Session Information: This five-session series will reconnect to past training topics in teen services as well as introduce fresh content relevant for staff engaging with teens. After opening the series with an opportunity to take foundational steps in planning services for and with teens through an exploration of youth development and concepts of connected learning, this series offers learning about next steps in equity work, futures-thinking, and meeting community needs in times of crisis.  Presenters in this series will include national experts, esteemed university instructors, and knowledgeable library practitioners from Maryland and across the country, bringing their knowledge and experiences on these topics. Each session will include opportunities for interaction, questions, and discussion, and many resources on these topics will be shared.

Session 5: Next Steps in Re-imagining Library Services in Times of Crisis

Thursday, December 5th, 1:00-3:00pm

Description:

This last session of the Next Steps series returns to the important conversation held in last year’s Teens SOS series about the critical role libraries can play in recognizing strengths and meeting teens’ and community needs in times of crisis. Initially begun in 2020 during the pandemic by library Consultant, Linda Braun and Dr. Mega Subramaniam, University of Maryland, College of Information, this work focuses on re-imagining library services in times of crisis and continues through the IMLS-funded Ready NOW: Supporting Youth and Families During Crisis initiative. 

In this session, Linda Braun and Dr. Mega Subramaniam will help library staff take next steps in building skills and understanding for more proactive and ongoing community engagement.  We will:

• take a fresh look at the public servant mindset and explore how it fosters transformational relationships with community members;
• debunk myths in re-imagining library services with communities; t
• provide strategies to help library staff succeed in this challenging work. 

The 2020 research led to the publication of  the Field Guide, entitled Library Staff as Public Servants: A Field Guide for Preparing to Serve Communities in Times of Crisis, which outlines Essential Tasks that libraries’ staff need to embrace to serve historically marginalized youth and families successfully in times of crisis.  Linda and Mega will discuss recent updates to these Field Guide, in response to the learning happening in the Ready NOW project.  A key acknowledgement during this session will be that impactful community engagement and re-imaging systems and structures to meet community needs and build more equitable practices is hard and requires intentional time commitments, continuous reflection and iteration, and shifts in mindset.  Discussion and activities will occur in this session to support library staff in this work as they ponder next steps in their engagement with teens and community in times of need and crisis. 

Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:

• Build strategies for working with community members and organizations in support of historically marginalized youth and families.
• Explain the public servant mindset and its importance in developing equitable services for all in our communities.
• Gain knowledge of how to prepare, with community partners, for crisis situations.
• Identify the essential tasks of libraries so they can work efficiently in their communities in times of crisis and beyond.

Presenters:

Linda W. Braun is the Principal of The LEO Group.  She works with educational institutions across the United States to design and deliver quality learning experiences for youth, families, communities, and staff.  Linda has a Masters of Science in Library Science from Simmons College and a Masters of Education from Lesley University.  She manages large-scale projects such as the IMLS funded Building Equity-Based Summers (in partnership with the California Library Association) and the California-based AI Collaboratory, a project focused on working with California’s public libraries to prepare and respond to AI.  Linda is also a consultant with the University of Maryland’s Ready NOW initiative and the Connected Learning Lab’s Transforming and Scaling Teen Services for EDI. (Both IMLS-funded.) 

Dr. Mega Subramaniam is a Professor and the Associate Dean for Faculty at the College of Information  at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on enhancing the role of libraries in fostering the mastery of digital literacies among historically marginalized youth. Her research has resulted in several best paper awards at conferences and several national recognitions, most recently including the Library Journal's 2019 Movers and Shakers award, YALSA’s 2020 Outstanding Achievement Award, and the Fulbright Specialist Award. Learn more about her work at https://terpconnect.umd.edu/~mmsubram/

CE Hours: 3 (1 hour of pre-work)

Registration closes November 21.  A Zoom link will be sent to all registrants.