learning Objectives: Join us for a lively discussion about making the most out of
adult programming in your library. This session is ideal for library staff currently doing adult
programming and for those interested in expanding their programming to include adult patrons.
7/31/2009
2/11/2014
8/28/2008
10/22/2008
4/15/2009
This kick-off session will offer you ideas for making adult programming better and easier. Get to
know other adult programmers within the System and learn from others who do what you do.
Since this is our first meeting, participants will get to know one another in a comfortable setting,
discuss some of their best and worst program experiences, and decide on key topics for future
gatherings.
Small Libraries Roundtable: Best Practices for Working with Your Board
The workshop will cover:
Director / Board Roles
Working with your board president
Effective Directors Reports
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic Millennium Issues for Small Libraries
The workshop will cover:
Small Libraries & the MHLS Resource Sharing Standards
Techniques for using Millennium to make life easier in a small library
Staff training tips
Marketing Made Simple
Efficient and affordable ways to connect library and community. Presented by Peggy Barber, Library
Communication Strategies.Peggy Barber was formerly the Associate Executive Director for
Communication for the American Library Association (ALA). She established the ALA Public
Information Office, Public Programs Office and the ALA Graphics program, including the widely
known Celebrity Read poster series. She worked to implement the universal library logo that
appears on streets and roads across the country. Her current work as a consultant is focused on
marketing and communication support for libraries.
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: Join us for a productive day, learning how to apply basic
marketing principles to your situation. Identify strategies, especially word-of-mouth marketing
(proven to be the most effective and cost efficient way!), to get the word out about your library. We
will also develop an action plan for promoting databases and other online services in your library.
This workshop is designed for directors, staff, trustees and Friends.
Participants will learn techniques for:
Word-of-mouth marketing
Promoting databases
Delivering the message
Take 2 Aspirin and Call Your Librarian Medical Reference 9/27/2007
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic Making the Most of a Small Space
This instance of the users group will address issues and solutions for dealing with small spaces:
Maximizing smaller spaces for
Collections
Technology
Programs
Advertising
ADA and the small library
Share your questions, solutions and tips
Learn from your peers
Friends Support Group: Topic Events
10/12/2007
5/19/2008
8/21/2008
7/24/2007
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This support group has been created as a forum for member
library Friends to come together and share information. Issues, problems and solutions will be on the
table for all to learn from each other. This instance of the support group will address best practices
for planning and implementing events to support the library:
Get ideas
Hear from those who have done it
Discuss and share challenges and solutions
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic Dealing With Difficult Patrons
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This instance of the users group will address solutions for
dealing with difficult patrons in a small library setting:
Discuss solutions to the challenges of dealing with difficult patrons in the small library setting.
Explore options to help your staff deal with uncomfortable and difficult situations.
Share your questions, solutions and tips
Learn from your peers
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic Personnel Policies & Employee Handbooks
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This users group is designed for the administrators of small
libraries (3FTE or less). The purpose of the group is to discuss the issues surrounding running a small
library.
This instance of the users group will be "Part II" of our discussion about personnel policies and
employee handbooks for a small library:
Bring your personnel policy or a draft for review
Discuss solutions to the challenges of managing staff and volunteers in the small library setting.
Share your questions, solutions and tips
Learn from your peers
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic Technology Issues
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This instance of the users group will address best practices for
administering technology in a small library:
Discuss solutions to the challenges of
o Planning for technology;
o Making good choices; and
o Funding
Share your questions, solutions and tips
Learn from your peers
Database Training 11/14/2005
Construction Workshop: Blueprints for Success - Guidelines for Relationships between Library
Administrators and Design Professionals; From Selection through Construction . Presented by Paul
K. Mays, principal, Butler Rowland Mays Architects, LLP.
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: Appropriate for library directors, staff, trustees or anyone
directly involved in a library building project. This workshop will help you:
Acquire the ability to select an effective and responsive design team
Understand the roles of the many players involved in a building project
Build a knowledge base of the terminology and sequence of events in the building process, and
what to do when it goes wrong.
Learn interaction strategies for working with design professionals and building contractors, and
how to deal with scheduling issues, change orders and payment issues.
Act I: Getting off the Ground (Beginning the Project) Defining the Project, Selection of Architect,
RFP, Interviews, Contracts
4/25/2007
4/30/2007
9/27/2005
2/28/2006
1/18/2007
Act II: Gaining Ground (The Design Process) Pre-Design, Schematic Design, Construction Documents,
Definitions
Act III: Getting Into the Ground (The Construction Process) Bidding and Negotiations, Construction
Administration
Act IV: New & Old Issues (Miscellaneous) Construction Management, Sick Building Syndrome, LEED,
SEQRA, Sprinklers
Small Libraries Roundtable: Topic Programming in a Small Library
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This instance of the users group will address Programming:
Discuss solutions to the challenges of planning and implementing programming in
a small library
Share your questions, solutions and tips
Learn from your peers
Director's Series: Working with your Board 4/28/2005
Director's Series: Working with your Board
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: How to get the best out of your relationship with your board
and move in a positive direction together.
This four session workshop series is designed specifically for Library Directors. Participants
attendance is expected at all four sessions in the series, as they build sequentially. Attendance is
limited to member library directors only.
At the end of the series you will:
Understand your own communication style
Be able to recognize and analyze individual board members' behaviors
Understand the group dynamics of your board
Know the best way to communicate with your board members as a group and as
individuals
Circulation Essentials
Get the basics in Millennium Circulation / Designed for the Circ. staff
The workshop will cover:
Patron Records-How, when and why we create patron records
Checkin / Checkin for the Bookdrop
Checkout: Dealing with it all from pop-up messages to missing parts
Holds: How they work and what you need to know to keep on top of the process
Fines and fees: How fines work, how to create and add manual fines, waiving,
fine history
Printing notices: Pages, bills, overdues, hold pickup
Entering items at the circ desk
Neat tricks-things to save you time and work!
Welcoming New Residents
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: Offered as part of the LSTA funded grant project, Your Library:
Gateway to the Community: outreach to new residents , this training is hosted at the project focal
libraries and is open to staff and volunteers from all member libraries. The training will highlight the
special needs of new residents and practical ways to address them.
The workshop will cover:
Tools and techniques for assisting people who are new to the community
7/15/2004
4/14/2005
6/14/2005
5/17/2004
Suggestions for serving persons with diverse needs.
Essential customer service skills that will help make your job easier
Millennium Create Lists 1
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: You can create your own shelf lists, mailing labels, spine
labels, bibliographies and more using create lists. You can also pull a group of records together to
update and create statistics on. Create lists is allows you access to the Patron, bibliographic, item,
and order records stored in our shared database and provides a powerful tool for managing your
library. This training is geared towards managerial staff or those managing database records. This
training will be attended before attending the advanced part 2, create list training or the final lab
training session.
The workshop will cover:
Record fields
Creating Boolean searches
Printing your list
Annual Report
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: Every member library must make an annual report to DLD.
Find out how to fill out your report for optimum accuracy and how to deal with the changes that
went into effect since last year. The presentation will be targeted to library staff and trustees with
responsibility for completing the annual report.
The workshop will provide an opportunity to "ask the experts" - Lisa as a regional consultant and
former public library director; Maria as the person responsible for coordinating the process and
reporting information to the feds. Bring your questions!
The workshop will cover:
annual report process & state/federal reporting process
uses of the data
state and federal changes to the report (data elements & edit checks)
tips for providing better annotations
how to prevent errors (which will save you time, help streamline the reporting process &
reduce/eliminate follow-up by the state, the system and the library)
Electronic Resources @ Your Library
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This training will provide library staff with a better
understanding of the electronic resources available to patrons in their library and ways to help
patrons use them.
The workshop will cover:
HomeAccess Databases
Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)
the Internet
Seal Refresher
Learning Objectives / Target Audience: This workshop is designed to review procedures in the
regional electronic interlibrary loan program called SEAL -- Southeastern Access to Libraries (VDX).
The workshop will cover:
searching for material
placing interlibrary loan requests
management of borrowing and lending requests
11/21/2003
1/29/2004
3/11/2003
7/11/2003
procedures to request periodical articles through the SEAL ILL System
SEAL questions from the audience
Community Presentation Workshop
Learning Objectives / Target Audience:
To provide a compelling PowerPoint presentation for library staff and trustees to use when
presenting information about the library to the community.
The workshop is based on a presentation template designed for MHLS member libraries that
participants will have an opportunity to customize for their own community. The workshop will
cover:
Presentation basics
Use of PowerPoint
Hands-on customization of the presentation
Performer's Showcase 3/15/2002
Annual Report 1/25/2001
Win95 4/27/1999
Helping Patrons Use the Computer 2/5/1999
1/29/2003