ALCTS Midwinter Symposium Explores Library Access and Accessibility

On Friday, February 9, the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) will hold the symposium “Empowering Access and Ensuring Accessibility: Connecting People to Information and Collections” during the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting. Aimed at those working in collections and technical services, this full-day symposium will examine how libraries and cultural institutions provide all populations with access to materials.

Connecting people to information is a fundamental tenet of librarianship

Connecting people to information is a fundamental tenet of librarianship, and in the rapidly evolving information age, librarians strive to enhance access and increase accessibility for all patrons. These concepts are particularly significant to those working in collections and technical services, where responsibility for identifying, selecting, acquiring, organizing, managing, digitizing, and preserving recorded knowledge resides. This symposium will explore the current landscape as well as the future of collections and technical services work as it contributes to access and broad accessibility to stimulate knowledge creation, foster innovation, and empower libraries to have a transformative role in society.

The symposium will open with the keynote presentation “Libraries Improving Access: Policies, Programs, and Promotion” from Denver City Librarian Michelle Jeske. Following the keynote, speakers Heidi M. Schroeder, Dr. Heather Moulaison Sandy, Jennifer Dandle, and Jordan Fields will give presentations on building accessible collections through interinstitutional collaboration; systems, standards, and strategies used to access library data; enhancing discoverability with accessible content; and partnering to create integrated local collections. In addition, the symposium will offer facilitated roundtable discussions and the closing presentation “Crossing State Lines: Enabling Sharing of Accessible Content” from Laura C. Wood.

“Empowering Access and Ensuring Accessibility: Connecting People to Information and Collections” will take place on Friday, February 9 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. ALCTS or ALA membership is not required to attend the ALCTS Midwinter Symposium. In addition, attendees do not need additional registration for the ALA Midwinter Meeting. If you have any questions about the ALCTS Midwinter Symposium or other ALCTS programming at Midwinter, please contact Megan Dougherty, ALCTS Program Officer, Continuing Education, at mdougherty@ala.org. Visit www.ala.org/alcts/events/mw for a comprehensive listing of ALCTS events at Midwinter.

ASCLA Institutes at ALA Midwinter

Collective Leadership: Activating the Gifts of You and Your Team
Friday, February 9, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Collective Leadership is about changing the way we think about leadership from something you do alone, or for others, to something you do with others. The benefits of adopting collective leadership include: better decisions, increased self-direction and motivation, shared responsibility, increased engagement and investment and sustainability. Foundational to adopting collective leadership is building trust. This session will cover the essential ingredients for collective leadership, the relationship between individual and collective leadership, and how to bring out the best of you and your team through collective leadership. The session will cover a framework for collective leadership that includes five elements and 11 practices. Participants will: identify ways they are already developing collective leadership; learn about the neuroscience which supports conversations that build trust; and explore strategies for identifying shared goals, identifying and building on strengths, facilitating exciting and energizing meetings, effective shared decision making, and rotating/sharing roles This session will be presented by Cassandra O’Neill. Registrations are due Friday, December 29, 2017.

Conversational Intelligence: What is it, Why it’s Important, and How to Increase It
Friday, February 9, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Learn key concepts from neuroscience research about how the brain determines whether there is trust and safety, or distrust and shut down. Explore three levels of conversation, and how to quickly move from conversation levels one and two (transactional and power seeking) to level three (co-creation). Identify new strategies for increasing trust and authenticity in leadership development, partnerships, coaching, mentoring, and professional development.

This session will help participants assess which of three levels they are using, the result of using a particular level, and strategies for getting to level three conversations – the level where transformational conversations happen. This level conversation is necessary for change, growth, innovation, and quality improvement. Participants will plan how to incorporate the new strategies into their work. This session will be presented by Cassandra O’Neill. You must register by Friday, December 29, 2017.