New Webinar: "Building Good Work Relationships in Today’s Libraries" & More

Emotional Intelligence as A Core Workplace Skill in Libraries
A Library 2.0 Masterclass with Loida Garcia-Febo

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

OVERVIEW: 

Work relationships play a central role in how library professionals experience their jobs, collaborate with colleagues, and sustain their well-being over time. In today’s social climate—marked by ongoing change, increased stress, evolving community needs, and heightened emotional demands—library workers are navigating more complex interpersonal dynamics than ever before.

Libraries are people-centered organizations, and the quality of relationships among staff directly affects teamwork, communication, morale, and service to the community. Strong working relationships help library workers respond effectively to challenges, support one another through periods of change, and create environments where ideas, innovation, and professional growth can flourish. At the same time, strained or unhealthy dynamics can add stress and impact both individual well-being and organizational effectiveness.

This masterclass focuses on practical skills for building, maintaining, and strengthening positive work relationships in library settings. The content is tailored specifically to the realities of library work and addresses common stressors that influence interactions with colleagues and supervisors. Participants will explore what healthy professional relationships look like in practice, how to navigate differences in communication styles and expectations, and how to respond constructively to challenging situations.

Throughout the session, Loida Garcia-Febo will share practical tools, reflection prompts, and strategies that attendees can apply immediately to foster respectful communication, establish healthy boundaries, and strengthen collaboration within their teams.

OUTCOMES:

Participants will:

• Learn core principles for building and strengthening positive work relationships
• Identify common stressors affecting library workers and strategies to manage their impact
• Develop skills for establishing and maintaining healthy professional boundaries
• Become familiar with assertiveness, communication styles, and decision-making approaches
• Understand how Emotional Intelligence supports effective workplace relationships
• Explore foundational self-care practices that support sustainable collaboration
• Create a personalized Building Good Work Relationships Toolkit

The recording and presentation slides will be available to all who register. 

DATE: Thursday, March 19th, 2026, 2:00 - 3:00 pm US - Eastern Time

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

 March 10, 2026

 March 12, 2026 

 

March 17, 2026

 March 18, 2026

 March 20, 2026

 March 23, 2026

 March 26, 2026

 April 9, 2026

 April 15, 2026

New Safe Library Webinars: "High-Performing Teams" and "Trauma-Informed Care"

Seven Themes for a High-Performing Team:
Leading Library Employees for Mutual Success
A Library 2.0 Service, Safety, and Security Webinar with Dr. Steve Albrecht

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

OVERVIEW: 

Leading your library staff to new goals and small and large accomplishments takes time and effort, on everyone’s part.

Perhaps a metaphor from the Old West can help illustrate this:

Some people will always help to pull the wagon; some people will only sit in the wagon and wait to be pulled; other people - who don’t like change - try to prevent the wagon from moving; others won’t pull the wagon when the going gets hard and it’s heading uphill; and still others only want to ride in the wagon if it’s coasting downhill.

Dave Kline teaches leadership, and one of his tools involves seven key themes, with three critical elements for each one. For team success, he speaks of the need for Clarity, Capability, Culture, Communication, Collaboration, Commitment, and Coaching. This session will look at how to understand his model and apply it to the people who work with and for you in the library space.

LEARNING AGENDA: 

• Review Dave Kline’s seven-point “Foundational Management Checklist.”
• Convert abstract leadership, management, and supervisory principals to concrete actions steps.
• Use Kline’s model to assess your individual departments and overall library team. Create goals, roles, processes, and deadlines to encourage growth, movement, responsibility, and accountability.
  

DATE: Thursday, March 12, 2026, 2:00 - 3:00 pm US - Eastern Time

 

Trauma-Informed Care:
Building Awareness and Response Tools for Leaders and Staff
A Library 2.0 Service, Safety, and Security Webinar with Dr. Steve Albrecht

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

OVERVIEW: 

Much has been written about trauma-informed care as it pertains to interacting with library patrons. Research in this area suggests it drives their behavior, especially when it comes to following policies or rules and the stress of them just being asked to comply. A complicating factor is when a staff member dealing with a challenging patron also comes from a trauma background.

Trauma-informed librarianship is a framework that recognizes the prevalence of trauma in the lives of our patrons and staff. However, a nuanced approach is required to ensure this practice doesn't lead to "mission creep" or staff burnout. It is about shifting the perspective from "What is wrong with this person?" to "What has this person experienced?" while maintaining the critical understanding that a library is a public service space, not a clinical environment. When boundaries are blurred, service, safety, and security can get compromised.

This session examines and redefines the trauma-informed concept and looks at service solutions that strive to keep staff and patrons in a relative comfort zone that uses respect, awareness, empathic assertiveness, and communication.

LEARNING AGENDA: 

• Review Rebecca Tolley’s definitive work in this area.
• Examining models like the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), the four-step model from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the warning signs for compassion fatigue and countertransference.
• Discuss the concept of “vocational awe,” where the library becomes a place where the staff “cares too much,” creating the possibility of burnout from stress overloads.
• Activate Dr. Albrecht’s BREADS stress management model.
  

DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2026, 2:00 - 3:00 pm US - Eastern Time

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

 Starts March 4, 2026

 March 10, 2026

March 17, 2026

 March 18, 2026

 March 20, 2026

 April 9, 2026

 April 15, 2026