MINI-CONFERENCE INFORMATION & CALL FOR PROPOSALS OPEN - "Perspectives on AI: Exploring Experiences with AI in Library Work"

 

OVERVIEW:

AI is reshaping libraries in ways that raise hard questions and real opportunities, and library workers are responding with everything from skepticism to excitement to alarm. This three-hour mini-conference, "Perspectives on AI: Exploring Experiences with AI in Library Work" on Thursday, April 9, 10:30 am - 1:30 pm US-Pacific Time, is designed to honor that complexity so attendees can form their own informed, values-grounded view. 

The mini-conference will explore AI from the angles that matter to library workers: 

• Understanding risks and potential harms;
• Practical applications in library and administrative work;
• Research and information literacy;
• Leadership decision-making; 
• Ethical considerations;
• Supporting patrons who are navigating AI in their own lives.

The call for proposals is now open at https://www.library20.com/callforproposals. 

Please join us for a conversation that will be as broad and honest as the topic deserves. Attendance is free and open to all. We have had over 1250 registrations for the conference after just the first email announcement.

CONFERENCE CHAIR:

Greg Lucas
California State Librarian
OPENING KEYNOTE PANEL & SPECIAL ORGANIZER

Greg Lucas was appointed California’s 25th State Librarian by Governor Jerry Brown on March 25, 2014.

Prior to his appointment, Greg was the Capitol Bureau Chief for the San Francisco Chronicle, where he covered politics and policy at the State Capitol for nearly 20 years.

During Greg’s tenure as State Librarian, the State Library’s priorities have been to improve reading skills throughout the state, put library cards into the hands of every school kid and provide all Californians the information they need – no matter what community they live in.

The State Library invests $10 million annually in local libraries to help them develop more innovative and efficient ways to serve their communities.

Since 2015, the State Library has improved access for millions of Californians by helping connect more than 1,000 of the state’s 1,129 libraries to a high-speed Internet network that links universities, colleges, schools, and libraries around the world.

Greg holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science from California State University San Jose, a Master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California, and a degree in communications from Stanford University.

REGISTER:

This is a free event, being held live online and also recorded.

REGISTER HERE

to attend live and/or to receive the recording links afterward.
Please also join the Library 2.0 community to be kept updated on this and future events. 

Everyone is invited to participate in our Library 2.0 conference events, which are designed to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among information professionals worldwide. Each three-hour event consists of a keynote panel, 10-15 crowd-sourced thirty-minute presentations, and a closing keynote. 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

We're seeking speakers who reflect the full spectrum of viewpoints on AI, including researchers using AI in their work, frontline staff helping patrons understand it, leaders wrestling with policy decisions, and advocates raising critical questions about safety and ethics. If you have a perspective on AI in libraries you’d like to share, we'd like to hear it. The call for proposals will go live at https://www.library20.com/miniconferences/perspectives-on-ai the first week in March. 

PARTNERS:

This conference is a collaborative project of California Libraries Learn, the California Library Association, California State Library, and Library 2.0. It is supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

 

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:

 Started March 4, 2026

 March 10, 2026

 March 12, 2026

 March 17, 2026

 March 18, 2026

 March 19, 2026

 March 20, 2026

 March 23, 2026

 March 24, 2026

 March 26, 2026

 April 15, 2026

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

NEW AI MINI-CONFERENCE - "Perspectives on AI: Exploring Experiences with AI in Library Work"

 

OVERVIEW:

AI is reshaping libraries in ways that raise hard questions and real opportunities, and library workers are responding with everything from skepticism to excitement to alarm. This three-hour mini-conference, "Perspectives on AI: Exploring Experiences with AI in Library Work" on Thursday, April 9, 10:30 am - 1:30 pm US-Pacific Time, is designed to honor that complexity so attendees can form their own informed, values-grounded view. 

The mini-conference will explore AI from the angles that matter to library workers: 

• Understanding risks and potential harms;
• Practical applications in library and administrative work;
• Research and information literacy;
• Leadership decision-making; 
• Ethical considerations;
• Supporting patrons who are navigating AI in their own lives.

Please join us for a conversation that will be as broad and honest as the topic deserves. Attendance is free and open to all.

CONFERENCE CHAIR:

Greg Lucas
California State Librarian
OPENING KEYNOTE PANEL & SPECIAL ORGANIZER

Greg Lucas was appointed California’s 25th State Librarian by Governor Jerry Brown on March 25, 2014.

Prior to his appointment, Greg was the Capitol Bureau Chief for the San Francisco Chronicle, where he covered politics and policy at the State Capitol for nearly 20 years.

During Greg’s tenure as State Librarian, the State Library’s priorities have been to improve reading skills throughout the state, put library cards into the hands of every school kid and provide all Californians the information they need – no matter what community they live in.

The State Library invests $10 million annually in local libraries to help them develop more innovative and efficient ways to serve their communities.

Since 2015, the State Library has improved access for millions of Californians by helping connect more than 1,000 of the state’s 1,129 libraries to a high-speed Internet network that links universities, colleges, schools, and libraries around the world.

Greg holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science from California State University San Jose, a Master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California, and a degree in communications from Stanford University.

REGISTER:

This is a free event, being held live online and also recorded.

REGISTER HERE

to attend live and/or to receive the recording links afterward.
Please also join the Library 2.0 community to be kept updated on this and future events. 

Everyone is invited to participate in our Library 2.0 conference events, which are designed to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among information professionals worldwide. Each three-hour event consists of a keynote panel, 10-15 crowd-sourced thirty-minute presentations, and a closing keynote. 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

We're seeking speakers who reflect the full spectrum of viewpoints on AI, including researchers using AI in their work, frontline staff helping patrons understand it, leaders wrestling with policy decisions, and advocates raising critical questions about safety and ethics. If you have a perspective on AI in libraries you’d like to share, we'd like to hear it. The call for proposals will go live at https://www.library20.com/miniconferences/perspectives-on-ai the first week in March. 

PARTNERS:

This conference is a collaborative project of California Libraries Learn, the California Library Association, California State Library, and Library 2.0. It is supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

 

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:

 February 27, 2026

 Starts March 4, 2026

 March 10, 2026

 March 17, 2026

 March 18, 2026

 March 20, 2026

 April 9, 2026

 April 15, 2026

EVERYDAY LIBRARIAN SERIES WEBINARS: "Managing Up" (free) and "Invisible Labor"

Managing Up: How to Work Well With the Boss You Actually Have
A Library 2.0 "Everyday Librarian" Webinar with Sonya Schryer Norris

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER (FREE)

OVERVIEW: 

Your relationship with your supervisor may be the single biggest factor in how much you enjoy coming to work. When it's working, almost everything feels more manageable. When it isn't, even good days can feel like you're pushing a boulder uphill.

Managing up is a method of career development based on consciously working for the mutual benefit of yourself and your boss. That distinction matters: mutual benefit, not just theirs.

In this webinar, you'll get concrete, practical strategies for the parts of the supervisor relationship that trip most of us up: figuring out what your boss actually needs, building the kind of trust that gives you credibility when it counts, and staying grounded when you feel like you have very little control. No fluff, no corporate-speak — just real tools for the real dynamics you're navigating every day.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Identify strategies to align your work goals with your supervisor's priorities — and understand why that alignment matters more than agreement.
  
• Apply concrete methods for building and maintaining trust, including how to tell the truth when it's hard.
  
• Reduce frustration by developing a more complete picture of your supervisor as a whole person operating under their own pressures and constraints.
  
• Maintain a clear-eyed sense of what you can and cannot control in your workplace — and make better decisions because of it.
  

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

DATE: Wednesday, March 18th, 2026, 1:00 - 2:00 pm US - Eastern Time

 

From Invisible Labor to Line Items:
Budgeting for the Library Work That’s Actually Happening
A Library 2.0 "Everyday Librarian" Webinar with Sonya Schryer Norris

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

OVERVIEW: 

Your staff de-escalated a crisis this week. They walked someone through a benefits application. They cleaned up a biohazard. They held it together through an interaction that would rattle a social worker. And none of it showed up in your budget request.

There is a fundamental disconnect between what library workers actually do and what gets captured in our metrics, our job descriptions, and our budgets. That disconnect makes libraries harder to fund, harder to staff, and harder to defend.

This session provides library leaders with research-backed strategies for closing that gap. Fobazi Ettarh's research on "vocational awe" explains how framing librarianship as a sacred calling keeps job duties expanding and wages flat. Mary Guy and Meredith Newman's work on emotional labor in public sector jobs reveals why the most demanding skills your staff perform every day don't show up in their pay grades. And Rachel Ivy Clarke's service valuation research at the Syracuse University iSchool offers a practical alternative to the circulation-based metrics that train funders to value your inventory over your workforce.

Together, these frameworks give library leaders the tools to make invisible labor visible — in board reports, in budget requests, and in the language we use to describe and advocate for staff positions.

This is not a wellness presentation. It's about budgets, job descriptions, and the structural reasons your most skilled labor doesn't have a line item.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

Library directors, managers, and HR who write board reports, defend budgets, or influence how staff positions are described and classified. If you've ever struggled to explain to a funder why your library needs more than book money — or watched a talented staff member leave because the job outgrew the job description — this session was built for you.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Define invisible labor and vocational awe as structural problems in library operations — and explain how they drive budget vulnerability, staff turnover, and expanding job scope without corresponding compensation.
• Understand why the numbers most libraries put in front of their boards — like circulation stats and materials budgets — accidentally make it easier to cut staff.
• Recognize the pattern by which voluntary staff efforts quietly become mandatory job expectations.
• Apply new tracking categories to your existing systems so your budget requests reflect the skilled labor your staff perform every day.
• Identify the gap between existing job description language and the skilled emotional labor staff actually perform.

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

DATE: Wednesday, April 15th, 2026, 1:00 - 2:00 pm US - Eastern Time

 

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

 February 26, 2026

 February 27, 2026

 Starts March 4, 2026

 March 10, 2026

 March 17, 2026

 March 20, 2026