Special Library
Reference Interview 101
Reference Interview is a comprehensive six-week asynchronous course focusing on the methods of evaluating reference services, behaviorial aspects of reference service.
Best of Core: Radical Accessibility: Building Belonging and Breaking Barriers
This session will explore concrete examples, including the implementation of multilingual signage; the creation of accessible restrooms with adult changing tables; the design and use of inclusive furniture; and the provision of lactation rooms, sensory and quiet spaces. Learn how new access to spaces created opportunities for policy and practice change as well.
Virtual Roundtable Discussions for Trustees, Friends, and Foundations
February 2026 Learning Live
Best of Core Forum: Using the Viewfinder Toolkit for Responsible AI
The presenters have developed a toolkit, the Viewfinder toolkit, to help libraries and archives implement AI in alignment with professional values. This hands-on session introduces the toolkit and guides participants through its use.
Best of Core Forum: Unlocking Team Potential: Leading Effective Library Teams
Teams are an increasingly important workplace construct, allowing libraries to tap into staff potential to tackle complex work in our current, dynamic library environment.
Who Manages, Who Leads: Part Two: Mentor, Progress, Succeed, Lead
"Who Manages, Who Leads Part Two" is a four-week program for managers and leaders to learn advanced theory and practice in leadership, succession, and mentorship, benefiting both experienced and newly hired leaders.
Who Manages, Who Leads: Part Two: Mentor, Progress, Succeed, Lead
"Who Manages, Who Leads Part Two" is a four-week program for managers and leaders to learn advanced theory and practice in leadership, succession, and mentorship, benefiting both experienced and newly hired leaders.
Best of Core Forum: Power of a Community The Colorado Chicano Movement
Documenting the cultural heritage and unique experiences of your community members provides a more inclusive archival record. This presentation covers the steps needed to establish relationships and work with community members through participatory archives. This presentation will provide an overview of the basic structure of how to conduct oral histories and working with communities.
Best of Core Forum: AI in Cataloging and Metadata: Developing Community and Best Practices
The presentation will give an overview of the work of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Task Group on AI for Cataloging and Metadata activities, with particular focus on the Guiding Principles, the Best Practices, and the Community of Practice.
Best of Core Forum: Accuracy Matters: Evaluating the Value of AI Tools
. In the area of cataloging and metadata, one frequently cited potential use for AI (particularly Large Language Models (LLMs)) is constructing summaries and abstracts of information resources.
Best of Core Forum: Mindfulness as a Leadership Tool
Leading a library in today’s complex landscape presents unique challenges, including political dynamics, budget constraints, and the lingering effects of the pandemic on mental health. In their efforts to create safe and healthy environments for their teams, library leaders often find themselves stretched thin and in need of strategies to enhance their own well-being. This raises an important question: how can they prioritize self-care while supporting others?
Best of Core Forum - Ethics, AI, and Cataloging: A Practical Approach
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to streamline metadata workflows and increase the capacity of cataloging operations. Interest in the promise of AI has accelerated since the release of ChatGPT in 2022. Metadata practitioners have conducted many case studies using AI processes, such as machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP).
Navigating Institutional Change Through Collaboration and Use of Management Tools
Description: Over the past two years, the Collection Services department of our library faced numerous staff impacts including retirements, staff shortages, hiring freezes and potential budget cuts. To maintain access to library materials for our nearly 60,000 students, faculty and staff the department engaged in a collaborative approach.
Creating a Knowledge Management Initiative for Ongoing Team Success
This webinar will explore the intricacies, limitations, and possibilities for change in providing meaningful and compassionate mental health support within information spaces.
It’s Never Too Late: Pathways to Career Advancement
Ready for the next phase of your career but worried you missed the moment to transition? Scared to make a change? Struggling to retain your staff? Unsure how to create opportunities for career advancement in your organization? It's never too late!
Best of Core Forum: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Creating an Efficient Library Through Robust Project Management Practices
Is your current project management system a collection of post-it notes? Do you have to be reminded of a project that was due six months ago? Is there no accountability across the system? Turn your scattered thoughts and wistful dreams into a smooth operation with assembly line project management.
Best of Core Forum: How to Create a Patron-Centered Administration
Do you want to take your library’s customer service to the next level? If so, this session is for you. We’ll share a step-by-step overview of how libraries have overhauled their customer service philosophy and elevated the patron experience from questioning and conflict to collaboration and coming to a consensus to find solutions. We’ll dig into how we created staff-driven library service success via innovation and leadership to pursue customer service excellence. In addition to sharing our own experiences, we’ll share our best tips for gaining buy-in from trustees, staff, patrons, and even those “responsibility warriors”!
Best of Core Forum: Competency vs. Character: What makes a good leader
Leadership is essential at every level of an organization, as experienced library leaders reach retirement age, the next generation of leaders must be prepared to take the helm. Leadership is not confined to the administrative level of the organization, as a leader might be found in any role and any level in the organization. To ensure the next generation of library leaders are prepared, one needs to know what makes an effective leader. Research indicates that the qualities of an effective leader are evolving from a focus on professional competencies to an emphasis on the character traits of the individual. A balance of competencies and character are needed for effective leadership. This presentation will explore how leadership qualifications have evolved over time and what defines an effective leader today.
Leadership Skills Through Professional Service
Service work or professional service, whether through professional associations, conference planning, editorial boards, or task forces, offers librarians a pathway to developing leadership skills outside their immediate workplace.
First Steps: A Primer into Intellectual Property Librarianship
A 75-minute webinar on intellectual property librarianship.