Nebraska Library Commission Introduces ‘Big Talk From Small Libraries’ Online Co

Michael P. Sauers, Technology Innovation Librarianof the Nebraska Library Commission in Lincoln, Nebraska announced a new, free on-line conference for small libraries, “Big Talk From Small Libraries,” on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, from 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time).  “We’ve been listening! A comment we’ve heard pretty often is that so many presentations at conferences seem to be by and for librarians from larger libraries.  Well, Big Talk From Small Libraries will change that.”

He stated, “This free one-day online conference is aimed at librarians from small libraries; the smaller the better.  Each of our speakers is from a small library or directly works with small libraries.”

Sauers continued, “The topics range from technology… to programming to partnering with your community. Speakers will cover eight topics—one each hour.”

He has been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a serials cataloger, a technology consultant, and bookseller. In 1995, he earned his MLS degree from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy.

In February of 2009, Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. published his ninth book, Searching 2.0. He has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines.

In his spare time, he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, regularly contributes to the Uncontrolled Vocabulary podcast, runs Web sites for authors and historical societies, is vice-chair of the Nebraska Library Association's Information Technology and Access Round Table, and reads about 120 books per year.

Wrote Sauers, “Everyone is welcome to register and attend, regardless of how big or small their library is, but if your library serves a few thousand people, or a few hundred, this is the day for you.”  More information can be found at http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/.

This conference has been organized and will be hosted by Sauers and Laura Johnson, Continuing Education Coordinator of the Nebraska Library Commission.  Itis co-sponsored by the Association for Small & Rural Libraries, Inc. (ASRL)[1] and Library Renewal.

This is the Preliminary Schedule.  At 8:45 a.m., log-in for Welcome, Housekeeping - Michael Sauers and Laura Johnson of the Nebraska Library Commission.  At 9:00 a.m. “Helping Your Patrons E-Read” withKaren Mier, Director of the Plattsmouth Public Library in Nebraska.

At 10:00 a.m., “Community Partnerships” with Karla Bieber, A.H. Brown Library and Diane Althoff, Gregory Public Library in South Dakota.  At 11:00 a.m., “The Fayetteville Free Library Fab Lab” with Lauren Britton Smedley, Transliteracy Development Director at the Fayetteville FreeLibrary (FFL) in Fayetteville, New York.

She earned her B.A. in Art History and Anthropology from Muhlenberg College in 2005 and her M.L.I.S. degree from Syracuse University last year.  Previously profiled in “NPR Profiles Emerging Library Trend in Creating Hackerspaces,” Lauren Britton Smedleyis currently building the first makerspace in a public library, the FFL Fabulous Laboratory. 

At 1:00 p.m., “Training the Public” with Jessamyn West, Librarian.net.  Libraries Unlimited published her book Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide.  At 2:00 p.m., “Working in the Cloud” with Jezymnne Dene, Director of the Portneuf District Library, located in Chubbuck, Idaho.  She has her B.A. in Southwestern History from the University of New Mexico and her M.L.I.S. degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

At 3:00 p.m., “Gaming and Game Collection Development” with Diane Trinkle, Library Director of the Nortonville Public Library in Nortonville, Kansas, which is a small community with 610 residents. “While studying to become a chef, she took what she thought would be a temporary position at the library. Ten years later, she cannot imagine doing anything else. Looking for ways to engage teens and tweens, Diane discovered during a focus group in 2006 that they really wanted video games in the library. On a tiny budget, she has managed to build a collection of several hundred video games, using creative methods. She will share her story, provide reasons why it better serves your community, and offer tips for building your collection.”