Preparing to Support Communities in Crisis
Are you
- Wondering how to support your community through the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic?
- Concerned about the emotional and mental well-being of your community?
- Looking for new ways to reconnect with children, teens, and families who have yet to return to using library services?
- Thinking about how to reach the most vulnerable youth and families in your community?
- Worried about how you might respond to future crises?
If you have found yourself asking any of these questions, or if you just want to freshen your skill set, please join us for Preparing to Support Communities in Crisis Preparing to Support Communities in Crisis. This training will not only give you the opportunity to practice new skills and tools, but will also give you access to experienced, national facilitators and a community of practice that will support you through your learning.
This six month training is based on Library Staff as Public Servants: A Field Guide for Preparing to Support Communities in Crisis and will lead youth services staff through the essential tasks necessary for developing the critical relationships, processes, and skills needed in supporting youth and families during a local, regional, or national crisis. Using an equity lens, participants will explore the ways in which they can best serve non-dominant youth and families.
The essential tasks covered in this training include:
- Learning with Community: Building relationships and gathering data about community assets and needs
- Co-creating with Community: Designing services and programs with community members and not designing for them
- Assessment and Iteration: Measuring the impact you and your partners have in your community
- Systems and Structures: Aligning solutions that support community needs with the library’s strategic plan and the priorities of administrators
Participants will meet monthly via Zoom from December through May and each session will focus on an essential task and the tools for implementing them. Between sessions participants will have assignments to guide them in practicing the tools and skills related to each essential task. At the end of this training participants will have fully explored the essential tasks through hands-on work that will build knowledge and confidence in serving non-dominant youth and families during times of crisis.
This training is open to all RI public youth services staff who are responsible for designing and implementing services and programs for youth ages birth to 18. Registration is limited to 25 participants and will be open until November 24. The training begins December 2. Please contact Danielle Margarida at danielle.margarida@olis.ri.gov with any questions related to this training.
Let's Mock
It's time to start taking a closer look at the children's books of 2021. Participating in the Mock Newbery is an opportunity to read the newest children’s books and to discuss them with other passionate readers. A letter certifying participation is available for those applying the Mock Newbery program towards professional development.
Program registration: https://tinyurl.com/newbery22
Mock Newbery webpage: http://www.olis.ri.gov/youth/newbery/index.php
We'll also be using the RI Mock Newbery Goodreads Group to discuss each of the titles on the first reading a list. A thread is being created for each title and we'll use the comments from the Goodreads discussions as a springboard for our virtual discussions. Start out by introducing yourself in the Introduction thread! Not a member of the group? Join now!
Still Time to Join the KRARI Committee
Public librarians, school librarians and teachers who have experience with children in grades 3 - 6 are invited to join the Kids Reading Across RI (KRARI) Committee. KRARI committee members will select the 2022 book, help develop and facilitate virtual events and activities, and create a discussion guide and related resources for KRARI book discussions.
OLIS Library Learning Center
The OLIS Library Learning Center provides asynchronous learning resources for RI library staff via Niche Academy. The Library Learning Center includes recordings of OLIS webinars and RI-specific training as well as curated webinars, courses and learning resources from state library agencies, library systems and other library serving organizations made available through the Niche Academy platform. OLIS staff are continually working to update the resources available in the Library Learning Center to meet the learning needs of RI library staff. If there is a specific training topic you would like to see, contact Nicolette Baffoni with your requests.
Visit the OLIS Library Learning Center to access learning resources. You will be prompted to sign in to this academy; library staff must have an account in order to access the OLIS Library Learning Center.
There are three ways to sign in/create an account:
- If you accessed the Ryan Dowd's Librarian's Guide to Homelessness course through OLIS in 2020, your account has been transferred to the OLIS Library Learning Center.
- You can create a free account using your library email address (must include your library's unique domain).
- Contact Nicolette Baffoni to create an account if you do not have a library-specific email address.
Contact
Email: danielle.margarida@olis.ri.gov
Website: http://www.olis.ri.gov/
Location: 1 Capitol Hill Providence, RI 02908
Phone: 401-574-9309 401-400-3006
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olisri
Twitter: @olisri