United for Libraries board members, staff, and member-leaders are scheduled to speak at several conferences across the country in May. Below is information about programs in New Hampshire, California, and Florida. To learn more about having a United for Libraries speaker at your event or conference, email united@ala.org or call 312-280-2161. Potential topics include board development, recruiting and retaining Friends of the Library, fundraising, advocacy, succession planning, and more.
David Paige (pictured), 2020-2021 United for Libraries president, will give the keynote at the New Hampshire Library Trustee Association Conference in Concord on May 10. His keynote, “The More Things Change…” will explore how libraries’ evolution has been surprisingly constant and how many services we take for granted today were once novel themselves. How did libraries of the past evolve to meet the demands of their times? How can our libraries today rise to the challenges of hyperpartisanship, filter bubbles, and misinformation? How do we seize new opportunities to enact our values — access, equity, intellectual freedom — throughout our communities?
Madeline Jarvis and Tess Wilson, part of United for Libraries’ ALA Emerging Leaders team who authored All Ages Welcome: Recruiting and Retaining Younger Generations for Library Boards, Friends Groups, and Foundations, will be the keynote speakers at the sold-out Serving with a Purpose Conference in Ontario, Calif., May 19. They will share tips on understanding generational differences, mastering the ABCs of recruitment and retention and tailoring them to fit your library, cementing buy-in from both current organization members and new recruits, and more.
At the Florida Library Association Conference, United for Libraries Executive Director Beth Nawalinski and United for Libraries Board Member Peter Pearson will join Amy L. Johnson of the Florida Department of State/Division of Library and Information Services for the preconference program Reset and Reconnect Library Friends Groups and Foundations on Sun., May 22, 1-5 p.m. This interactive, in-person preconference session will explore advocacy, communication and board development, and succession planning, and is designed for Friends and Foundations leadership teams, including library staff liaisons, library directors, and board executive members. This event is free, but space is limited; for more information, visit https://www.flalib.org/2022-schedule-of-events.
