The New York Library Association Annual Conference
November 3 to November 6, 2021
This year I was fortunate enough to have received the CLRC Professional Development Award to attend the 2021 New York Library Association Conference in Syracuse, NY. This was my second in-person conference since I got my MLIS in 2018. This year’s conference was fabulous as I met several new librarian friends to network with and learned new ways to positively impact my community.
I am lucky enough to have started my current position with a brand new library building! In this new building is our very own professional studio for content making (vlogging, blogging and sound recording) and editing. For months we have tried to decide what exactly we wanted to do with the room to promote it and for months we have been toying with the idea of starting our very own podcast. Engaging Patrons through a Library Podcast was the perfect session for me to learn more about podcasting. While I love podcasts, I couldn’t tell you before this program what the first step in producing a podcast was. The speakers from the Middle Country Public Library gave us resources and recommendations on software, how to publish and tips on hosting. Now, I am confident that we can produce a fun and educational podcast for all our patrons and beyond.
It is a hard task to choose just a few things that I learned and took away from this conference but when I walked through the doors I had a goal in mind. Getting teens into the library or even come to programming has been a challenge even before Covid. While I am not specifically the Youth Librarian, I wanted to attend teen focused sessions to learn more about how to get our next generation of readers/leaders in the door. I attended several sessions on how to do that including Prioritizing Teen Engagement in a Pandemic and the YSS Table Talk. Both were valuable in how to draw teens in and foster the relationships they build with staff while they are. Also ESCAPE ROOMS! How fun and engaging do those sound? I can’t wait to share all these amazing ideas with our Youth Services Coordinator and start rolling out these programs soon.
My biggest takeaway from this conference was (almost) everything is useful in some way. By that I mean I am not a school librarian but I can still learn and take away something useful from their experiences. I can take their ideas and adapt them to what my community needs in some way. For example, I attended the Civic Online Reasoning in the Library session. The speakers work within schools to teach their students how to find the facts on the internet and how to filter the correct information because not everything on the internet is true. My community (of all ages) could benefit greatly from a program like this with only a few tweaks. They gave us the tools to communicate this information effectively and in a fun way that’s not just librarians lecturing people on how to use the internet.
Going to any library type conference makes me so excited to be a librarian but NYLA this year has set an absolute fire in me. Libraries are so much more than a place to get books these days and I am even more passionate about sharing the services we provide and the culture of learning and fun we encapsulate within our walls and beyond. I couldn’t be prouder to be a librarian and I am so thankful for this opportunity that CLRC gave me to attend. Thank you so very much.
Ariel Wilber
Librarian, Oneida Public Library
Are you interested in being our next Professional Development Award recipient? Check out the award page for the rules & requirements!