The Massachusetts Library System is pleased to announce that we have contracted with PCI Webinars to provide our members with access to their live webinars.  These webinars are free to MLS members who register through our calendar.  Because we are working with an outside vendor, it is important that you cancel your registration in the event that you are unable to attend the live webinar.  A recording of the webinar will be available on the PCI Webinars Niche Academy website about a week after the live webinar.  If you have any issues registering or signing into the PCI Webinars Niche Academy website, please let us know.  Please do not contact PCI Webinars or Niche Academy directly about their live webinars or webinar recordings.

Think your small community isn't diverse? Don't understand why libraries have a role in social responsibility for their communities? Join this discussion about the creation of an IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) committee at the North Liberty Library and how the role of that committee is helping drive operations and services to create a place of belonging for all.

You’ll hear how we created and have sustained this committee, and how we have embedded IDEA principles into our strategic plan. We’ll address relationship building, looking at policies through an equity lens, and how our spaces can be more inclusive.

At the conclusion of this program, attendees will:

• Learn why building diversity into your library operations/services is important even if you don’t think your community is diverse
• Learn how to create and sustain an IDEA committee
• Learn techniques for applying an equity and diversity to all areas of library operations

Jennie Garner ~ Biography

Jennie Garner (she/her) is the library director at the North Liberty Library (IA) where she has served in a variety of roles for more than 25 years. A firm believer in staff development and engagement, she makes it her practice to involve all levels of staff in organizational planning and decision-making as well as encouraging staff to take active roles in the community. Her professional interests include leadership, advocacy, policy development, and removing barriers to access.

Jennie is the 2023 President of the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) and serves on the Iowa Library Association (ILA) Executive Board and also on the board for the Inside Out Reentry Community, an organization in her county focused on assisting people returning from incarceration and helping the incarcerated develop re-entry plans.

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