How the Work of Fred Rogers Supports the Evolution of Public Libraries

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

Public libraries uphold a civic responsibility to provide communities a space to connect, learn, and grow collectively. Their identity reflects a global landscape of diverse viewpoints and history. Similarly, Fred Rogers worked tirelessly to create a welcoming neighborhood for all. In this webinar, attendees will learn how Rogers’ philosophy aligns with the mission of public libraries and the three philosophical keys identified in a recent study; how to implement the Neighborhood of Make-Believe as an asset model approach when evaluating library services; and how to apply Rogers’ philosophy to support the wellbeing of library staff.

Learning Outcomes

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

• Describe the three philosophical keys from the study and how they align with the mission of public libraries;
• Understand the relationship of Fred Rogers and public libraries;
• Define asset modeling and identify its connection to evaluating library services; and
• Identify the components of Rogers’ philosophy that support the wellbeing of library staff and how to apply them.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for all public library staff, library directors, and administrators.

Panelists

Dr. Zachary Stier (he/him) has been the director of children's services at Ericson Public Library in Boone, IA since October 2011. He has revolutionized services at the library for children and families through the expansion of early literacy programming; the redesign of space to emphasize play; family engagement initiatives; enhanced community partnerships with community, state, and national partners; after-school STEAM programming, to name a few. He was project director for NASA@My Library; is the project director for the library's equity project, Activating Community Voices; and project director for the library's piloted mobilized family engagement program, Little Engines. He recently became an independent consultant for the Space Science Institute. In 2011, Stier opened Mr. Z and Company, LLC a consultancy firm for educators and librarian. He is also an adjunct lecturer for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign iSchool graduate program teaching early literacy. He serves on numerous state and national boards and was recently selected to be part of the Fred Rogers Institute program, the Educators’ Neighborhood. He is a published author, and in 2024 was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker. He holds degrees from Grandview University, Drexel University, and Concordia Portland, as well as postgraduate studies in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute, and a Doctorate in Education from Concordia Chicago.

Gregg Behr (he/him), executive director of The Grable Foundation, is a father and children’s advocate whose work to ignite children’s curiosity, encourage creativity, and foster belonging in schools, libraries, museums, and beyond, has been celebrated around the world.

Ryan Rydzewski (he/him), communications officer at The Grable Foundation, a father, a former teacher, and an award-winning science and education journalist whose stories span everything from schools to space travel to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Important Registration Information

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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).