Digital collections offer a way to preserve local history and artifacts while showcasing the diverse stories and voices in your community that might be absent from your physical collection. Creating and curating a diverse collection requires intentional work, but before beginning the process, it’s important to pause and take stock of narratives that might have been left out of the popular stories in your community. To best represent the many voices and narratives of your community in your digital collections, you’ll need to build and sustain respectful relationships that focus on mutual support and trust.

This course describes approaches that... Read more

Libraries are increasingly turning to community-led approaches to ensure that their services and resources meet local needs effectively. This process involves actively including community members in decision-making processes, but the path to getting there can look different from library to library. We spoke with Loveland Public Library Director Amy Phillips to learn more about how her library is using a method called u-lab to guide their efforts to better understand community needs and align them with planned outreach efforts.

U-lab is a collection of open-access online courses based on Theory U, a change management method developed by researchers at MIT. After... Read more

"Throughout 2024, over four billion people in at least 64 countries will have the opportunity to vote for new, national leadership through elections. This means that almost half of the world's population will engage in federal elections this year,” Zola Maddison wrote in her recent article, “Libraries strengthening democracy” (INCITE Magazine). 

Many people already turn to libraries as sources of trusted information ahead of elections, and organizations like the American Libraries Association and the League of Women Voters are hoping to expand those numbers. We’ve curated a selection of resources, tools, and ideas to help inform your library’s approach to... Read more

This month's list of free webinars covers everything from big picture to the nitty gritty on topics relevant to library staff working with patrons of every age and collections of every type. The list, provided by the Maine State Library, includes 46 webinars and an online conference, covering 17 different topic areas, from accessibility to volunteers. Take some time to think through your learning priorities and pick those that can help you with focused learning to take the practical next steps to put your learning into action.

View and subscribe to the Maine State Library Continuing Education (CE) Calendar at: https://maine-msl.libguides.com/CECAL... Read more