Submitted by Jeff Fisher
The week of Staff Day, several FCPL staff were able to attend the Georgia Libraries Conference, held in Macon. Over the course of several blog posts, the staff who were at the conference will provide information related to the sessions they were able to attend.
This blog series begins with summaries of the sessions attended by Kim Ottesen, FCPL Programming Manager.
Present in the Past: Working with Public Schools to Teach Civil Rights History
Presented by: Josh Beasley, GCPL; Ronald Gauthier, Gauthier Properties
Attended by: Kim Ottesen
Summary: The best takeaway from this presentation was that librarians should be aware of the Civil Rights history requirements for each grade level and look to find e-resources and materials that match up with those standards. This way, libraries can reach out to teachers with concrete solutions to help them with resources. Teachers will always respond positively to someone offering to make their job a little easier. It was also suggested to offer training for teachers, so that they know what primary and secondary sources the library can provide for them to enrich their lesson planning.
Programming 101
Presented by: Kelly Williams, Benjamin Mullis, and Micki Waldrop
Attended by: Kim Ottesen
Summary: The information shared in this presentation was similar (nearly identical) to the information at Adult Programming Palooza. Two of the presenters were from academic libraries, so that offered a fresh perspective from the public library. Most important information was to listen to your patrons and try to provide programming they will be interested in attending. Also, do not be afraid to try new things. All three presenters lamented a lack of funding and needing to be very creative with how they obtain supplies for programs. The goal is always to get people in the libraries!
Beanstack: To Summer Reading and Beyond!
Presented by: Don Giacomini, Beanstack; Evan Bush, GPLS
Attended by: Kim Ottesen
Summary: This was the most valuable presentation for me since it dealt directly with how to set-up a Beanstack challenge. Winter Reading is coming soon, so this information was timely for me. I learned that it is possible to partner with our school system using Beanstack Tandem so that our FCS student patrons would only need to log books once instead of twice (once for each account). FCS is currently Beanstack’s top school district in the country. FCS students have read over 60 million minutes! Some libraries are doing creative things with Beanstack challenges such as: library scavenger hunts, embedding videos, and giving out secret codes at key programs to allow patrons to complete a specific badge. Hopefully, you will see something new this winter!
Bringing Families Together: A New Perspective on Instructional Genealogy
Presented by: Ashley Shull
Attended by: Kim Ottesen
Summary: Ashley Shull has a monthly genealogy program at her library. She starts patrons off with a task: writing down everything they know about their family, so they will then know what they don’t know. This exercise helps patrons by giving them options of where to start. Ashley, a former teacher, highly recommends using Scaffolding Learning Theory when teaching genealogy so that patrons will actually learn how to do it independently, which is the goal. She mentioned that genealogical conventions are not the same as using a proof standard. This means to find proof to back up what you think you discovered. Lastly, she talked about how some people from families with a history of owning slaves are doing reparative genealogy. This means that they will make the family records of enslavement available to descendants of enslaved people. Fascinating.
Keynote: Cicely Lewis
Attended by: Kim Ottesen
Summary: This speaker was INSPIRING! Cicely Lewis is the founder of Read Woke. Her passion for reading and for promoting diverse books got her noticed in the school where she was teaching. Teachers and students were coming to her for reading suggestions. Eventually, she was asked to be the librarian at her school. It wasn’t long before she was named Librarian of the Year by School Library Journal in 2020. She encourages everyone to Read Woke, which means to read books about and by people from all walks of life and backgrounds.
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