Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Session 3: Breakouts
11:00-11:50 AM
11:00-11:50 AM
Mystic Ballroom AD
Becoming a Safe Space with Social Work in your Library
Presenters: Alyssa Eckstein, LMSW, City of West Haven; Colleen Bailie, West Haven Public Library
Through a collaborative effort with the city, West Haven Library began to have a social worker at the library a few times a week in early 2024. Learn how to reach your patrons where they are, in a safe environment and help them achieve their best selves. Learn about ways to assist your staff to work with difficult patrons through social work in your library.
Sponsor: CLA Member
This session will highlight how West Haven began their social worker embedded in the library and how the services became successful.
Presenters will share their findings with working with the public, and how the staff utilize support of our social worker when needed. As libraries increasingly become community centers, its vital to recognize the unique needs of all our patrons that come in and how we can best help them with their needs and information.
Mystic Ballroom BE
Making Space for Emotions: SEL Storytimes
Presenters: Julia Mazur & Bailey Francis of Lucy Robbins Welles Library
This presentation is all about supporting the emotions of the little patrons, who sometimes have big feelings and don't know how to handle them. We will share how our SEL storytime was created, and how our collection supports this endeavor for kids to understand and cope with their emotions.
Sponsor: CLA Member
Objectives & Takeaways:
Attendees will gain knowledge of creating programs dedicated to learning and regulating emotions for kids, as well as special collections related to this topic.
Other various craft ideas and activities will be discussed as well.
Mystic Ballroom CF
The Staffing Challenge: How to Find, Interview and Keep the Staff You Want
Presenter: Maxine Bleiweis, former CT Public Library Director presently consulting at Maxine Bleiweis & Associates
Openings in libraries are few and far between. In this program, we'll explore how to recruit for the diversity you need and want, interview (in a whole different way!), and retain for every position. Warning: you'll never think the same way again about the process!
Sponsor: CLA Member
Objectives & Takeaways:
Openings in the library world are precious opportunities to put the best people in place to deliver service. But our methods don't set us up for success.
With this program, you'll turn reactive methods into proactive.
You'll set up interviews that really tell you about the interviewee's skills.
And you'll learn to prepare your existing staff for the change a new person can bring to your library.
Conference Room 1
Small but Mighty: Small Libraries Meetup
Presenters: Jen Sullivan, CLA Public Libraries Section Chair; Lynn Zaffino, Easton Public Library
Small libraries unite! Serving a population 10,000 and under? Come meet your colleagues for our first in-person meeting since before the pandemic, where we'll brainstorm quickly at the start of the session for topics to discuss. You drive the conversation!
Sponsor: Public Libraries Section
Conference Room 2
CT Ready to Read with Sparkler
Double Session: 11:00 am-12:50 pm
Presenters: Bethanne Vergean, Sparkler Learning; Kymberlee Powe, Connecticut State Library; Meaghan Penrod, Sparkler Learning
Caregivers are a child’s first teacher but they may need more information about reading readiness, early literacy skills, early childhood development. In partnership with Sparkler, a tool supported by the CT Office of Early Childhood, librarians will learn to intentionally embed early literacy skills into beloved theme based storytimes, while sharing educational information with caregivers.
Sponsor: CLA Conference Committee
Objectives & Takeaways:
Understand the six early literacy skills and how to embed them in theme based storytimes.
Learn to embed parent/caregiver tips into storytimes giving them the tools to continue to help children learn at home.
Learn about the Sparkler app, a tool for parents and caregivers supported by the CT Office of early Childhood, that allows adults to check their child’s development against key milestones.
Conference Room 3
Dungeons & Dragons for Neurodivergent Teens and Adults
Presenter: Nicole Kent, Henry Carter Hull Library
Teen librarian Nicole Kent will discuss how to run Dungeons and Dragons programs for mixed neurotypical and neurodivergent groups for ages 12 and up. Content will include how to diffuse difficult situations, how to encourage group harmony, different scenarios to anticipate, and more.
Sponsor: CLA Member
Objectives & Takeaways:
Attendees will learn how to work with differing degrees of neurodivergent gamers, how to anticipate and work with mixed groups of neurodivergent and neurotypical gamers, and how it can be a rewarding experience for all involved. .
Conference Room 5
Readers’ Advisory: Resources, Community Outreach, and an Interactive Discussion
Presenters: Christie Mitchell & Kelly-Ann Gardella of Ridgefield Library and Laura Cavers, Readers' Advisor at New Canaan Library
We will present an overview of readers’ advisory for adults including resources and tips along with describing a community outreach book program and newsletter that improves readers’ advisory. We will briefly discuss how AI can be used. Then we will open the session to attendees to share their RA comments and experiences. We encourage attendees to come prepared to contribute.
Sponsor: Reference & Adult Services Section
Objectives & Takeaways:
Readers’ Advisory (RA) is one of the core services librarians provide. RA essentially connects readers with books they will enjoy. This happens in numerous ways such as getting to know patrons and recommending books based on their interests as well as understanding the community and its reading interests.
Our objective is to re-energize adult services librarians' focus on readers’ advisory and provide practical resources, ideas, and tips to improve readers’ advisory knowledge and skills for librarians. Recommending and offering diverse titles, genres, and formats, as well as understanding diverse patrons, having positive interactions with patrons and encouraging use of the library, developing collections based on community interests, providing book lists, displays, and book programs, will help librarians to better serve patrons and their community.
We will briefly explore the ways in which AI can be used for readers’ advisory. Offering an opportunity for librarians to network, share, and discuss their knowledge and experiences will also be invaluable. We hope librarians will come away with a greater understanding of how to utilize these tools confidently and effectively for this core service.
Conference Room 7
Make Space for a Seed Library
Presenters: Elizabeth Van Ness, Canton Public Library; Jeffrey Panettiere, New Haven Free Public Library; Joanne Gabriel, Darien Library; Kathleen Malloy, Westport Library; Melanie Ollett, Beekley Community Library, New Hartford
Learn how to start a seed library by getting seed donations and setting up a space and giving away something to your patrons which will give them great enjoyment and food security.
Sponsor: CLA Reference & Adult Services Section
Objectives & Takeaways:
Attendees will learn how to get seed donations, set up policies and procedures, and create a space for the seed library.
