You’re invited to the Central New York Library Resources Council’s 2024 Annual Conference on Tuesday, October 8 at the Everson Museum of Art!

Schedule of Events
*More Details Coming Soon*

9:30 a.m. – Registration Opens & Light Refreshments will be offered

10 to 11:15 a.m. – Welcome & Keynote Panel on Cultivating Relationships Outside the Library

Description: Successful partnerships with other organizations or departments have the power to reshape and expand the capacities of both partners. Our keynote panel will feature a conversation with representatives from three different types of organizations. We will explore the benefits, challenges, and lessons of building partnerships.

Panelists:

Jaclyn Bleich – Branch Manager, White Branch Library (OCPL)

Jaclyn received their MLS from the University at Buffalo in 2014, and they have been a librarian in the Onondaga County Public Library System since 2015. They were a Children’s Librarian for OCPL from 2015-2023, providing resources and programs for children, teens, and families. They have been the Branch Manager of White Branch Library and the Northeast Community Center Library since 2023, and are primarily responsible for supervising an amazing team of staff, establishing valuable partnerships, and providing free resources to the Syracuse City’s Northside Community.

Olivia Russo Haven – Outreach Librarian, Le Moyne College

Olivia Russo Haven is the Outreach Librarian at Le Moyne College. A 2024 graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, Olivia spent her time in school exploring instruction and outreach in both public and academic library contexts. Because Olivia got her start working in circulation at Liverpool Public Library, she brings a community-building and individual wellbeing focus to traditional academic library outreach. Olivia is thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with and learn from other library professionals about how to best connect with our communities. 

Jason Parkman – Elbridge Town Historian, Town of Elbridge

Jason Parkman has worked with history and its presentation to the public for almost 20 years. He started in the mid-2000s at Sainte Marie de Gannentaha, where he gained experience with museum collection curation and display, archival work and artifact storage, as well as public presentation of history and historical reenactment. Jason began performing in the Dickens Christmas Festival at Skaneateles in the early 2010s which takes elements of American history from 1842 and integrates it into the holiday celebration. In 2020 he was appointed as the Public Historian for the Town of Elbridge as well as being responsible for the Town of Elbridge Archives. Jason has worked with other organizations, such as the Jordan Historical Society and the Elbridge History or Genealogy Society (HOGS), to establish joint-programs aimed at sharing the local history to the public. In 2022 he joined the Board of Directors for the Associations of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS) as well as led a restoration project to repair and restore cemetery headstones at Redman Cemetery. Part of his work with the Elbridge Archives is the long process of digitizing the thousands of records, including grants from the CLRC to make pre-1920 newspapers available online to the public. At the start of 2024 he worked with the Village of Jordan Public Historian to host two archaeological events. He also worked with both the Village of Jordan and the Jordan Historical Society to assist and facilitate the start of their own digitization projects, including two separate joint-grants with the CLRC.

11:25 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Lightning Talks from CLRC Members

Earth Day at the Everson

Description: In conjunction with its current exhibition, Janet Biggs: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape, the Everson Museum of Art will host its first-ever Earth Day event on Sunday, April 21st. The Everson will host a variety of activities throughout the day relating to environmentalism and conservation.

Presenter: Sarah Anson-Ordon, Grant Writer – Everson Museum of Art

Student-Run Scholarly Communications: The Information Literacy Collab at Syracuse University

Description: The Information Literacy Collab (ILC) is a diamond open access publication by and for students and early career professionals that fosters critical conversations about reflective and ethical information practices within a variety of learning environments. This lightning talk will describe the process of setting up the journal and the call for submissions and offer attendees guidance on how to participate if they are interested. We’ll also share insights from students about what they have learned along the way.

Presenter: Kelly Delevan – Information Literacy Librarian, Syracuse University & Emily Warfield – Information Literacy Scholar, Syracuse University

What about BOB?

Description: We will provide a brief overview of our Battle of the Books program AKA BOB. This regional competition involves student teams reading a set of novels over several months and competing in “Jeopardy-style” tournaments. The main goal of BOB is to foster a love of reading by introducing students to books by acclaimed authors. Learn how you can get involved and support your patrons!

Presenters: Heather Turner – Teacher Librarian, O²CM School Library System & Allison Comes – School Library System Coordinator, O²CM School Library System

Building Trust with Student Veterans at Syracuse University Libraries

Description: There is a growing population of veterans in colleges and universities, many of whom recently separated from service and are in the process of transitioning from military culture to both civilian and academic cultures. Their sense of self-reliance, responsibility for others, and duty make it difficult for them to ask for help. In this presentation, I will discuss some of the activities and services I provided over the 2023-2024 academic year to build trust between our libraries and the student veterans at Syracuse University.

Presenter: Patricia Giles – Reference and Instruction Librarian, Syracuse University

Jervis Public Library’s Role in the Aftermath of a Tornado

Description: Lisa will share procedures, policies, and relationships in place prior to the tornado that allowed the library staff to respond how they did.  She will also outline the activities the library staff participated in and coordinated as part of the community response.

Presenter: Lisa Matte – Director, Jervis Public Library

12:15 p.m. – Lunch Begins

12:45 p.m. – Business Meeting & Library Awards

1:15 to 2:15 p.m. – Scavenger Hunt through the Everson!

2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. – Lightning Talks from CLRC Members

Material Interactions: Data-Driven Community Quilting

Description: Quilting is a textile art form with rich community-based traditions, like block swaps and quilting bees. Quilts are also rich in data, capturing information about fabric and color trends, family histories, and more. In 2023, I drew on both of these ideas to create interactive patchwork quilts at community events using data from attendees. I’ll talk about how the project worked, show examples of quilts we made, and discuss current and future applications in libraries.

Presenter: Rachel Ivy Clarke – Associate Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies

Digitizing Oakwood Cemetery Registers

Description: This Access & Digitization Grant project in collaboration with Historic Oakwood Cemetery Preservation Association and Syracuse University Libraries utilized CLRC’s in-house digitization lab and
led to the addition of a copy stand, a new piece of scanning equipment that allows for oversized materials to be digitized.  This lightning talk will take you through digitizing the oversized cemetery registers, the transcription process, and getting the first book with transcriptions for each 253 pages and 1 inserted page to be uploaded onto New York Heritage.  As well as giving an update on what has changed since this project.

Presenter: Ashley Beavers – Digital Projects & Preservation Librarian, Central New York Library Resources Council

Improving the Effectiveness of School Library Programs Through Action Research

Description: Action research involves a systematic, reflective process that enhances various aspects of the school librarian’s role in the school. It empowers school librarians to make data-informed decisions, improve library services, meet dynamic students’ needs, and better support personnel and the school’s educational mission.

Presenter: Jing Xu – Library Media Specialist, Syracuse City School District

A Pop-Up Collection at the Syracuse Stage

Description: This project will provide a point of access for an underserved segment of the student/staff/faculty population by bringing library resources to them.

Presenter: Amanda DuBose – Visual and Performing Arts Librarian, Syracuse University

Build an Arduino Eclipse Monitor

Description: In anticipation of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, Onondaga Free Library patrons, both teens and adults, were taught how to design, build, program, and deploy an eclipse monitoring device using the Arduino Uno single board computer, a photo-diode, servo motor, real time clock, digital display, and SD card module. On eclipse day,, each of the six monitors built during the seven-session program were deployed at Onondaga Free Library to provide both a real-time display of the eclipse’s progress and to record data for later analysis. On April 9, participants returned to the library to use Microsoft’s free data analysis tool Power BI to produce basic visualizations of the eclipse using the data retrieved from the monitors.

Presenter: Scott Lipkowitz – Assistant Director and Digital Services & Technology Librarian, Onondaga Free Library

3:15 p.m. – Raffle

The prize includes a gift basket of local goodies. You must be present to win.

Please share the above flyer widely as this is open to all library, archive, and museum staff.

Registration is FREE but will close on Tuesday, September 24 at 5 p.m.!

If you have any questions regarding the Annual Conference, please email Rebecca Honsinger at rhonsinger@clrc.org.

All CLRC events are open to members of CLRC and the Empire State Library Network.

All attendees are expected to follow CLRC’s Code of Conduct.