Keynote Speaker

 

Biographical Note

 

Marilyn Johnson celebrates libraries and librarians as essential players in the information age in her book This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All (Harper). Johnson has become a sought after keynote speaker at library associations and conferences, libraries, and universities. The Philadelphia Free Library called her a "library sciences heroine."  Ms. Johnson was a staff writer for Life and an editor at Esquire, Redbook, and Outside magazines. Her first book, The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (HarperCollins), was a finalist for the B&N Discover Award and was a selection of the Border's Original Voice program. She has written obituaries for Princess Diana, Jackie Onassis, Katharine Hepburn, and Marlon Brando. Ms. Johnson lives with her family in Briarcliff, New York.

email: marilynajohnson@gmail.com      @marilynajohnson                  

 

Librarians - Tech Interpreters, Enablers, and Advisors 

 

Ms. Johnson will talk about the library infrastructure in this country and the marvelous opportunity it gives us to serve communities. The revolutionary changes in digital communication have given librarians a new role as tech interpreters, enablers, and advisors — and they are the preferred liaisons for many of us because of their bedrock values, their non-commercial affiliation, and their respect for our privacy. Like technological change, any change in government service sends shock waves through the population, and few are accompanied by troops of human interpreters. Libraries have stepped into this gulf, too, offering programming, guidance, concentrated resources, and most of all, respectful concern; in many ways, public libraries are now the human portal to government bureaucracy.

 

Breakout Sessions

• 5 Ways to Find the Perfect Funder (and 5 More on How to Ruin the Relationship)​ 
• Challenges and Professional Development Best Practices in Public Librarianship and Public Services Management​
• Change Management Strategies for Librarians: A Roundtable Discussion​
• Forming Collaborative Local and International Partnerships​
• From the Ordinary to the Sublime: A Library-Museum Partnership​
• Librarian Building Blocks: Or, How to Build the Ideal Librarian  ​
• Librarians Without Borders: Embedded Librarianship at the Palm Beach County Library System​
• Libraries As Publishers, Authors, and Textbook Providers​
• Managing Innovative Personalities for Successful Library Innovation 
• Redefining Partnerships: Collaborative Opportunities for Technical Services and Archives & Special Collection​
• Redefining Roles for the Digital Revolution: Reference, Repositories, and Reading Rooms
• The Changing Landscape of Digital Collections
• What Am I Supposed To Do Now? The Benefits of Building a Mentoring Relationship
• Working outside of the mold: Local Resources in Librarianship In The 21st Century 
• TechSpace Lightning Talks