Thursday, May 18,  1:00 PM - 4:30 PM

 

Palm Beach County Library System, Main Library

 

3650 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL  33406

 

 

Libraries small and large tend to have a core of supporters and regular patrons. How do we reach out beyond those familiar faces to non-users and community partners that may not think of the library as part of their network? This workshop will seek to provide ideas and methods for engaging communities – be they academic, public, school, of business communities. Participants will work together in an interactive environment that helps identify passions and barriers to expanding library service beyond the walls.

 

Presenter R. David Lankes

R. David Lankes is the director of the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science and the 2016-2017 Follett Chair at Dominican University’s School of Information Studies. Lankes has always been interested in combining theory and practice to create active research projects that make a difference. His work has been funded by organizations such as The MacArthur Foundation, The Institute for Library and Museum Services, NASA, The U.S. Department of Education, The U.S. Department of Defense, The National Science Foundation, The U.S.State Department, and The American Library Association.

 

Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society earning him the American Library Association’s Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship in 2016. He also seeks to understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform industries. In this capacity he has served on advisory boards and study teams in the fields of libraries, telecommunications, education, and transportation including at the National Academies. He has been a visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada, The Harvard School of Education, and was the first fellow of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. His book,The Atlas of New Librarianship won the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature.