The 2021 Marigold Member Libraries’ Workshop (MLW) will be held VIRTUALLY on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Registration for this virtual conference will be free and open to everyone in Marigold and beyond. This annual workshop is an opportunity for Marigold member library staff and board members to attend professional development sessions, meet Marigold Headquarters staff, and network with fellow library staff (yes, this can happen even virtually - stay tuned!).

 

What motivates you? What makes you optimistic and fills you with a sense of meaning? When you choose to make something matter to you, you will be determined to make it happen. Take positive initiative and make it matter, make it happen.

The MLW Planning Committee invites session proposals which may benefit, support, or inspire library staff and board members. 

 

Possible session topics include:

*Other topics of interest will be considered

 

Please fill out the online form to submit a proposal: https://marigold.ab.ca/MLWproposals

 

*Only those selected to present at the workshop will be contacted.

Marigold is conducting a pilot project for providing Zoom access/scheduling for member libraries activities including Board Meetings and virtual programming. More information can be found on Marigold's website here.

 

To have Marigold schedule a Zoom meeting/event for your library, please fill out the online form provided.

As we all tiptoe into 2021, Longview Library would like to wish you and your families a Happy New Year! 2020 was a very challenging year for all of us. Finding creative ways for programming and fundraising was not easy, and as a result many programs had to be cancelled for the safety of our communities.

I’m happy to say that the recent story walks from Marigold have been very popular in our community. It’s a great way for family and friends to get some fresh air, exercise, and experience a unique way of reading a book at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

For the past few years, the Village of Longview has prided itself on their “Light Up” Christmas Celebration. This year, the lights at our village campground and skating rink were a great inspiration for posting our last story of 2020. Dashing Through the Snow: A Canadian Jingle Bells was read and sung by many kids and adults alike! Thanks to everyone at Marigold for supporting us in these trying times. Special thanks to Barb Froese for being so accommodating with all our requests!

 

~Submitted by Lynda Winfield,

Library Manager, Longview Municipal Library

 

Family Literacy Day started in 1999 and is an initiative used to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related family activities. It is important to take time every day to read or do a learning activity with children in order to help their development, and improve their literacy skills, and it can even help parents improve their skills as well.

 

Family Literacy Day is held annually on January 27, and 2021 is no exception! The theme for 2021 is Travel the World Together! Barbara Reid, award-winning Canadian author and illustrator, is once again the Honorary Chair of this year's Family Literacy Day. Join her on January 27 from 2:30-3:00pm when she will do a demonstration on how to use clay to create a picture and share unique techniques to use to make different things. This event is ideal for children in grades 1 to 6. To register, click here to get a spot - space is limited!

 

You can visit this website to find links to activity ideas and promotional resources!

Drumheller Public Library generously purchased a system wide subscription to the Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness Core Training in Niche Academy for the next year! See below for more information from Emily Hollingshead, Library Director at Drumheller Public Library.

 

Combine library values of welcome and accessibility, a growing societal interest in mental health, and a global pandemic, and trauma-informed customer service starts to sound downright reasonable. Ryan Dowd’s Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness course offers rich, often entertaining, training in exactly that, covering topics like cross-cultural communication, de-escalation, the effects of trauma on the brain and how those effects play out in behaviour, and above all empathy. Ryan draws on decades of experience working at the Hesed House homeless shelter, and the course is certainly relevant to working with patrons experiencing homelessness. It’s also relevant to working with any patron (or coworker, or stakeholder) who comes to the Library with a background or perspective that’s unfamiliar – for example, newcomers, teens, and those who’ve experienced generational poverty. In a series of short video lessons, The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness walks you through some of the cultural, biological, and experiential factors that influence how someone views and experiences the world and explains how to start building bridges so libraries can fulfill their purpose for all the diverse members of their communities.

 

The course is full of valuable information, but it will only make a difference if we find ways to put its content into practice. We’d like to invite any library staff members taking the course to join a monthly Zoom meeting where we can discuss what we’ve learned and collaborate on ways to turn knowledge into action. Since launching The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness, Dowd has also released several topical webinars. Our plan is to alternate those monthly Zoom conversations between the core course and the webinars, so there will be several opportunities to join the main conversation whenever you’re able to take the Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness course as well as opportunities to go more in depth on specific topics. See below for a schedule and vote here to help determine the meeting time: https://doodle.com/poll/3k4svye2sbq5r2zn?utm_source=poll&utm_medium=link.

 

Mark your calendars for the week of February 8-12, 2021 for our sixth symposium. PLSB is pleased to offer a free learning and information-sharing event, this time focused on emergency planning and resiliency for public libraries. We will focus on how libraries can prepare for and respond to emergencies both large and small, short-term or over the long haul.  Participants will come away with a tool kit that they can use to develop an emergency plan for their libraries.    

 

This year the symposium will be online. There will be 2-3 single-stream offerings each day, each between 45 and 90 minutes in length. There will also be opportunities for attendees to take advantage of networking opportunities in virtual breakout rooms. Registration for the symposium will open in January 2021. A full agenda and information about how to connect to the symposium will also be available at this time as well.

 

This virtual format is new for the PLSB symposium and we are excited to be able to extend our reach. If you have any questions regarding the symposium, please contact Public Library Services Branch at libraries@gov.ab.ca.

Each session is 4.5 hours long and will be offered 14 times throughout January. To ensure the best learning experience, each session will be capped at 30 individuals. You can see all the dates being offered and register in the calendar here under the month of January. Registration is required but the event is completely free. 

Take the opportunity to encourage fitness in your library and community by displaying your UWALK pedometers, promoting Winter Walk Day, or running your own event. Visit here for more information, including promotional posters, and to register.