The opioid crisis in the US continues to take a toll on lives in every class, age group, race, and ethnicity. According to the CDC, overdose from opioids claims 221 lives a day, and many more are dealing with daily struggles related to substance misuse and abuse. Whether the impacts of this crisis in a library’s community is obvious or hidden in stigma, the crisis can be overwhelming. Libraries can play an important role in education, providing access to prevention tools and helpful—possibly life-saving—information. By taking steps to identify achievable actions, libraries may begin to make a difference in addressing... Read more

Libraries are central to our communities, as places where anyone is welcome to gather, connect, and learn, but for some members of our community, they represent much more than that. For many people experiencing homelessness, the library might be the only place where they can seek shelter during daylight hours. Access to technology that allows people to stay in touch with family and friends, apply for jobs, and seek online support for social services, can all be powerful lifelines. Along with safe restrooms and drinking water, a comfortable place to sit, or a chance to escape the heat or cold... Read more

We know that learning is constant, and that we, like our patrons, are lifelong learners. Whether you're looking to learn how to better manage your collections or how to communicate with your community partners, or you're interested in finding new resources to meet your community's changing needs, you're sure to find fresh insights and inspiration in this month's free webinars. This list of 80 webinars and 2 online conferences, covering 23 topic areas, was collected by the Wyoming State Library and is also updated monthly on the Free Training page, where you can view the offerings by topic.

Veterans, military service members, and their families are among users of virtually every library across the country. Indeed, libraries play a significant role in supporting veterans and military-affiliated patrons by welcoming them to the community, providing resources during transitions, connecting them with other veterans, and even simply recognizing their service. Although many libraries already engage their veteran and military-affiliated patrons, others are just getting started. The Libraries & Veterans Toolkit can help! 

The Toolkit was created by librarians, for librarians. Their insightful contributions include success stories, ideas for library programming, and approaches to services for veteran and military-affiliated patrons. It... Read more