Continuing Education Archives

Discover how to assess and improve your school library collection to meet the needs of faculty, parents, students, and the community. Learn the basics of creating a diverse, trend-aware collection, making it accessible and engaging, and managing your budget for new materials. You'll leave with practical strategies to ensure your collection is effective and well-used.

We are living in the Golden Age of Children's Literature, no doubt about It. At the same tlme, we are also living in an era where more books are being published for kids than we've ever seen before. How can you possibly cut through the mass to find the gems?

Whether building a collection from scratch or brushing up on what’s new and noteworthy, this presentation covers best practices for collection development and maintenance, up-and-coming series to keep an eye on, to boost your circulation statistics with appealing titles for elementary through high school readers.

Join us on Tuesday, August 9, 2022 from 2-4pm on Zoom for Summer in the Streets: The Urban Lit Movement. Hear from K'wan, Joy Deja King, Anna Black and Keith Kareem Williams in panel format, talk about their experiences reading, writing and promoting the hot Urban Lit genre.

Panelists: K'wan, Joy Deja King, Anna Black and Keith Kareem Williams Newly added presenter Mary B. Morrison will also discuss "Why We Love Street Lit"

Presented in conjunction with RAILS.

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Presenters Ron Gauthier, Melissa Grammont, and Terri Corbin-Hutchinson assist you in navigating the rich diversity of African American, African, and Caribbean authors and resources available in many libraries across the country.

Presenters: Terri Corbin-Hutchison, Melissa Grammont, and Ronald M. Gauthier

This event was offered by CCS and made possible in part by a RAILS EDI Training Grant.

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As library collections evolve to meet community needs, it is important to evaluate the representation included in each collection and assess where gaps can be filled. Implementing a diversity audit is critical to understanding the current state of your collection and developing plans for ongoing improvement. In this webinar, participants will learn how to create and execute a diversity audit, evaluate materials for inclusivity, and develop an action plan for diversifying their collections.

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Learn how to create specialized collections to serve people with disabilities more inclusively at your library. In this webinar, Library Accessibility Consultant Renee Grassi talks about developing accessible collections to serve individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, those with Alzheimer's, dementia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning disabilities, blindness or low vision.

As we continue to add streaming movies, music, digital magazines, and other formats to our collections, our need to effectively train staff and promote these services grows. Nationally recognized library technology consultant Nick Tanzi presents a comprehensive approach to maximizing your library's investment in digital media.

This presentation was recorded on Thursday, July 29, 2021, and runs approximately 55 minutes.

This webinar includes a brief overview of basic handling and surface cleaning for collections materials while introducing participants to recommendations for mitigating risks and securing collections during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation includes a half-hour question and answer session with a Northeast Document Conservations Center Preservation Specialist and a Conservator to address specific concerns from RAILS members.

Feel like you want a firmer grasp on the books being published for kids today? Then join this fun, upbeat look back at 2019. Evanston Public Library Collection Development Manager Betsy Bird uses her location's 101 Great Books for Kids list to highlight the titles you definitely shouldn't miss. Attendees will receive a firm grasp on some of the best books written for children, as well as a broader sense of trends in publishing and what to look for in the future.

This webinar was recorded live on March 3, 2020, and runs approximately one hour and 15 minutes.

Join Evanston Public Library's Collection Development Manager Betsy Bird as she guides you through her library's annual 101 Great Books for Kids list for 2018. From fairy tales and folktales to comics and picture book biographies, there's something for every kid between the ages of 2-12 on this list. Betsy talks up some of the keener selections, highlighting both known favorites and the hidden gems that might come in handy for your average children's librarian. Finally, Betsy discusses creating this list and how you can make one for your own library system. Come for the books.

Collection resources today are more varied and plentiful than ever before, and so are the people who are using them. We need to make sure we are working with all communities involved in the many environments, such as students in the classroom, teachers in the staff room, and parents to name just a few. Having enough valuable resources available and making sure they are used effectively is the goal for a successful library in the 21st Century. This webinar will help you reach that goal.

Are you dreading an upcoming weeding project? Do your collections need refreshing but you don't know where to start?

Everything you wanted to know about weeding and then some: the why, the how, the pitfalls, and the joys. Participants will leave with a renewed understanding of the importance of weeding for good collection development, along with current resources to help them in their task.

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Collection development basics for libraries, including discussion on organizing your budget, weeding, and writing a plan. Also discusses current topics such as media and eBooks.

This workshop is the second in a series brought to you by RAILS and Booklist titled "RA and More: Practical Advice for Public and School Librarians."

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