Many thanks to Leann French (Geraldine A. Anderson Memorial Library of Dresser) for sharing some actionable ideas she gathered at the PLA Conference earlier this month!

Vendors I met with that will help me meet a need or solve a problem at my library:

• I met with Ingram (I think three times) to get questions answered and I hope improve the service I am receiving. For example, I learned that they can provide mylar and laminate now and I requested that service be added to my orders. Too soon to know; I’ll check back with them later this week or early next. I also learned that there are account settings that can be altered to prevent costly shipping problems and I requested that training be set up for our system to teach us some of these tips and tricks.
• I met with Reader Zone to discuss its reading tracking programs which seems super simple and reasonably priced. Not as robust as Beanstack but I don’t need that much; I need simpler and less costly. So, I need to take the time to do the demo.
• I met with the rep from Association for Small and Rural Libraries and discovered that they provide lots of support. I will rejoin that organization seeking small library support.

Some things I hope to implement at my library from ideas I encountered at the conference:

• Collaborate with a peer library (SCFPL) and school district to create a teen advisory board to serve both our libraries.
• Revisit Summer Reading Challenge using some of the ideas from the session.
• Research and make a list of potential community partners for services to older adults and reach out to them.
• Research and make a list of potential community partners for services to teens and families and reach out to them so I can expand my programming.
• Do a little staff development by sharing the Non-fiction RA slide deck with my staff to improve RA in general and non-fiction RA specifically.