Sharing is Caring: Maximizing the Impact of Your Library of Things

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

A Library of Things (LOT) is now common in many libraries. Yet, how do you choose what to add to your collection, decide how big to grow it, and make sure the items you add meet the needs of your community? Join long-time LOT lenders Rachel Tanner and Hazel Onsrud to learn how their LOTs have improved programs and services for their diverse patrons. Rachel will discuss some of the benefits she's created in a large and distributed system, and Hazel will speak about her team's experience lending from a smaller library in a more rural setting. Each will answer questions about how their lessons learned may be applicable to your unique library and provide resources for further support.

Learning Outcomes

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

• Understand why a custom Library of Things could support their institutions' goals;
• Connect the growth of their Library of Things with programs and services relevant to their communities; and
• Identify resources for future assistance on their Library of Things development journeys.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for anyone interested in creating or working with a library of things and programming.

Panelists

Hazel Onsrud (she/they) is an public librarian for the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, ME, where she cultivates their Library of Things and runs community programming. She is also an advisory board member and mentor for the Sustainable Libraries Initiative, a LOT Mutual Aid group participant, and a MECollab coordinating member.

Rachel Tanner (she/her) manages the Tool Library collection at Central Arkansas Library System. She programs for both adults and children using resources from the tool collection, as well as specialty tools in the Makerspace. Rachel is passionate about sustainability, the sharing economy, repairability, transportation, and even crafting.

Important Registration Information

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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.

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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).