Continuing Education Archives

This webinar discusses the importance of representation in literature for youth, explores curated book lists filled with culturally relevant texts, and covers practical resources for finding books that celebrate diverse voices, backgrounds, and experiences.

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Handouts.

This webinar provides and talks through practical tips for supporting the agency of autistic and neurodivergent individuals in your library. Led by Bailey Hoffner, an adult-diagnosed autistic librarian, the session will cover basic concepts, history, and core principles of neurodiversity-affirming practice. Attendees will walk away with actionable steps they can take in nearly all areas of librarianship, from more inclusive ways to engage with patrons to better policies to support all workers, regardless of neuro-identities.

Mark McCarthy, Lead Accessibility Engineer and IT Accessibility Liaison at the University of Illinois, gave expert advice on the specific challenges and concerns brought by attendees.

In this webinar, learn steps you can take to meet legal requirements and develop a library culture that prioritizes accessibility. Katie Myers, ADA Coordinator at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, will share their ongoing efforts, discuss lessons learned, and provide practical advice that can help you get started identifying regional Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and community resources that provide partnership, collaboration and training.

Even if a library has been focusing on making its website more accessible, PDF files that patrons download are often overlooked. PDF documents are not inherently accessible and require specific effort to make them accessible. In this session, learn concrete actions you can take to make your library’s PDF content accessible.

In this two-part series, Heartland Forward uses their experience collaborating with The Public Library Association to create Getting Started with Telehealth, a new training module available on DigitalLearn.org, to give an overview of telehealth services and teach you how to use the training module to help your patrons.

Includes information on processes and outcomes of the work of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Learn methods you can implement now to make your library a harder target for eAccessibility complaints.  Learn about the supports a library needs to create and maintain an accessible digital footprint. 

DEI Director Tony Bradburn leads participants through Part 2 of a two-session experience that explored race, human development, the psychology of race consciousness, and how organizations can address racism.

DEI Director Tony Bradburn leads participants through Part 1 of a two-session experience that explored race, human development, the psychology of race consciousness, and how organizations can address racism.

This training program combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications, equipping library professionals with the skills needed to adapt to the changing needs of their communities. This comprehensive program covers four key topics crucial for the modern library landscape: library advocacy, community partnerships, libraries as places of healing, and social-emotional services in libraries.
 

This introductory session includes a general overview of current trends and research about handling diversity topics particularly race, gender, ability, and family structure as library boards and staff. The conversation includes understanding our perspectives and how these may impact our communities. Presented by RAILS EDI Consultant Elisabeth "Biz" Lindsay-Ryan.l

This program will discuss what is Emotional Intelligence. It will help the participant to understand how understanding the emotions of themselves and others can lead to more collaborative and productive work relationships. People managers will gain tools to help them with their own jobs and also to help their direct reports. Come be part of the discussion that employers around the globe are having with people - understanding emotions and building actions for maximum job satisfaction.

In this interactive session, learn how we partnered across departments to create a service that connects our community to printable assistive technology with the development of the Assistive Tools Kit, a collection of seven small devices that can be used by people of all ages to help with daily tasks such as writing, carrying bags, and opening small lids or bottle caps. Customers can borrow an assembled kit to learn which tools are most useful and create their own custom kit using the library’s 3D printers for a nominal cost of materials.

Chicago-based cataloging librarian Violet Fox discusses the past, present, and future of inclusive cataloging. Participants will learn about projects being done around the world to address long-standing bias in our catalogs, providing new opportunities to continue this work in their own systems. Attendees will also come away from the session with a renewed awareness of how this work can positively impact both library workers and our users.

Details/Watch

With the mega-funding coming for broadband improvements across the US, digital equity is suddenly a hot topic everywhere. We know that equity is at the very core of library services, but how can we apply the equity lens to digital services to include as many library patrons as possible? Please join technology consultant Carson Block and librarian and educational consultant Sarah Morris for a fun and engaging look at digital equity and an onramp to improve technology-driven library services for patrons and staff alike.

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