Professional Resources

Core Webinar: Best of Core at ALA Annual Conference; Thinking Big

CHICAGO–Core hosts the webinar “Best of Core at ALA Annual Conference: Thinking Big” on March 27, 2024, at 1 p.m. CT. Faced with deficiencies of collection and space, and a failed tax referendum to address these needs, the Louisville Free Public Library opted for a transformative investment that reshaped how the community is served. Explore the holistic and constantly evolving approach to how this library reaches their patrons, how they optimize staffing and nurture visitor interaction and how they leverage the built environment to achieve enduring value.

Bibliotherapy-informed practices, programs, and events

CHICAGO — Bibliotherapy can be defined as the use of guided reading for therapeutic ends. And though you might not be a licensed mental health professional, you can—and do, even without knowing it—support mental health and personal growth by connecting patrons to books that heal. Regardless of your previous experience or existing skills, “The Librarian's Guide to Bibliotherapy,” published by ALA Editions, will empower you to make “shelf help” a part of your library's relationship with its community.

Applications Now Open for the Core Online Course Scholarship for Library Professionals from Developing Countries

CHICAGO–Core is now accepting applications for the Online Course Scholarship for Library Professionals from Developing Countries to participate in our online Fundamentals courses held between January 8, 2024 and June 28, 2024. One free seat per session is available to librarians and information professionals from developing countries.

JSTOR and Choice jointly publish research presenting new insights on teaching with digital primary sources

Middletown, CT - JSTOR, a nonprofit service of ITHAKA, and Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), have partnered to publish a new research report, Teaching and Learning with Digital Primary Sources: Nine insights into awareness, literacy, and collaboration between librarians, faculty, and students. Available first through a free upcoming webinar, the report examines the current state of digital primary source instruction and research challenges faced by librarians and faculty instructors.

AASL’s exploration of the Shared Foundations concludes with Curate

CHICAGO — Published by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and ALA Editions, “Curate” helps to connect learners to resources in more thoughtful, meaningful ways. Through teaching learners and other educators to curate—to overcome their own biases to find, organize, and share the best information—school librarians build connections between learners, knowledge, and the world. Written by Daniella LaShaun Smith and Len Bryan, this practical guide features:

Using experimentation to make evidence-based decisions

CHICAGO — The last five years have demonstrated that sticking with the status quo is not an option; instead, as the experiences of many libraries show, those that experiment are better positioned to adapt to rapidly changing environments and evolving user needs and behaviors. Cathryn M.

New from ACRL - “Comic Books, Special Collections, and the Academic Library”

CHICAGO – The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the publication of “Comic Books, Special Collections, and the Academic Library,” edited by Brian Flota and Kate Morris.The book is a collection of best practices for the acquisition, preservation, storage, and cataloging of comics, particularly single-issue (or floppy) comics, within the special collections units of academic library collections.

Core Webinar: Opportunity in the Face of Crisis

CHICAGO–Core hosts the webinar “Opportunity in the Face of Crisis” on December 6, 2023, at 1 p.m. CT. The library at Coastal Carolina University managed multiple facilities projects and operational challenges while responding to a series of crises. The past three years have embodied change at libraries as services have been re-envisioned in response to COVID. At the height of the pandemic, the university also addressed a severe budget crisis that resulted in layoffs, early retirements, and reorganization of many institutional partners.

Applying learning theories in real-world contexts

CHICAGO — From makerspaces to book clubs, from media facilities to group study spaces, from special events to book displays, libraries support learning in numerous ways. In “The Librarian's Guide to Learning Theory: Practical Applications in Library Settings,” published by ALA Editions, Ann Medaille unchains the field of learning theory from its dense underpinnings to show how libraries can use its concepts and principles to better serve the needs of their users. Readers will discover:

Core Webinar: What Candidates Want; Revamping Your Recruitment

CHICAGO–Core hosts the webinar “What Candidates Want: Revamping Your Recruitment” on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at 1 p.m. CT. Interested in improving recruitment practices? This talk will highlight practical steps managers can take to make the search process kinder, gentler, and more inclusive. Drawing from a recent survey of 446 job hunters (spanning multiple library types), the presenter will share some hair-raising stories and look at how to avoid some of the least effective hiring practices.