#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Monday June 22 & Thursday July 2 2020 - 8:30pm ET

"BIPOC + Trans Inclusive Pride Flag" from New Pride Flag

TOPIC

Intersectionality: Resources and program sharing for Black Lives Matter, National Indigenous History Month (Canada) and Pride Month

The Black Lives Matter movement is at the core of our collective consciousness right now, and we here at #LISprochat adamantly support the cause. In addition to BLM programming June was already usually a big month for library programs with it being both international Pride month and Canada's National Indigenous History Month. So Leigh and I thought we'd brainstorm programming ideas and resources for discussing BLM, National Indigenous History Month, and Pride month with our library users. We've decided to re-frame this conversation to look at these three important topics from an intersectional perspective. We acknowledge they are all important topics deserving of individual chats in their own right, but having intersectional conversations is equally important.

Here's some pre-chat reading on the subject:

How Libraries Are Supporting The Black Lives Matter Movement

Libraries Respond: Black Lives Matter

San Diego Public Library Debuts Online Hub For Pride Month Events, Information

Rainbow Book Month

Celebrating Pride Month through reading: Here's a librarian's list of LGBTQ books for kids and teens

National Indigenous History Month (Canada): Welcome

Vancouver Public Library National Indigenous History Month

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 Has your library planned any programming for the. black lives matter movement, indigenous history month or pride month?

Q2 What reading recommendations do you have for the black lives matter movement, indigenous history month or pride month?

Q3 What resources do you recommend for the black lives matter movement, indigenous history month or pride month?

Q4 What advice do you have for librarians advocating for the black lives matter movement, indigenous history month and pride month?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JUNE 22 OR THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY, JULY 2 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat with the Experts - questions for Wednesdayday June 17 2020 - 8:30pm ET

"Question mark illustration," by Pixabay licensed with CC0

TOPIC

A Q&A With Stefanie Maclin-Hurd, ILS Support Librarian

Stefanie Maclin-Hurd (she/her) currently works as the ILS Support Librarian for the WAGGIN District (Washington, Greene, Fayette Counties) in SW Pennsylvania. Previously, she has worked at an IT Marketing Company, Oil and Gas Company, a Digital Publishing Company, and in academic libraries. She completed her MLIS with a specialization in Archives from Simmons College (now Simmons University) in 2010. She also completed a Certificate in Digital Services and Emerging Technologies from SJSU. She is the SLA Pittsburgh Community President, founded the Working Parents and Caregivers Group, and a former President of the SLA New England Community. 

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

Here are the questions that Stefanie will be answering for us. If time allows we'll also open up the conversation for any other questions that may come to you all during the chat!

Q1 Why did you decide to go to library school? 

Q2 What do you like best about your current job?

Q3 What led you to the niche of systems support?

Q4 What courses/professional development activities would you recommend for someone interested in getting into ILS support?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT  WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat with the Experts - bio & question call for Wednesdayday June 17 2020 - 8:30pm ET

"Question mark illustration," by Pixabay licensed with CC0

TOPIC

A Q&A With Stefanie Maclin-Hurd, ILS Support Librarian

Stefanie Maclin-Hurd (she/her) currently works as the ILS Support Librarian for the WAGGIN District (Washington, Greene, Fayette Counties) in SW Pennsylvania. Previously, she has worked at an IT Marketing Company, Oil and Gas Company, a Digital Publishing Company, and in academic libraries. She completed her MLIS with a specialization in Archives from Simmons College (now Simmons University) in 2010. She also completed a Certificate in Digital Services and Emerging Technologies from SJSU. She is the SLA Pittsburgh Community President, founded the Working Parents and Caregivers Group, and a former President of the SLA New England Community. 

Submit questions you'd like Stefanie to discuss as comments on this post and we'll choose some together and post them in advance of the chat.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT  WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Monday June 1 & Wednesday June 10 2020 - 8:30pm ET

via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Re-opening of Libraries

Libraries are starting to talk about re-opening and it's important that we discuss how that's going to happen, what it's going to look like and how to do that safely. For the month of June we're trying out a new experiment we're going to run each chat twice, on the first week we'll run it on the Monday at 8:30 and then the next week we'll run it again at 8:30 on the Wednesday. Our Wednesday chat in May worked so well we wanted to give it a shot and see what it could be like if we tried to do both.

Here's some pre-chat reading on the subject:

COVID-19 Pandemic Resources and Plans for Library Reopening

Reopening: Not “When?” But “How?”

Planning for Reopening Resources

Preparing to Reopen Your Library

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 Is your library in the process of reopening? Yes or no and what date?

Q2 Is your library going to be fully open? Are you doing curbside? What types of programs are you doing for your patrons?

Q3 What changes will you be making to your library policies and what are you doing to ensure the safety of your patrons and staff?

Q4 If you are a library in the process of reopening, what recommendations do you have for libraries going to be doing this in the future? 

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JUNE 1 OR THE FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Wednesday May 20 2020 - 8:30pm ET

via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Staying professionally engaged while working from home

As COVID-19 continues to keep us at home, let's talk about how everyone is trying to stay engaged professionally whether they're working from home or currently furloughed. 

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1: How are staying professionally connected and engaged while at home right now?

Q2: How have you been finding out about digital opportunities and what are your go-to resources?

Q3 What kinds of virtual opportunities would you like to see for LIS pros now and in the future?

Q4 Do you think virtual conference experiences could become the new normal? Do you think they should be?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon May 3 2020 - 8:30pm ET

via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Libraries and the digital divide during the pandemic

METRO did a webinar last week on libraries in New York and how their patrons are being affected by the digital divide right now, I thought this was a good chance for us to discuss the same issue.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1: How are your patrons affected by the digital divide during the pandemic?

Q2: Is your library doing anything specific to combat the issues of the digital divide at this time?

Q3 What do you think the responsibility of libraries is to fix the digital divide right now? How can we fix it in the long term?

Q4? Do you think the current situation will help us make lasting changes in narrowing the digital divide or do you think this will make the divide even wider than it previously was?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, MAY 3 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Apr 27 2020 - 8:30pm ET

via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Libraries, info pros and going digital during the pandemic

This is a continuation of the Virtual Roundtable discussion Leigh led with SLA on 4/16.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1: How did your library or organization handle the fast-changing situation of the pandemic? Did they close their doors quickly or wait a few weeks? What was communication like?

Q2: How well was your library/organization already set up for providing digital resources and services to users? What workarounds, alternatives did you have to use?

Q3 What were your library/organization’s biggest challenges and how were they addressed? What are the current challenges now?

Q4? What changes did your organization make that you think will have a lasting effect or lead to longer-term changes?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, APRIL 27 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG.