Shelf Improvement in Progress
Each year, librarians across Minnesota gather at the Minnesota Library Association Conference (MLA) to learn, teach, and grow. The host city changes annually, but the goal remains consistent: offering opportunities for “education, rejuvenation, and connection.” This year in St. Cloud, under the theme “Cultivating Connections: Stronger Together,” four Fergus Falls Library staff attended sessions over two days. I joined my coworkers Emily Millard and Kia Donais for Friday’s sessions.
Thursday’s keynote speaker was Kelly Jensen, previously a public librarian but currently a Senior Editor at Book Riot as well as an author of three young adult anthologies. Her talk focused on the past, present, and future of book banning. Attendees gained insight into book-banning trends and were reaffirmed in their roles as librarians and supporters of protecting the reading rights of their communities. While I was not able to personally attend Kelly’s session, the slides I observed were engaging and educational.
One session offered on Thursday was titled, “Storytime Training for Staff: Why It Matters and How Minnesota’s New Toolkit Can Help.” Earlier this fall, I was able to join a small focus group of other Minnesota librarians and review the modules in this online training toolkit. My role was to review the eight training modules and provide feedback on what I thought was effective, what was missing, any grammatical errors, and any other notes I wanted to share. Each reviewer was required to complete a feedback form and participate in virtual meetings with the other reviewers and the toolkit creators to share their thoughts. Even though I am over six years into my storytime career, I gleaned a few new ideas and tips from this course. It will be a wonderful resource for new-to-storytime librarians and is something I wish I had had access to when I first began my librarian journey at the Fergus Falls Public Library.
On Friday, my first session was “Read Me Maybe: Passive Reader Advisory That Gets Picked Up.” While the information was geared toward school librarians, I left with ideas usable in our public library. For example, the speaker recommended creating a book menu, posting videos on social media, generating a “Top 10” book checkouts list of the month, and having children share book reviews. One program I lead is called “Story Seekers.” Children in 1st – 3rd grade attend and read a book, followed by an engaging story-inspired activity. I am hoping to have some of these children share a book review with me so I can start posting them in the Children’s Area. I look forward to learning about different books from their perspective and anticipate a few humorous reviews!
The session I enjoyed most was called ‘Farm to Library: Growing a Partnership with Your Local Agriculture Organization.’ Library director Calla Jarvie shared how her library has worked with the local Farm Bureau to create fun events like farm trivia nights, petting zoos, and touch-a-tractor days. The response from her community has been very positive. With next summer’s reading program theme, ‘Plant a Seed, Read,’ it seems like a great time for us to connect with our own local agriculture groups. If anyone from the Farm Bureau or Farmers Union is interested in partnering with the Fergus Falls Public Library, we would love to hear from you!
One of the more insightful sessions I attended was led by librarians from the Saint Paul Public Library. They talked about how they have partnered with the Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) for several years with a program called “Library Go.” This program ensures all students in SPPS automatically have a public library account and access to online and physical materials. I enjoyed learning how other libraries work with their local schools while promoting access to resources.
When we were not attending sessions, we were able to visit with vendors, publishers, and authors or bid on silent auction items. One of the vendors was BTR Architects, the architectural company that designed the Fergus Library’s expansion and remodel. We enjoyed visiting with Ann, the President of BTR, and shared about our community’s continual appreciation of the space.
Next year, the MLA conference will be held online because the Public Library Association Conference (PLA) is coming to Minneapolis. Our library staff is excited about this event since it is the biggest public library conference in the world. I had the privilege of attending PLA in Columbus, Ohio, in the spring of 2024. With over 100 educational sessions and opportunities to network and meet authors, PLA is a conference librarians cannot miss! Professional conferences remind me why continuous learning matters – each session adds a new tool, a new idea, a new way to ‘shelf improve.’ After all, libraries grow best when the people behind them do too.
Krista Kugler is the Children’s Services Librarian at the Fergus Falls Public Library