Whose Program Is It Anyway? Pivoting to Virtual Events and Take-and-Make Kits: Improvisation in Improbable Times
2021 Regional Conference
July 29, 2021
In this session the Martin County Library System will share how the pandemic changed the way we looked at programming. Participants will learn about the programs we will continue to offer and what did not make the final cut. We would like to share with our library community, how collaboration and innovation changed our services in ways that our communities and our staff embraced. In this presentation, we will share the templates of COVID surveys we used to assess community needs, event evaluations to evolve programming, and methods and procedures that made this last year a success for our communities. Providing opportunities for our staff interested in hosting events to be equipped with the tools they required to do this successfully. We will share how we pivoted to virtual events and take and make kits from 3 different perspectives, Literacy, Education and Outreach, Library Management and Technology Services divisions. Revealing insider information and sharing the roadblocks, the hiccups, the solutions and the successes. Participants will learn how we sought out performers, local organizations, and partners to fill in our COVID performer database. We will connect the pieces and share our targeted approach of collecting continual feedback, guiding and supporting our service direction.
Presenters: Nancy Keough, Darlene Encomio, and Riki Donnelly
Nancy Keough has had the privilege of working for MCLS for almost 2 years. She also had the pleasure of working in a library system in Canada for 13 years prior to coming to sunny Florida. To which many said…Florida…you’re going to work? Isn’t that where you go to retire? Nancy believes that libraries are limitless. She is passionate about creating the experience, through the things we seek and helping others reach their full potential.
Darlene Encomio received MLIS at USF and has been a Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute mentor twice. Was a 2019 FLYP workshop presenter for the Southeast FL region (both for SEFLIN and for Florida State Division of Library and Information Services). Loves correcting closed captioning on YouTube
Riki Donelly has worked with the Martin County Library System for 8 years. Riki has a Bachelors degree in Information Technology and Cyber Security. Riki’s goal is to shake off some stereotypes about libraries when it comes to technology. While some may see libraries as an antiquated institution, Riki would like to show they are actually at the forefront of technological innovation.