Adult Services Notes

Recent LVA Training

Moral Panics Have a Business Model that Profits When Libraries Are Hurting

You'll come away with a clear framework for understanding how moral panics impact intellectual freedom, a closer look at the tactics being used against library workers right now, and language for talking about what you're seeing in your own community.

After completing this training, participants will be able to:

• Understand the current landscape of intellectual freedom challenges

• Analyze the mechanisms of coordinated censorship campaigns

• Compare how moral panics have operated to censor materials across three historical periods

• Recognize the symptoms of occupational burnout and trauma faced by library staff

Niche Academy is open to all Virginia library staff members and library associates such as trustees and Friends board members. If you do not have a Niche Academy account, please use your library email address to sign up. If you do not have a library work email, you may register with a personal email, and we will contact you to confirm that you are affiliated with a Virginia library. 

News from Library Development

Virginia Writes Indie Author Project Contest

BiblioBoard's 2026 Indie Author Project (IAP) Annual Contest closes for submissions on May 31! This is a great opportunity for libraries to spotlight local authors and connect them with a wider audience through the library network.

Authors can submit their materials to the IAP contest, which will be judged by a panel of librarians from around the country, and those materials will automatically be added to the Indie Virginia collection as well.

If you want to promote the contest to your local author community, BiblioBoard has created ready-to-use marketing materials to help you spread the word, including printable flyers, social media graphics, and press release templates.

LVA/RUSA Scholarship Reports

RUSA Online Forum

Ellen Forbes Stick, Roanoke Public Libraries

Having the opportunity to attend the 2026 RUSA Virtual Forum: Stepping Boldly Forward earlier in March, thanks to the LVA RUSA Scholarship, I learned of the many ways that I could use artificial intelligence to write this summary of the forum’s two days of insightful information and suggested applications instead of spending time reflecting and reporting on the content myself. However, I am going to use my own thinking and composing skills to share the highlights from the Forum without AI, ‘sorta kinda.’

This year’s Forum provided several sessions to highlight the benefits and obstacles of using Artificial Intelligence for library staff members to streamline many daily, management, and patron assisting tasks. While it is logical that academic libraries approach the utilitarian merits and significant challenges of AI, public libraries have vast opportunities to use AI to better serve patrons from all walks of life and even subsidize workloads of their increasingly challenged staff.

From this virtual platform, I learned of new ways to assist patrons in a public library by using AI to easily inform patrons of events, policies, and material by adapting text to lower reading levels, less verbiage, and translations to other languages. Speed Geeking: Bringing Forward the Future of Accessibility in Libraries was a great session with quick, yet informative, nuggets of information with immediate applications. Librarian-Led Information Literacy in an AI World provided excellent ways to approach this challenge by identifying what public libraries can offer that AI cannot, remaining informed of the AI World through frequent reassessment, and seeking opportunities to teach literacy skills including outreach sessions and passive strategies for signage and social media. Empowering Libraries with AI Literacy: Building Skills for a Bold Future offered the steps and methods to use AI to help Libraries communicate a wide variety of information more effectively. Finally, the Virtual Coffee Break provided a great pause and a moment to share insight with others in an unstructured and virtual space.

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to attend the 2026 RUSA Virtual Forum: Stepping Boldly Forward during a week of snowy weather, tight budgets, and limited staffing. Being virtual made attending feasible and the scholarship facilitated the opportunity. The time spent with my virtual attendees was insightful and informative.

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Toni Vinciguerra, Roanoke Public Libraries

The two workshops that I found most helpful were the Navigating Knowledge in the Digital Age and Librarian led Information Literacy AI. Both seminars discussed the changing space of the internet and the digital age. One quote that stood out, "We are drowning in information, starving for knowledge." I resonated with the overwhelming process of searching and hunting on the web. There is no easy methodology for finding accurate information quickly and easily. While Chat GPT is an amazing reach into the future, it isn't always correct. How do you even know if it is wrong? What does Chat GPT mean for the future generations? How will we change and how can we prepare for the future. I remember when the internet was just emerging and it was so amazing to send one email that took 20 minutes to receive. Now we have this mass quantity of information instantly at our fingertips and we have moved from limited information into this pile of unlimited information. These two seminars explored the changing landscape of the digital age and AI.Thank you for providing the opportunity to attend the conference!

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Abigail Roberson, Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library

I recently had the opportunity to attend the session “Preserving Together: Public Libraries as Advocates for Unearthing and Preserving Local Legacies,” presented by D’Andra Alexander through the RUSA Virtual Forum. The presentation highlighted the role that public libraries can play in helping preserve the histories of underserved communities. Alexander used her own experience helping the preservation of a historic Rosenwald School in Pottstown, North Carolina as an example.

Alexander’s work focused on the preservation of Rosenwald School #2 in Pottstown, North Carolina, a historically African American community founded by free Black residents after the Civil War. Built in 1925 as part of the Rosenwald school initiative, the school operated until 1958 and was designated a historic landmark in 2022. Today, it serves as a civic and cultural center and is one of only six surviving Rosenwald Schools in Mecklenburg County.

Alexander and a team of library staff collaborated with the Mecklenburg Historical Landmark Commission to research the school’s history and support its landmark designation. Because formal documentation was limited, the team relied on a wide variety of sources including oral histories, obituaries, yearbooks, census records, property deeds, newspapers, maps, and personal archives. They also conducted field research in the community and spoke with local residents to help document the area’s history.

Alexander shared both research strategies and ideas for community engagement, including an outreach event, interactive activities, and the creation of a digital archive and mapping platform to document significant people, places, and events in Pottstown’s history. It was inspiring to see the positive impact public libraries can have on their communities through the preservation of local history. I commend D’Andra Alexander’s persistence and creativity in working with incomplete historical records to create a truly impactful project for Mecklenburg County.

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Rachael Phillips, Augusta County Library

I was able to attend the RUSA Virtual Forum thanks to a scholarship from the LVA. This year’s theme was “Reference and User Services: Stepping Boldly Forward”. Some of the sessions I was able to attend were:

• “Navigating Knowledge in the Digital Age: The Information Paradox”

  • Patrons are increasingly suffering from information overload

  • Abundance of information is leading to an inability to process information

  • The abundance of information often fails to translate into understanding

• “Empowering Libraries with AI Literacy: Building Skills for a Bold Future”

  • Discussed practical solutions for incorporating AI into library work.

  • Examples included, organization, brainstorming, simplifying tasks.

  • Discussed privacy and data concerns

  • Libraries need to consider policies and procedures for how they will approach and use AI in accordance to their mission, vision, and value statements.

  • Learned about TALPA search from LibraryThing

  • Includes a “Cover Search” feature

This was an interesting mini-conference that featured many great sessions on relevant topics. I appreciate the Library of Virginia for the opportunity to attend.

Design and Marketing for Libraries

Ellen Pelz, Williamsburg Regional Library

I was grateful to receive an LVA scholarship to participate in Design and Marketing for Libraries through RUSA eLearning. The four-week course covered intentional marketing, design standards, image editing and layout design, and social media design and scheduling. While some portions provided a high-level overview of foundational marketing and communications principles, others—such as the Week 3 deep dive into Adobe Photoshop and Photopea—explored more technical aspects of marketing. Because of this range, the course likely provided valuable takeaways for participants at any stage of their library marketing journey. I found the most useful components of the course to be the more in-depth Week 2 readings on marketing strategies, particularly an article on word-of-mouth marketing.

Design resources:

• Image editing: Gimp  

• Design: Canva 

• Social media scheduling: Later  

• Design software: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign 

• Stock images (not all are free and some may need attribution): Flickr, Pixabay, istockphoto, Adobe Stock, Shutterstock

Recommended reading: "Contagious Marketing" by Ben Bizzle

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Victoria Hauser, Henrico County Public Library

Design and Marketing for libraries was an asynchronous course taught over four weeks. The course included marketing concepts; marketing from a library perspective; editing images, layout and following copyright; and planning and scheduling social media posts. Exercises included creating a marketing action plan, and hands-on activities with editing photos and creating flyers and social media posts.

Overall, I appreciated the information on marketing principles and design layout, including color and typography. As well, there was a good focus on promoting the value of the library in a way that is different from promoting and selling products for profit.

The course was different than what I expected after having taken a similar asynchronous course through ALA. There was less interaction with the instructor and none with other course participants. Additionally, some of the social media information that was presented had changed since the course had initially been developed in 2021. Several of the programs that were demonstrated are no longer free or options and features had changed. As well, my goal for the course was to understand marketing approaches and not as much hands-on techniques with software. The course may be more useful for a smaller library system where staff are handling marketing in addition to other library tasks.

Inside Interlibrary Loan

Rekesha Spellman, Chesapeake Public Library

I was able to participate in the ALA training Inside Interlibrary Loan: Basics for a New Millenium through the LVA scholarship. I learned about different interlibrary loan policies and processes. 

The interlibrary loan process helps libraries provide access to information and entertainment to customers. Library staff can use the interlibrary process to locate materials outside of their library system. These materials may help customers with researching, teaching, or studying. 

There can be a downside to providing interlibrary loan service to customers. Interlibrary loan can be cost prohibitive and time consuming. Postage costs may prevent library customers and library staff from requesting certain materials. Processing interlibrary loans can take a considerable amount of time for library staff. Interlibrary loans require packing and shipping. Library workers must also follow up on overdue items, lost items, and renewals. 

Find It VA Tips

Gale Legal Forms

You will find forms easily browsable in categories like divorce, bankruptcy, power of attorney, landlord/tenant, and incorporation, among others. You simply choose a category and then choose from a list of available forms. Each form gives a full description to help anyone choose what they need. With one click, the form opens with spaces to click and fill in your own information like your name, city, and even case number. Forms are available in a variety of formats, including Microsoft Word, Rich Text, PDF, and many forms are available in Spanish. The forms included in the database are official forms that law firms use, so you never have to wonder if they will be accepted by the court system.

In addition to legal forms, the database include a dictionary of legal definitions, a law digest that gives deeper explanation of terms and concepts, and a Legal Q&A section. 

There are also numerous resources for small business owners including accounting, contract, and other forms pertinent to entrpreneurs. 

Get started with Gale Legal Forms on your library's website. In the Gale Support pages, you can also find a great collection of marketing materials to promote this valuable resource. 

News from LVA

VA250 Resources from LVA

Librarian and student using the card catalog at R.R. Moton High School, 1966-1967, L. H. Freeman Jr., Photograph Collection, Visual Studies, Library of Virginia. 

Readers' Advisory Tips and Tricks

Curated Lists in NoveList PLus

When you open a list, you will see a brief description and then 10-15 titles chosen by librarians. You will also see related lists that might be of interest. 

So take a look at how you can use NoveList's Curated Lists to support your readers' advisory work!

Program Ideas

ALA's Programming Librarian Site

The Programming Librarian features programs for library users of all ages, with instructions on how you can replicate them for your library, and a breakdown of costs and time involved. Many programs listed also have downloadable resources to use for your event. The Resource Hub has evaluation tools, planning checklists, sample signage, and more to help you get started. 

Featured Virginia Programs

Lonesome Pine Regional Library

Adult Easter Egg Hunt

The Scott County Public Library of the Lonesome Pine Regional Library held an Adult Easter Egg hunt at a local park/walking trail. The library staff got donations from local businesses for prizes. Some examples of prizes include: the beauty shop donated a free haircut, restaurants gave gift cards of five or ten dollars, car garage give a free oil change, and the library gave books and candy. The event was for adults only, a chance to let the grownups have some fun!

We put ads in the newspaper, Facebook, and in the library. We had to reserve the park, make up a list of rules, get donations, number the prizes for items that would not fit into the eggs, fill the eggs, and hide the eggs. Each egg had something in it. The participants brought the eggs to the prize table to receive their prizes.

The hunt was an easy program to do and the adults loved it.  Remember to hide some eggs in places where people with walkers will have easy access to find an egg. Watch a video of the start of the egg hunt.

For more info, contact Shannon Steffey, ssteffey@lprlibrary.org

If you have a successful or interesting library program that we should feature here, please submit a program description and images.

In the News

Recent articles on topics of interest to Adult Services

• Beyond books: Michigan libraries reinventing role as reading wanes
• Planting Seeds, Growing Readers”: Manassas City Library Marks Fifth Anniversary
• Omaha’s new library features book robot that may be first of its kind
  

This newsletter is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is published by the Library of Virginia Library Development Division.