Kansas City Local Library Exchange is LIVE starting Friday, March 1!!

From Gail:

After nearly 18 months of planning, the Kansas City Local Library Exchange is finally set to launch this coming Friday, March 1!

This program began as a collaboration between several library organizations in the metro area. As a group, our focus has been on designing a low cost professional development exchange program that would allow ALL library staff (degreed librarians, paraprofessionals, and other staff) to visit other libraries in the area. These visits are meant to provide opportunities for networking, as well as for researching processes and/or services at other libraries that are unavailable at your home library.

Since Dykes Library is one of the key libraries responsible for the design of the program, Rachel G., Lynn, Ron, Brad, Christina, and I would strongly encourage all Dykes Library staff to take part, if at all possible. The list of libraries involved is small at the moment. However, we hope that as word spreads, the list will grow, providing more opportunities to visit libraries all over the metro, as well as to host others from area libraries.

For information about the program, including how to sign up, go to: https://sites.google.com/site/kclocallibraryexchange/home

Also, here is a promotional video created by Christina that is going to go out across the metro area via MALA sometime over the next few days: http://goanimate.com/videos/0K39KjMJ7EuY?utm_source=linkshare

If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact Gail, Lynn, Rachel G., Ron, Brad, or Christina.

Help Wanted!

HELP WANTED:  At least 1 other staff member to assist Stacey with the travel request funding approval/denial process, affectionately known as the Professional Development Budget Committee.  Skills needed: desire to distribute library money on furthering others' professional development goals.   

As you can see, I'm putting out feelers for someone who would be interested in joining me in approving/denying submitted travel requests that require funding. Since Amy's departure I am currently a committee of one (and thus redefining the definition of ""committee").   If anyone would be interested in participating in this awesome role of power and responsibility :) please let me know.  It's basically maintenance-free and most of the work can be done right from your computer in a matter of mouse clicks. Besides, it probably looks better if I'm not the sole party distributing PD funds to library staff (the whole checks and balances thing, you know).

Need more information? Read up on the responsibilities and guidelines for this group or contact me.  Thanks!

Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program Offering Financial Assistance!

Thanks to Rachel V. for passing along this information!

The Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program is proud to announce that, in cooperation with nine state-level library organizations, it will be offering Enrollment Assistance Awards (EAAs) this spring to library support staff applying for certification in the LSSC Program.  The LSSC Program offers library support staff the opportunity to achieve recognition for their existing skills and knowledge, to gain new skills and knowledge, and to enhance their library’s service to the public. Those interested in applying at the national level will be able to submit their application from February 15 – March 15, 2013, using the online form.  The recipients of the awards will be chosen by a random drawing in late March, 2013.  More information can be found on the LSSC Website. http://ala-apa.org/lssc/2013/02/14/financial-assistance-offered-by-lssc-and-nine-state-partners/

The LSSC Program is also offering several informational webinars in February and March. Please visit the website for more information on the webinars and registering for them. http://ala-apa.org/lssc/webinars-and-presentations/

Staff review: Self-Directed Achievement (WebJunction webinar)

WebJunction hosted a great and informative webinar on Thurs., Feb. 7th about staff professional development called Self-Directed Achievement - if you give library staff an hour, about a small library's attempt to empower staff to take learning and goal-setting into their own hands by utilizing an hour of their time each week to meet a small, specific goal (ie: "I will learn more about Facebook by going through 1 beginning tutorial") and then sharing the results with a supervisor in a weekly 15-minute meeting.   The presenters emphasized that SDA is more of a culture of lifelong learning than a "program."   They saw it really change the way their staff interacted with patrons by increasing their own knowledge (ie:  before SDA, someone did not know how to load an e-book on an e-reader and felt powerless to help a patron seeking assistance for e-book downloading; after setting a goal to learn how to download a book on a Kindle, staff member felt more empowered to help library patrons perform this task).  It also fostered an environment where staff were learning and sharing with each other new things they had learned, thus prompting a kind of domino effect where knowledge spread like wildfire.

After viewing this presentation, I definitely see a use for SDA in my own personal work life.  Maybe you will, too?

If anyone wishes to view this presentation, it has been archived here.  The PowerPoint slides and related resources are also available on that page.