One Library's Mission to Provide Its Senior Community with Social Engagement and Emotional Connectedness

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

Public libraries are all about creating an uplifting environment of connection and support. When COVID struck in 2020, and our traditional ways of engaging with patrons became unsafe, it was nearly impossible for the North Canton (Ohio) Public Library (NCPL) to maintain those important relationships with older adults in our community. The city of North Canton did not have a dedicated senior center, and other senior programming opportunities had been cut due to the pandemic. As a result, senior residents were feeling isolated. In this webinar, you’ll learn how NCPL partnered with the city to reduce social isolation and increase connectedness for this vulnerable population. Almost three years later, the library’s senior programs continue to thrive and make a real impact, with attendees noting that the programs “make them look forward to each day now.” Join us to learn how strategic partnerships can help your outreach initiatives make an impact too!

Learning Outcomes

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

• Identify potential partnerships within their own communities that could lend themselves to similar outreach opportunities;
• Understand the emotional and social needs of older adults (ages 55+), especially in a post-COVID society; and
• Build a list of local potential partner agencies with whom their libraries could connect for similar programming opportunities for older adults. 

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for library directors and administrators, library managers who oversee programming for adults or outreach services, and library staff who facilitate programming for adults or outreach services.

Panelists

Andrea Legg (she/her) has been honored to work in public libraries since 2007. She’s always learning and trying to grow, but she's done the most work with collection analysis, alternative funding strategies, strategic planning, marketing, and development of staff over the last sixteen years. She is currently the director at the North Canton Public Library in northeast Ohio.

Christina Weyrick (she/her) is an optimistic visionary and experienced non-profit professional specializing in strategic outreach, marketing, development, team building, and event execution. Much of her recent experience is centered around building collaborative partnerships, board/committee development, organizational structure and communication, branding, copywriting, and increasing outreach. Christina also uses her event management and advocacy background extensively in her current role as community relations manager at the North Canton Public Library. She has a strong history in leading volunteer programs, fostering relationships, and building strong teams.

Amber Ollis’ (she/her) work and education have taken her around the world (literally), but she’s made her home in North Canton and has fully embraced her role as community engagement librarian at the North Canton Public Library—a job that could, on any given day, find her facilitating senior programs, delivering library materials to nursing home residents, connecting new parents with essential resources, and even fostering friendships between humans and hedgehogs. Her diligence and creativity have been essential in the success of the NCPL’s senior program initiatives.

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).