Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a customer is seeking information but feels confused, distrustful or even suspicious of the library? This training will explain the emotional pathways that make those moments difficult to navigate and help you better address customers’ information-seeking needs in today’s crowded media landscape – while taking care of your own needs as well.

Since early 2024, the Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) has been working with Deanna Troust of Truth in Common to help customers and staff navigate today’s digital spaces and their interactions with others at home, at work and in the community. Her professional development work helps librarians and staff understand today’s information ecosystem and the tactics manipulators use to pollute it, and update their information literacy skills to meet current realities. This is a two-part virtual training that will take place as follows:

 Part 1 of 2 – October 9 th, 2025, from 10:00am-11:30am
Registration Link for Part 1 of 2 –
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EsOew-diQi6oOtAngh4XEQ

 Part 2 of 2 – October 16th, 2025, from 1:00pm-2:30pm
Registration Link for Part 2 of 2 -
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ODhPtvdORPi00qq_MqTORw

Advanced registration is required, and you’ll want to register separately for both parts as the sessions build on one another. Upon registration, you will receive a unique link to join the event via Zoom. In the event you are unable to attend either or both sessions, we will be sending a recording of the sessions to enrolled attendees.

There are 100 slots for this training opportunity.

Training Objectives:
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
 Explain the current dynamics of the information ecosystem, the roles of mis/disinformation and propaganda and their impact on library customers and staff
 Recognize common emotional and psychological responses to content and identify supportive, empathetic ways to respond
 Describe why and how bad actors spread false or misleading content and their effect on public discourse and trust
 Demonstrate updated skills for vetting information sources and claims, applying fact-checking and lateral reading techniques and evaluating visual content for authenticity
 Applying best practices for navigating sensitive conversations with customers about hot topics like bias and censorship
 Engage customers more effectively by guiding them toward credible sources, including local journalism and community information, and helping them critically evaluate the content they encounter online
 Reflect on their own emotional resilience and identify strategies for self-care when handling difficult or emotionally intense customer interactions

 Help counter the spread and impact of false and misleading content – and contribute to a hopeful and proactive library culture – by:
o More intentionally curating their own information feeds
o Modeling and encouraging civic dialogue
o Promoting information literacy
o Fostering trust in the library as a community anchor, and
o Exploring new programming ideas and resource development.

About the Presenter
Deanna Troust is an award-winning communications strategist and educator whose career includes 30
years in social change communications, over a decade in leadership at Vanguard Communications and
several years in organizational development and marketing consulting for corporate and nonprofit
partners.

Deanna founded Truth in Common in 2022 as a nonpartisan nonprofit that offers multi-channel,
relational learning experiences that draw on best practices in media literacy and best practices for
healing societal division. She brings an unusual blend of PR strategy and gracious facilitation to the
broader effort to stem the spread and influence of mis/disinformation and propaganda, which she sees
as access issues and some of the most pressing of our time. She’s a popular speaker on these dynamics
and offers practical tips for how front-line professionals can be part of the solution.