The Association for Rural and Small Libraries Conference
Wichita, KS
September 2023
This year’s Association for Small and Rural Libraries (ARSL) annual conference was a refreshing experience. There were quite a few sessions focused on different outreach ideas and populations, and I came away with many new ideas. I was also able to volunteer for several roles during the conference, and through those roles met some wonderful people that shared many of my passions and ideals.
This year, ARSL provided livestreaming of many of the sessions, which were also recorded. This allowed me to be able to attend or view multiple sessions that occurred during the same period. Because of this, I was able to nearly double the number of sessions I could learn from!
One thing I love about the ARSL conference is the opportunity to meet and talk with librarians from similar situations. All of the attendees come from smaller and rural libraries and they face the same difficulties with funding and staffing that all of our libraries do. It is always refreshing to listen to the ways that other libraries have overcome these obstacles to create new and innovative services and programs for their communities. I am grateful to CLRC for the opportunity to attend the ARSL Conference. Thank you for supporting the librarians of Central New York and providing us with the ability to develop our professional skills!
Diana Cassulis
Community Outreach Librarian, Mid York Library System
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