Supporting Neurodiverse and Atypical Leadership in Libraries

***BEFORE YOU REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR PLEASE REVIEW IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION BELOW***

Introvert, ADHD, neuroatypical, oh my! The percentage of the population identifying as neurodiverse or atypical is rising. This may describe you, someone you work work with, or someone you’re looking to hire. When considering diversity and inclusion in your library, we need to be willing to challenge leadership stereotypes and advocate for neurodiverse or atypical managers. In this webinar, atypical managers from various public library departments will share their experiences to help you learn strategies for success, gain tools for immediate action, and techniques for self-acceptance. It’s time to stop hiding these perceived weaknesses and unleash their superpowers!

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Learn to identify tools to support and celebrate yourself and your staff; and
• Identify at least three strategies for being a successful atypical manager.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for all public library staff, especially hiring managers.

Panelists

Steph Nielsen (she/her) has worked for over fifteen years for vendors and public libraries managing and creating collections for children and teens. She is currently the acquisitions manager at Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, IL. Steph has run regional professional development groups for children's collection development, as well as has been a member of the Bluestem Awards for Illinois readers grades 3–5. She is a self-identified introvert whose three children have Star Trek inspired names.

Melissa Bernasek (she/her) is an introverted and atypical department leader focused on training, documentation, and supporting workers so they can thrive. Her full-time role is managing the information services and digital services departments at Gail Borden Public Library District. Melissa also serves as adjunct instructor for the School of Information Studies at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. She likes plants more than most people.

Billie Jo Moffett (she/her) currently works at Gail Borden Public Library as director of Studio 270, High School Teen Center and Digital Media Lab, where she enjoys using her skills and talents to help teens learn emerging technologies, create art in physical and digital mediums, and even help with calculus homework from time to time. Billie is working to strengthen partnerships with the community and teens as a member of the Alignment Collaborative for Education’s (ACE) Alignment A-Teams for Educational Pathways and Trauma Informed Care, and as an ACE Interface Trainer. She’s also a member of the Restorative Practice Subcommittee for the Juvenile Justice Council of Kane County; as well as partnering with the City of Elgin, the YWCA, and Youth Outlook. When not at the library, Billie is traveling with her husband, sewing, and hanging out with her three Basset Hounds.

Important Registration Information

Log into or create your ALA eLearning account

An ALA eLearning account is required to register. Don’t have an account? Create one for free by going to the “Log in” menu located at the top right corner of your screen. No membership is required to create the account.

Redeem your signup code to complete your registration

Once you’ve registered for this webinar, a signup code will be added to your ALA eLearning account and emailed to you. Find the signup code on your signup code page, then redeem it on your account’s dashboard to complete your enrollment in this live webinar.

• Need to purchase registration on behalf of a colleague?
• Need to register a group of 3 or more?
• Need to register with a purchase order?

Review the ALA eLearning FAQ if you need more information.

Accommodations

This live webinar will be captioned in English (United States). Zoom desktop client or mobile app is required to access captions.

Attendees using screen readers are advised to turn off speech prior to joining the Zoom event because PLA webinars make extensive use of chat functionality. Attendees who find chat distracting may wish to disable it in the Zoom event, as PLA moderators will verbally highlight important topics raised in chat and chat transcripts will be provided post-webinar.

If you have a physical or communication need that may affect your participation in this webinar, please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752) at least two weeks prior to the webinar. Without prior notification of need, we may not be able to provide appropriate accommodations for the live event.

Archived Recording

If you're unable to attend this live webinar, an archived recording will be available to all registrants typically within 1–3 business of the live event. Access to closed captions will be provided in the webinar recording.

Tech Requirements

This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. Please review Zoom technical requirements and support information, and test your connection.

Once you've joined the webinar, there are two ways to connect your audio: via computer (VoIP) or via telephone. No microphone is required. PLA works with its webinar platform provider to assure the highest quality audio is being delivered to attendees. However, variables over which PLA has no control—such as the speed of your Internet connection or traffic on your local network—can affect the end quality of the webinar audio delivered by your computer. Each webinar’s audio is also available by telephone via a toll number, so we recommend you have access to a long-distance enabled phone as a backup in case you experience audio issues with VoIP. If you do encounter any problems during the webinar, you will receive a link to its archived recording within a week of the live event and can review anything you missed.

Contact

This webinar is presented by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

Questions about this webinar? Please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752).