LibraryLinkNJ News

For more details about any of our projects, programs, or services please visit the LibraryLinkNJ website!

For questions, suggestions, or help with your account, please reach out to our CE Team: ce@librarylinknj.org

Hello and welcome to the March 2025 edition of the LibraryLinkNJ newsletter. We've got an exciting lineup of events, opportunities, and updates to share with you this month.

We are seeking strong library advocates to join our Executive Board to serve in the following positions, each serving a three year term beginning July 1, 2025:

• Academic Library Representative

• Lay Representative

• Member-at-Large - three (3) positions available

For more information about our Executive Board and how to apply, visit our website at https://librarylinknj.org/about-us/news/librarylinknj-seeking-executive-board-members.

We're thrilled to announce that Donna Y. Butler has joined our Executive Board as School Library Representative, having been appointed to fill a vacancy due to a resignation. Donna is the School Library and Media Specialist at the W.R. James, Sr. Elementary School in Willingboro, and was the 2023-2024 Burlington County Education Support Teacher of the Year. Please join me in welcoming Donna!

Don’t miss our Cultural Connection: African American Culture Event on March 14th. It's a fantastic chance to network with colleagues, enjoy some delicious food, and engage in meaningful conversations.

For our new members, we're hosting a virtual information session on March 21st. It's the perfect opportunity to learn all about LibraryLinkNJ and how we can support you and your library.

We've also got a whole host of professional development opportunities lined up. From building your own library chatbot to enhancing your marketing skills with expert Kathy Dempsey, there's something for everyone. And don't forget about our Spanish conversation hour – ¿Cómo Se Dice?.

As always, we're here to support you and your library. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to reach out. We're all in this together, working to keep New Jersey libraries connected and thriving.

See you next month!

Ralph

Friday, March 14, 10:30am-3:30pm.

Location: Monroe Township Library (Middlesex County)

4 Municipal Plaza, Monroe Twp., NJ 08831

Come and network with your African American colleagues while enjoying food, lively conversation, and learning opportunities! This event is part of Culture Connection, a statewide EDI-NJ project!

Culture Connection aims to connect library staff from diverse backgrounds through cultural experiences, education, and events. Our goal is to bring different cultures together, fostering understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity in New Jersey's library workplaces.

Registration for In-Person Event:

1. Registration is limited to 70 people.

2. Registration is now open through Monday, March 10, 2025!

3. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER for IN-PERSON EVENT! (User log-in required)

Registration for Virtual Presentations:

1. Want to be part of this cultural connection but can’t attend in person? You can still join us virtually for these two main presentations via Zoom!

2. Use the links below to register for each presentation.

3. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER for Building Bridges: Learning from the Rich Culture of the African Diaspora

4. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER for Just Cause: Practicing Inclusive Leadership for Social Impact

5. You do NOT need to register for the virtual presentations if you register for the in-person event.

LibraryLinkNJ Tech Advisory Group (L-TAG) LibraryLinkNJ, and NJLA with special support from the NJLA Emerging Technology Section, invites everyone working in libraries - School Media Specialists, Public Library Staff, College and University Staff, and more! - to mix and mingle with newbies and techies alike. Check out more details, including the table talk topics and descriptions, on the event info page!

Registration for TechFest 2025 is now full, but we encourage you to join the waitlist. We’ll notify you if a spot becomes available!

LibraryLinkNJ TechFest 2025

Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 10am-3pm

@ Monroe Township Public Library (Middlesex County)

Cost: $20 (including morning refreshments & lunch)

Click here to join the waitlist!

Join members of our LibraryLinkNJ team for a New Member Information Session designed to welcome you to the New Jersey Library Cooperative! We'll help new members understand:

• What LibraryLinkNJ is
• Who is part of the LibraryLinkNJ team
• What LibraryLinkNJ can offer
• How library staff can get involved
• And more!

Staff members in any and all positions are encouraged to join us as we explore what it means to be part of a LibraryLinkNJ institution and how you can benefit from the many resources and services offered by the Cooperative!

• LLNJ New Member Information Session; Virtual; Friday, March 21, 10:30-11:30am.

Are you a library staff member in New Jersey seeking to advance your professional development? Our LearningSpace offers an extensive range of continuing education resources crafted specifically for library professionals. Dive into pre-recorded webinars, engaging tutorials, and convenient on-demand modules designed to fit your learning needs. These courses are intended exclusively for library staff, ensuring content that is relevant, practical, and tailored to support your professional growth.

Please note: Courses on LibraryLinkNJ's LearningSpace are specifically designed to support the professional development of library staff. These courses are not intended for use or access by the public.

Join us for this in-person opportunity to learn book mending techniques and skills, as well as to discuss best practices, supplies, and the pros and cons of book treatments. Registration is limited to 30 and will open on Monday, March 24th.

• Book Mending Training; In-Person at Georgian Court University; Friday, May 2, 10am-12pm

In this workshop, we'll demonstrate building a simple, low-cost, AI-powered chatbot for training, demonstrations, testing, and more. We'll examine a couple of different online tools that can be used for this purpose - and are easy enough for anyone to set up. By participating in the workshop, you will learn the steps to create a new chatbot for your library!

• Library Bot-Builder Workshop; Virtual; Tuesday, March 4, 2-3:30pm.

• Cost: $10/person; Registration is limited to 40 people

• Instructor/Presenter: Jim Craner, The Galecia Group

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Enhance Your Library Marketing Skills with Kathy Dempsey!

Join Kathy Dempsey, author of The Accidental Library Marketer and founder of Libraries Are Essential, for an exclusive live Q&A on March 10th. Participation is limited to those who complete the Library Marketing Made Easy course on LibraryLinkNJ LearningSpace before the event.

This course, designed for “accidental marketers,” simplifies essential concepts like setting goals, identifying target audiences, and tracking results. Completion is required to join the session, where Kathy will explore practical strategies, answer questions, and encourage experience-sharing. Register now to unlock this invaluable opportunity!

• Library Marketing Made Easy: Live Q&A Session with Kathy Dempsey; Virtual; Monday, March 10, 1pm-2pm.

• Participation Requirements: After you've registered for the Q&A session, you will receive a link via email to access the Library Marketing Made Easy course on the LibraryLinkNJ LearningSpace. Complete the course before the March 10th webinar.

• Presenter: Kathy Dempsey

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Leadership is the ability and skill to influence and/or guide individuals or groups to a desired outcome. The goal of this webinar is for participants to understand leadership as a science and then align that science to practical application and practice with their daily work task, interactions, strategies, and engagements with their leaders, peers, and teams. This leadership webinar series is designed to enhance both emerging and ongoing leadership training for librarians across all areas of librarianship, including public, private, and academic sectors. The series will consist of three sessions.

• PDA Leadership Series Part 1: Leadership Strategies for Success; Virtual; Tuesday, March 11, 1pm-2pm.

• Presenter: Dr. Suzanne Morrison-Williams, EdD, MPA, BSc
• This event is hosted by FVLC (Florida Virtual Library Campus) and made available to you via the Professional Development Alliance of Library Consortia.

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All employees are entitled to a workplace that is inclusive and free from discrimination. This training will provide an overview of how the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) protects employees from harassment and discrimination. Through case studies and other interactive exercises, participants will examine the rights afforded to all employees and the responsibilities of employers to protect those rights. Topics include what constitutes a hostile work environment, workplace accommodation requirements, employer liability, and reporting processes. Participants will also explore the ways in which implicit biases can lead to discrimination, and how to foster respectful environments in which discrimination and harassment are not tolerated.

• NJ Law Against Discrimination in the Workplace; Virtual; Tuesday, March 18, 10am-12pm.
• This webinar is brought to you by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR).

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Join us in this coalition of NJ's library organizations to tackle EDI issues in our state's libraries.

• NJ Statewide EDI Initiative Group (EDI-NJ) Meeting; Virtual; Wednesday, March 19, 3pm-4pm.

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Share your knowledge and learn from your colleagues in these attendee-driven conversations focused on specific library skills. Come ready to share experiences, ask questions, and connecting with your colleagues from around the state!

• Information Literacy for School Librarians; Virtual, Wednesday, March 19, 3pm-4pm.

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In this pilot program modeled on the work of our colleagues at the South Carolina State Library and Denver Public Library, New Jersey library staff are encouraged to join us for an opportunity to practice their library-related Spanish language skills! Join a native Spanish speaker from the NJ library community and up to 14 other library colleagues who will gather via Zoom to practice common vocabulary and phrases. March's topic is Programs & Events Vocab List; both dates will cover the same information and interested participants need only attend one date.

• ¿Cómo Se Dice? Programs & Events Vocab List; Virtual; Thursday, March 20, 10am-11am.
• ¿Cómo Se Dice? Programs & Events Vocab List; Virtual; Wednesday, April 2, 4pm-5pm.
  
• Registration is limited to 15 individuals per session.

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Join the MentorNJ Task Force for our annual Mega Meetup, providing library staff from around the state an opportunity to gather together for networking, support, and learning! Whether you're a veteran MentorNJ participant or will be joining us for the first time, all are welcome at this fun, full-day event.

• MentorNJ Mega Meet-up; In-Person; Wednesday, March 26, 10am-3:30pm.

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This presentation will discuss the implementation of a rule-based chatbot to accompany the UF Libraries’ Ask A Librarian virtual reference service. The goal of the chatbot was to streamline the virtual chat experience while still encouraging librarian-patron interactions. It outlines the development of the chat workflows for the bot through survey and analysis, workflow creation using Springshare’s chatbot tool, and implementation. The presentation will also discuss the struggles experienced during implementation, usage data and preliminary outcomes of the new chatbot, and next steps for continued improvement.

• “Are You a Bot?”; Virtual; Thursday, March 27, 11am-12pm.
• This event is hosted by FVLC (Florida Virtual Library Campus) and made available to you via the Professional Development Alliance of Library Consortia.

Join us for any or all of our MentorNJ Online Meetups this month! No registration required; Zoom links go out to our entire email list each Monday morning for that week's Meetups.

• Disabled & Neurodivergent Library Staff - March 4th, 2pm-3pm

• Maker Meetup - March 6th, 3pm-4pm

• Latino Library Staff - March 11th, 10am-11am

• LGBTQUIA+ Library Staff - March 12th, 11am-12pm

• Wellness Wednesday - March 12th, 3pm-4pm

• Adventures in Administration - March 13th, 10:30am-11:30am

• API (Asian & Pacific Islander) Library Staff- March 17th, 10am-11am

• HR Roundtable and Networking- March 18th, 10am-11am

• Juggling Parenting and Library Work - March 19th, 2-3pm

• Tech! - March 20th, 3-4pm

• Mega Meet-up - March 26th, 10am-3:30pm

• Adventures in Administration - March 27th, 10:30am-11:30am

Want to know more about a meet-up? Check out our calendar!

We asked, and you delivered! Last month, we asked you to send us photos of events, displays, and programs celebrating Black History Month, and we got some great responses! Thank you for sharing your powerful photo submissions!

Featured in this newsletter are: Taylor Memorial Library (Centenary University), Nottingham High School (Hamilton Township), Trenton Free Public Library (Trenton), Guggenheim Memorial Library (Monmouth University), Roselle Park Veterans Memorial Library (Roselle Park), Union Public Library-- Vauxhall Branch (Vauxhall).

Have a question? Want to discuss a program? LLNJ staff is now offering scheduled appointments through Google Meet. Click on the links below to schedule an appointment with a member of the staff!

Ralph Bingham (Executive Director)

• Contact Me About: Institutional Needs, Vendor or Cooperate Partnerships, Concerns, Suggestions

Mi-Sun Lyu (Director of Special Projects)

• Contact Me About: EDI-NJ, Statewide & Large-Scale Projects, Website Support, LLNJ Tech Advisory Group (L-TAG)

Darby Malvey (Programming and Outreach Manager)

• Contact Me About: Special Events, Outreach Needs, MentorNJ, CE Partnerships, Newsletters

Stephanie Sendaula (Programming and Outreach Specialist)

• Contact Me About: Skill-Sharing Convos, Super Library Supervisors, Publisher, Author & Readers’ Advisory Events

Jon Braun (Online Learning & Digital Content Specialist)

• Contact Me About: LLNJ LearningSpace, On-Demand Training Needs, AI Ambassadors, Social Media

Jennifer Bruno (Administrative Operations Manager)

• Contact me about: LibraryLinkNJ's Billing or Statewide Delivery Service

Megan Woods (Communications and Outreach Assistant)

• Contact Me About: Outreach Needs, Newsletters, Social Media

Language barriers can sometimes make essential library services, like registering for a library card, challenging for patrons. To help, Supervising Librarian Kate Russo from South River Public Library has created a helpful Russian translation guide. Check out the guide today and make your library more accessible to everyone!

This Women’s History Month, we want to showcase the amazing women who have shaped and continue to shape our communities and libraries. If you have captivating photos from library events, exhibits, or programs celebrating women’s achievements, we want to see them! Send us some photos of how your library celebrates Women's History Month to be featured in the next monthly newsletter!

Please send your submissions to ce@librarylinknj.org with the subject "Women's History Month photos," along with the name of your library.

The Florida OER Summit Planning Committee invites proposal submissions for the 2025 Summit. The Planning Committee strives to host an inclusive and accessible conference and encourages proposals that reflect a wide range of lived experiences and perspectives. Faculty and students are encouraged to participate.

The Summit will be free and held virtually May 21 - 22 (Wednesday-Thursday), and our theme is Engage and Empower: Leveraging OER to Enhance Student Learning.

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In a first annual all-day conference, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium will bring together supporters and advocates of quality community news and information. It will feature a broad stakeholder coalition of grantees, funders, partners, residents, universities, journalists, lawmakers, community groups, and other leaders, all there to discuss transforming New Jersey's media ecosystem. We will review progress, share learning, and workshop new theories of change for continuing to build a more functional, resilient, and inclusive information space for all residents of the Garden State, both in print and digitally.

Due to anticipated weather conditions and our commitment to ensuring a safe and accessible event for all, we have decided to reschedule the Summit to Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at The College of New Jersey. While we were excited to gather on February 12, this new date allows us to bring everyone together under safer conditions and continue building an even more impactful program. Click here for more information!

The BLC Leadership Academy for Support Staff is a three-day leadership retreat to be held from July 8-11, 2025 at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus in St. Petersburg, Florida. BLASS is an intensive, high-engagement experience that goes beyond traditional leadership training. Participants will engage in workshops, hands-on learning, peer networking, and wellness programming. This program is open to those who are underrepresented and have been historically excluded in the library and information field who are (1) in supervisory roles, (2) do not possess an MLS degree, and (3) reside in the United States and/or its territories. Accepted participants will be awarded a travel stipend to attend. All other program costs, including meals and lodging, will be covered.

The deadline to apply for BLASS is Friday, March 21, 2025. Applications must be submitted via the form here. Please reach out to Cate Harriman, BLC Program Manager for Learning and Development, (charriman@blc.org) if you have any questions or need assistance with your application.

LibraryLinkNJ's Executive Board will hold their next meeting on Thursday, March 20th at 2:30pm via Zoom.

All LibraryLinkNJ members are welcome to attend Executive Board meetings. Find more information on the Executive Board page on our website!

We want to hear what you've got to say.

Please email suggestionbox@librarylinknj.org with feedback about our services and programs. Suggestions for new services and programs are welcome, too.

LibraryLinkNJ: Every New Jersey Library - Connected and Thriving

LibraryLinkNJ (formerly known as INFOLINK) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Its members are multi-type libraries and library-related agencies located in the twenty-one counties of New Jersey. This area includes 8.79 million people. The population of the state is highly diverse and includes some of the largest communities of Spanish speaking and Asian Indian persons in the U.S.

LibraryLinkNJ – The New Jersey Library Cooperative has over 1100 voting representatives from over 2,500 public and private school, public, academic, institutional, corporate, health sciences and special libraries and library-related agencies. A member-elected Executive Board meets regularly to oversee the programs and services of the organization.

LibraryLinkNJ and its services are funded by the New Jersey State Library, which is responsible for the coordination, promotion and funding of the New Jersey Library Network. Members join at no charge and pay no dues.

Email: info@librarylinknj.org
Website: www.librarylinknj.org
Location: 2300 Stuyvesant Avenue, Ewing Township, NJ, USA
Phone: 732-752-7720
Facebook: facebook.com/librarylinknj
Instagram: @librarylinknj