The Massachusetts Library System is pleased to announce that we have contracted with ALA to provide our members with access to their live webinars.  These webinars are free to MLS members who register through our calendar.  Please do not register directly with ALA. Members who register directly with ALA are responsible for paying their registration fee. 

Please help us keep MLS sponsored training free for all members. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, please cancel your registration. A cancellation link can be found in your confirmation email, or you may contact Sarah Donnelly at sdonnelly@masslibsystem.org to cancel. 

Description

Learn to create engaging spaces for library patrons of all ages! In this webinar, Heather Hall, deputy director at Cumberland County Public Library in North Carolina, will present real-life examples and outcomes to showcase how you can incorporate manipulatives, interactives, sensory elements, and engaging activities in library spaces with minimal staff moderation needed. Learn about creating a strategic plan for the vision of spaces, how to seek funding and include low-budget items, identify intended outcomes for spaces, and seek community feedback.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Understand what it means to have engaging library spaces for children, teens, and adults; 
• Identify ways to seek funding and community feedback for creating engaging library spaces; and
• Apply what they have learned to develop a strategic plan to create engaging spaces with identified outcomes.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for public library staff, directors, and administrators.

Presenter

Heather Hall is the deputy director at Cumberland County Public Library in Fayetteville, NC. She is a dedicated professional who is passionate about the powers of reading and development—educational, personal, and team. Heather earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History, with a concentration in Professional Education, and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 2020, she began working at Cumberland County Public Library as learning and innovation coordinator. She served as co-chair of the innovation and e-resources team, coordinated professional development for staff, and worked closely with administration to define and meet organizational goals. In 2022, she began serving as interim deputy director for the library system, and was appointed deputy director in 2023. Heather believes in the crucial role that libraries play in our community, including providing equitable access to information, services, and programs.

Tech Requirements

This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. Please review Zoom technical requirements and support information, and test your connection.

Once you've joined the webinar, there are two ways to connect your audio: via computer (VoIP) or via telephone. No microphone is required. PLA works with its webinar platform provider to assure the highest quality audio is being delivered to attendees. However, variables over which PLA has no control—such as the speed of your Internet connection or traffic on your local network—can affect the end quality of the webinar audio delivered by your computer. Each webinar’s audio is also available by telephone via a toll number, so we recommend you have access to a long-distance enabled phone as a backup in case you experience audio issues with VoIP. If you do encounter any problems during the webinar, you will receive a link to its archived recording within a week of the live event and can review anything you missed.

Accessibility Information

This live webinar will be captioned in English (United States). Zoom desktop client or mobile app is required to access captions.

Attendees using screen readers are advised to turn off speech prior to joining the Zoom event because PLA webinars make extensive use of chat functionality. Attendees who find chat distracting may wish to disable it in the Zoom event, as PLA moderators will verbally highlight important topics raised in chat and chat transcripts will be provided post-webinar.

If you have a physical or communication need that may affect your participation in this webinar, please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752) at least two weeks prior to the webinar. Without prior notification of need, we may not be able to provide appropriate accommodations for the live event.