8:30-9:00

Coffee and Registration sponsored by the American Chemical Society

9:15-10:30
Room 313

Rebecca Stavick

Keynote Address: Don’t Ask Permission
Rebecca Stavick, Executive Director of Do Space, Co-Founder of Open Nebraska

Disrupting the status quo is difficult and uncomfortable work. In the Midwest, as well as in the library profession, we often value being polite over challenging the established way of doing things — even if those things are holding us back. In this talk, Stavick will discuss how the future of libraries depends on our ability to turn uncomfortable conversations into positive action. Attendees will learn how to think like a hacker in order to overcome barriers in their work, and how to leverage the philosophy of #goodtrouble to empower our communities.

Concurrent Sessions I

10:45-11:45
Room 309

Getting Better Broadband in Your Community
Gail Huycke, Community Development Specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension Center for Community and Economic Development

Many communities in Wisconsin have a need for better access, adoption, and affordability for broadband. But how can libraries and other organizations help make change in this area?

In this program, attendees will learn interesting models that some communities have adopted for increasing broadband, organizations and programs that can help with broadband expansion, and how to begin having the conversation around expanding broadband in their communities.

10:45-11:45
Room 313

Where Are We Headed With Ebooks?
John Bracken, Executive Director of DPLA
Mitchell Davis, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of BiblioLabs

John and Mitchell, two ebook and publishing thought leaders, will talk about their current work and share what they see on the horizon for the publishing and ebook industries and the roles libraries may plan in this changing ecosystem.

Intro to Web Accessibility
Ashley Dzick, Adjunct Associate Professor, Humanities, Social Science, and Communications Department, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Anyone should be able to use your website; whether they are blind, deaf, or have a broken arm. Inclusive design accounts for all of these; it’s a method of thinking that works to provide a more meaningful experience for your entire audience, no matter whom or where they are. We’ll walk through a brief introduction to accessibility, why accessibility matters, and the changes required to be WCAG accessibility compliant. Participants will also get a chance to interact with leading accessibility tools and gain first-hand experience of what it is like to use a screen reader, magnifier, and other assistive devices that have a significant impact on how users interact with websites.

Lunch

1:15-2:30
Room 313

Sarah Lawton

Afternoon Plenary – Building Belonging: Libraries and Social Justice
Sarah Lawton, Neighborhood Library Supervisor, Madison Public Library

Libraries exist at the intersection of institution and community, an opportune space for building compassion and supporting collective action. Sarah will explore the ways that libraries around the country are working with their communities to challenge systemic racism, break down barriers, and confront oppression.

Concurrent Sessions II

2:45-3:45
Room 309

Engaged and Thriving: Building Peer Support Systems for Staff
Kim Boldt, Branch Manager, Milwaukee Public Library
Melody Clark, Community Liaison and Service Specialist, WiLS
Andi Coffin, Community Liaison and Service Specialist, WiLS
Nathan Dowd, Library Director, Edgewood College

According to a Gallup study, employees who are “engaged and thriving” are 59 percent less likely to look for a job with a different organization in the next 12 months. How do people stay “engaged and thriving?” One key component is feeling supported. The structure in organizations to support employees is more than just chance, and thoughtfully developing a structure for peers to support one another can be a valuable component in developing employee well-being.. In this program, presenters will share deliberately developed approaches to peer support in their institution.

Too Much and Not Enough: Data and Libraries
Melissa McLimans, Community Liaison and Service Specialist, WiLS

Libraries and library staff have been collecting, analyzing, and using data for a long time, but with emerging technologies and new abilities to track and share information about our services, we are now expected to do more and more with data. But, what data should we be tracking? What decisions can be helped by looking at certain data points (and what are those data points)? How much should we spend on data when there are so many other demands for our time? Are we really going to use all that data? Really? Really?

In this session, Melissa McLimans, a member of the WiLS consulting team, will share some examples of data-driven decisions that libraries can make using easy to collect information and will lead a conversation with attendees to talk about:

• What data is being used to make decisions or to advocate for your library?
• What are the barriers to data use and what can help overcome them?
• How can we most efficiently collect, analyze, and share data that will have the biggest impacts for our libraries?

Data experts and novices, believers and doubters, academic, public, special, or K12, are all encouraged to attend. Come with ideas and questions for a lively conversation and the chance to build connections with others around the topic of library data.

The Library as Publisher: How Pressbooks Supports Knowledge Sharing
Steel Wagstaff, Educational Client Manager, Pressbooks

Pressbooks is an open-source book publishing platform that makes it easy for authors to publish books on the web and produce clean, well-formatted exports in multiple formats, including ebooks, print-ready PDFs, and various XML flavors. In this presentation, Pressbooks’ educational client manager Steel Wagstaff will outline the values and principles that have motivated the development of this platform and share some of the ways that libraries (both academic and public) and other educational institutions are using Pressbooks to publish a wide variety of content, from openly licensed textbooks to self-authored novels and just about everything in between.

Concurrent Sessions III

Choosing Privacy: Raising Awareness and Engaging Patrons in Privacy Issues
Rob Nunez, Division Head for Support Services, Kenosha Public Library

Personal privacy is no longer a guarantee in today’s society, but libraries are still seen as a safe haven for the public. While libraries change to keep up with technical needs, there are times we are swept up with whether or not we can, we never stop to ask if we should. With some libraries sharing full patron records with school administrations and others being tempted to bring in facial recognition into their spaces, it’s still a professional duty to respect and promote privacy. In this talk we will cover the ALA Privacy Subcommittee’s work, and what libraries can do to get involved.

Lightning Talks: Community Engagement Showcase
Jennifer Bernetzke, Schreiner Memorial Library
Gail Huycke, UW-Extension Center for Community and Economic Development
Kristen Leffelman, Wisconsin Historical Society
Kristen Maples, UW-Madison iSchool
Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Jane Roisum, Fox Valley Technical College
Tasha Saecker, Appleton Public Library
Kristen Whitson, UW-Madison iSchool

Wisconsin libraries are “turning outward” in all kinds of creative ways to cultivate positive change in their communities. Hear about a wide range of community engagement projects, including successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

7(ish) Steps to Organize a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon
Meghan Dowell, Teaching & Learning Librarian, Carroll University

Wikipedia edit-a-thons are growing in popularity in both academic and public libraries. However, organizing one can seem onerous especially if there is a lack of experience working in or editing Wikipedia. In this session, we will talk about the 7 (or so) steps to creating a successful edit-a-thon, discover resources to help familiarize the library staff with Wikipedia, and even make an edit or two.

WiLSWorld prize give-away, sponsored by EBSCO

Happy hours! Sponsored by the American Chemical Society