Greetings! If you are attending Next Library 2019 in Aarhus, Denmark next week, please consider this interactive session. I am thrilled to be joining colleagues from the US and Australia to present “The Power of Stories.” Storytelling – an ancient, community-building, revered, and always-relevant “technology” – is a powerful connector. Stories can bring people together. Stories resonate with everyone and we can use them to better understand our communities and ourselves. This interactive session introduces three unique ways to extend and enhance the power of stories in your institution. We will explore how to gather and utilize our community’s stories […]
Contributors Michael Stephens
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LAWRENCEVILLE, GA, March 7, 2019 — Gwinnett County Public Library and the San José State University School of Information have selected Stephanie Rawlins, Pike County Library from a group of five finalists as the winner of the 2019 Innovative Librarians Award. The award recognizes library science graduate students who put forward new ideas that improve libraries and library services. Rawlins, Library Director at Pike County Library in Indiana, will receive a $1,000 cash prize for her work on implementing Virtual Healthcare at local libraries. Virtual healthcare has the potential to create better health care awareness, minimize hospital admissions, and better […]
Hey all – Don’t miss this new site LIBRARY PLANET from Christian Lauersen of Roskilde Libraries and Marie Engberg Eiriksson of Gladsaxe Libraries, Denmark. Library Planet is like a crowdsourced Lonely Planet for libraries of the world meant to inspire library travelers to open the awesome book that is our world of libraries, cities and countries. We want to give you a guide to the world of libraries. Everybody can contribute to Library Planet. See how here: https://libraryplanet.net/contribute/ AND do not miss checking in with Christian’s work: Twitter: @clauersen Instragram: @librarylovestories The Library Lab Blog This post is amazing: Let’s Dance.
Thanks to Loida, ALA staff, and everyone who attended today’s webinar. Watch the recording here. Here’s the press release: Join Garcia-Febo and Dr. Michael Stephens for an exploration of the importance of accessible, welcoming and responsive library environments that invite open and equitable participation, as well as an examination of which factors are preventing many libraries from ramping up community engagement and user-focused services. The heart of librarianship is learning. It is a cyclical process of support, engagement and discovery with deep roots in the concepts of service, access and freedom to pursue interests of all kinds. No matter what type of institution, someone […]
Glad to do a short session for the Sirsi Dynix Connections Summit today. Thanks to everyone who was watching – apologies for the slide issue! You can download the slides here. Useful Links: Selected Library Journal “Office Hours” columns cited: Adopt or Adapt Libraries in Balance Stephens, M. (2016). The Heart of Librarianship. Chicago: American Library Association Editions.
Thanks to all who attended my keynote today at the Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation “Tech Knowledge Transforms” Annual Meeting. Download the keynote session “The Library as Classroom” slides here. Download the breakout session “Formula for Success” slides here. Useful Links: Selected Library Journal “Office Hours” columns cited: Adopt or Adapt Making a Name Flash Briefing Libraries in Balance Librarian Superpowers What’s Next Formula for Success Hygge State of Mind Talk About Compassion Dream. Explore. Experiment. Color Me Curious Speak of the Devil LibraryEmoji The Right Questions Telling Stories Gifts of this Hour Open to Change
Greetings everyone. I returned from Australia on August 12 and school started the following week. I am working to catch up. I wanted to extend a warm THANK YOU to everyone who helped bring me back to Australia for an amazing month-long visit. Special thanks to everyone at ALIA and to Helen Partridge, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Kate Davis at USQ, and everyone else for putting this amazing trip together. And special thanks to the incredible folks at the National Library of Australia who invited me to do a talk, and my good friend Warren Cheetham for inviting me to speak to the […]
Greetings all! I am thrilled that I will soon be departing for a month long adventure in Australia. It’s been a decade since the first trip, touring “The Hyperlinked Library” in five cites, and nine years since I was CAVAL Visiting Scholar and spoke at ASLA and QPLA. I am honored to be returning to do the closing keynote for the Asia-Pacific Library & Information Conference and to spend two weeks at the University of Southern Queensland as part of the Eminent Visiting Scholar Scheme program. Special thanks to everyone at ALIA and to Helen Partridge, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Kate Davis at USQ, and […]
Greetings all! Monday June 25th 9am MCC Room 284, I’m presenting a program at ALA Annual in New Orleans on an ongoing research project: Historically, public librarians and library personnel have pursued opportunities for professional learning experiences (PLE) such as reading professional literature, attending in-service days and conferences. By the late 1990s, webinars and other technologically focused opportunities for learning offered more channels for development. Through all of these changes, institutional support and personal drive for learning were proven to be important facets of PLE. Emerging technologies shift the emphasis for PLEs and the delivery mechanisms. These now include online […]
I made a short video for the folks who will be attending the Asia-Pacific Library & Information Conference in just a few short weeks in Queensland, Australia. The conference theme is Roar, Leap, Dare. I am one of the keynote speakers, closing the conference with an address on Thursday, August 2nd. I’ll post more about the trip to Australia soon. Looking forward to meeting Australian LIS colleagues. 🙂