On-Demand Webinars

If your heart starts to palpitate at the thought of writing a marketing plan, this on-demand webinar will help ease the pain. You’ll learn which steps in a marketing plan are critical to success and get to know the difference between marketing, promotion, publicity, outreach, and public relations so that you can clearly communicate your goals. Find out how to combine market research, a target audience, customized messages, and strategic outreach into a knockout plan, all while incorporating your library’s special brand and importance to the community.

Think about the greatest bosses you’ve ever known. Hard to believe, but they all started as uncertain, unpolished new supervisors at some point. While it takes a certain type of person to become a great boss, it also takes something else along the way—help. Trust, support, mentoring, training, patience, and modeling are just some of the things new supervisors need to become successful. This two-part on-demand webinar outlines just how to find that help and use it to achieve growth.

The first step of library growth and support organization success is forming a good plan. This on-demand webinar focuses on the importance of having a plan and how to get started developing one. Instructor Sue Hall discusses Rapid Results Planning, which is a stakeholder-driven process that can lead to great results. Learn who should participate in strategic planning, what today’s strategic plan looks like, and how to implement a strategic plan. From the Friends and Foundation side, development planning is the best way to ensure that your organization establishes and achieves its goals.

Friends groups and Foundations are more critical than ever in providing support for libraries. Learn about the roles and responsibilities of each of these fundraising organizations including best practices for each and their distinct activities. This on-demand webinar addresses how to build strong relationships between the two organizations and covers topics such as building strong boards, the different fundraising activities for Friends and Foundations, the role of advocacy, and the importance of maintaining good communications with your library director. — PREVIEW AVAILABLE

With the new reality of tighter budgets and strained finances, libraries are stepping up to find new (and more) ways to effectively expand their sources of revenue. For many, it’s hard to know where to start. This PLA on-demand webinar is designed to offer an introduction to the best practices in fundraising for libraries and library organizations.

Public libraries have always been in a unique position to help local writers connect with readers in their communities. The advent of self-publishing platforms presents libraries with a new resource to enhance that connection and reinforce their place at the center of community cultural life. In 2012, the Los Gatos (Calif.) Library began a partnership with e-book self-publishing company Smashwords to offer a three-part series of e-book self-publishing seminars. This partnership has grown to include a co-branded publishing portal managed by Smashwords.

Running a successful library frequently requires political savvy. Whether you’re working on a community-wide initiative, proposing an annual budget, or just want to make sure you have a seat at the table, it helps to know what makes city and county officials tick. Learn how to make the connections, open up communications, and help your library get the attention it deserves.

You’ve heard it—reference transactions are down. Expensive resources aren’t used. Librarians feel their skills are underutilized. What can we do? Don’t give up! Innovative libraries are finding ways to revitalize their reference departments by shifting attitudes, changing their collection philosophies and service models, and pioneering new services. Learn proven methods for reinvigorating reference service and find out what you can do to make reference one of the centerpieces of your library again.

People who visit the library infrequently—or those who don’t visit at all—present a special challenge to public library staff. It’s hard to identify why they don’t use the library, because they typically ignore surveys or focus groups. And without knowing what their needs are, it’s difficult to know what services and programs will attract them. Don’t give up! This on-demand webinar offers some basic techniques that can be used to gain insights about non-users and help you draw them into the library.

It's easy to feel intimidated by the complexity of copyright issues, but copyright can be fun—and there are actually a few easy answers! Learning just a few basics can help you gain confidence to tackle some copyright issues head-on, and build a solid foundation for expanding your knowledge in the future.