Friday, April 19, 2024

Platinum Partners Gold Partners Silver Partners

REACHING FORWARD SOUTH IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:

Doubletree Hotel Collinsville/St. Louis in Collinsville, IL

2024

Reaching Forward

South Committee

Conference Information

Betsy Mahoney [Chair]

Assistant Director

Six Mile Regional Library

Michael Baumann

Director

Toulon Public Library

Loretta Broomﬁeld

Director

Marion Carnegie Library

Devin Eyster

Development & Outreach Librarian

East Alton Public Library District

Ryan A. Franklin

Reference Department

Illinois State Library

Larisa Good

Director

Warren County Public Library

Erica Hanke-Young

Youth Services Manager

Six Mile Regional Library

Bobbi Perryman

Director

Vespasian Warner Public

Library District

Terry Pierson

Marketing Coordinator

Mississippi Valley Library District

Devin Scott

Programming Coordinator

Salem Township Public Library

Beth Smilack

Social Media/Communications

Specialist

Jerseyville Public Library

Cassandra Thompson

SHARE Director

Illinois Heartland Library System

Badges

Conference badges must be worn

at all times to gain admission to

programs and exhibits.

Coffee

Morning coffee, sponsored by the

Illinois State Treasurer’s Ofﬁce, will

be available from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m.

Exhibit Hours

8:15 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Handouts

Handouts are available on the

PheedLoop conference website

if speakers have made them available.

You can browse through the sessions

or search for speciﬁc sessions in the

search ﬁeld. If handouts are available,

they will be linked underneath the

session’s description.

Hashtag

#RFSouth2024

Lanyards

Before you leave, be sure to stop

by the Help Desk to recycle your

lanyard. We’ll reuse them for future

conferences and prevent them from

ending up in a landﬁll.

Lost and Found

Articles may be turned in and

reclaimed at the Help Desk.

Lunch

Lunch, sponsored by the Reaching

Across Illinois Library System (RAILS),

will be served from 12:30 to 1:30 pm

in the Flashdance Ballroom.

Mothers’ Room

A Mothers’ Room is located in the

Paula Abdul Room.

Quiet Room

Need to take a break? The Culture

Club Room will give you a place to

relax and refresh.

WiFi

Wireless internet is complementary.

The WiFi network is “Doubletree

Meeting” and the password is

“DTCV21”.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Every now and then we need a burst of inspiration,

a community to lean on, and a day away from the library!

The conference will celebrate another year of eclipse

programming, help you ﬁnd your people, and reinvigorate

your library’s programs and services. Our communities

and libraries need you more than ever.

The Reaching Forward South committee members

“just wanna have fun” with the conference theme.

Each room name has ﬂashbacked to the eighties

with a nod to a pop diva that has stolen our hearts.

At 8:45, join Betsy Mahoney, Reaching Forward South Committee Chair

for a brief welcome with additional conference information in the Flashdance

Ballroom before the ﬁrst Breakout Sessions start.

8:30 – 8:45 a.m Morning Coffee, Exhibits, and Networking

8:45 – 9:00 a.m. Welcome

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Breakout Session 1

10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Breakout Session 2

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Breakout Session 3

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Breakout Session 4

2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Breakout Session 5

Floorplan

Schedule

Program Schedule

Welcome to Reaching Forward South

Join Betsy Mahoney, Reaching Forward South Committee Chair, for a brief welcome with additional conference information

before the ﬁrst Breakout Sessions starts.

Speaker: Betsy Mahoney, Six Mile Regional Library District

Location: Flashdance Ballroom

Cybersecurity Tips for Libraries

For libraries without dedicated IT departments, this session

can assist with what to concentrate on in order to make your

library secure from bad actors looking to cause harm to your

network and devices, and what to do in a worst-case scenario

such as a ransomware attack.

Speaker: Tallin Curran, Six Mile Regional Library District

Location: Bonnie Tyler Room

Aspen Discovery: SHARE’s New PAC

Discovery Layer

Learn the ins and outs of SHARE’s new, optional, discovery

layer Aspen Discovery. Learn how your library can maximize

the user experience, make changes to customize your

library’s Aspen look, learn about integrated e-resources,

and so much more. At the end of the session participants

will: 1) have a better understanding of how Aspen works

2) learn how your library can customize Aspen and 3) learn

how to maximize your patrons’ experience with Aspen.

Speakers: Danielle Beasley, Illinois Heartland Library

System; Dena Porter, Illinois Heartland Library System;

Zach Henderson, Illinois Heartland Library System

Location: Cyndi Lauper Room

Listening is Reading!

We all know patrons who rely heavily on the audio

or Large Print collections at the library due to loss of vision or

mobility difﬁculties. Perhaps there is a student who struggles

in class due to a reading disability. In this session, Talking

Book and Braille Outreach Librarian Sheri Bay will talk about

the free services available to individuals who struggle to read

standard print books and materials. There will be a short

presentation and demonstration of the equipment that is

offered to patrons as well as an extensive Q&A portion.

Speaker: Sheri Bay, Illinois State Library

Location: Tina Turner Room

Go BIG: How to Put on Large Scale Library

Family Events

Litchﬁeld Library has ditched story hour for large scale

library events like Seusstacular, Harry Potter’s Birthday,

Grinchmas, and more. Events are two hours long, have

10 – 12 “stations” of crafts, games, photo booths, etc.

Finding the “right” time for story hour is hard. Between

school, work, naps, and other obligations, it’s hard to pick

that prime time for weekly or monthly story hours. Families

are more likely to attend one singular event, held evenings

or on weekends, with a fun theme. Litchﬁeld’s largest event

hosted nearly 350 people, and events are held quarterly

(or as Sara comes up with another “brilliant idea” for one!).

Learn what is involved in these large scale events, and what

you may be able to borrow from Litchﬁeld for your own

BIG EVENTS!

Speaker: Sara Zumwalt, Litchﬁeld Public Library District

Location: Whitney Houston Room

Safety and Security at the Library

Detective Sam Luna from the Collinsville Police Department

presents on safety and security concerns at the library,

followed by a Q&A. (This is the ﬁrst of two duplicated

programs.)

Speaker: Sam Luna, Collinsville Police Department

Location: Pat Benatar Room

8:45 – 9:00 a.m.8:45 – 9:00 a.m.

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

Full STEAM Ahead!

Are you just starting a STEM/STEAM Club? Have you

run out of ideas? Do you want some fresh new ideas to

incorporate STEAM activities in a variety of programs?

Becky and Larissa are not scientists but have discovered

new and fun ways to explore STEAM at the library. Learn

how to start a STEAM Club, ﬁnd new ideas, and partner

with the community in advancing STEAM experiences for

children of all ages.

Speakers: Becky Long, O’Fallon Public Library;

Larissa Couto Rogoski, O’Fallon Public Library

Location: Pat Benatar Room

Billion-Dollar Broadband in the Heartland:

Digital Equity Opportunities for Libraries

with the Illinois Ofﬁce of Broadband

Learn about how the Illinois Ofﬁce of Broadband can help

with upcoming funding opportunities, programming, and

partnerships. Boost broadband access, affordability, and

digital skill building in your community. Whether you are

a frontline staff member or a system administrator, new

to the world of digital equity or a seasoned professional,

we can help!

Speakers: Hillary Rains, Illinois Ofﬁce of Broadband;

Troy Brown, Illinois Heartland Library System

Location: Cyndi Lauper Room

Running an Art Show for Your Community

In 2023, the Mascoutah Public Library partnered with

the Leu Civic Center to put on the Metro East Youth Art

Show. The show displayed over 100 pieces of art made

by students ranging from preschool through Grade 12, and

attracted over 200 attendees. Join Mascoutah Public Library

Director Joel Pikora and Youth Services Librarian Ivy Cowen

as they recount how the Metro East Youth Art Show went

from a wild idea to a full-ﬂedged program, what worked and

what didn’t, and how they are turning the program into

a yearly community event.

Speakers: Ivy Cowen, Mascoutah Public Library;

Jenna Smith, Leu Civic Center; Joel Pikora, Mascoutah

Public Library

Location: Bonnie Tyler Room

Revealing the Past: The Cataloging

Maintenance Center Shines a Light

on Local Authors and Places in Illinois

Do you have local items that need to be cataloged and are

wondering where to go for assistance? Today, Barb Scoby

and Mary Cornell are sharing how they and their fellow

Cataloging Maintenance Center (CMC) catalogers have

been helping Illinois libraries in cataloging local authors,

artists, about local places, etc., revealing the past and

more – and how they might help yours, too.

Speakers: Barb Scoby, Illinois Heartland Library System:

Cataloging Maintenance Center; Mary Cornell, Illinois

Heartland Library System: Cataloging Maintenance Center

Location: Tina Turner Room

Bringing Vinyl Record Fans Back

to the Library

Vinyl is making a comeback and the library can play a part

in encouraging people to either pick up the habit again or

introduce new fans to the hobby. For decades the record

collecting hobby has been declared dead and buried ﬁrst by

CDs and then MP3s and streaming services. Astonishingly

in the last several years vinyl has made a comeback. In the

midst of this, some libraries have begun to replenish their

vinyl collections and offer not only vinyl to check out but

clubs for enthusiasts and turntables for new enthusiasts to

check out and see how they like spinning vinyl. We will talk

about how the Edwardsville Public Library started rebuilding

our vinyl collection, decades after disposing of it in the face

of technological changes, and how we are attempting

to engage fans, young and old, with our selection and

programming. We can discuss selection of material,

hardware, and our in-house Nothing but Vinyl Club.

If you enjoy vinyl or are looking for a new direction for

your collection come and join the discussion.

Speaker: Greg Kessler, Edwardsville Public LIbrary

Location: Whitney Houston Room

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Program Schedule

Is This the End of Social Media? Break

Your Reliance on the Algorithm and

Promote Your Library on Your Own Terms

It’s time to face it: the social media landscape is in chaos.

Between the upheaval at Twitter, allegations of espionage

by TikTok, and never-ending algorithm changes, the future

of social media seems very uncertain. Platforms are losing

followers and even if you have built a large follower base, it’s

likely that most of those users aren’t even seeing your posts.

But don’t despair! In this session, you’ll learn how to harness

the power of more effective library marketing tools: email,

blogs, and your staff. Get practical, up-to-the-minute advice

for building an audience using your owned properties. Find

out how to deliver irresistible content to maximize your reach

without spending all day on promotions (unless you want to!).

Speaker: Angela Hursh, NoveList

Location: Cyndi Lauper Room

Cataloging: The Heart of the Library

Do you have an item to be cataloged that is weird, wacky,

strange, or just plain frustrating? Bring us a couple of your

most puzzling items and SHARE catalogers will help answer

your questions.

Speakers: Anna Wiegand, Illinois Heartland Library System;

Jennifer Baugh, Illinois Heartland Library System;

Linda Johnson, Illinois Heartland Library System;

Sue Pearson, Illinois Heartland Library System; Hanan Jaber,

Illinois Heartland Library System

Location: Tina Turner Room

Littles in the Library — Program Ideas for

Babies & Toddlers

From Story Time to 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and

everything in between, libraries are ﬁnding ways to engage

babies and toddlers with words, music, and sensory activities

that not only entertain them, but provide much-needed mental

stimulation. Join youth services librarians to talk about

programs for little ones and share some tried and true ideas

that are doable at any library.

Speakers: Erica Hanke-Young, Six Mile Regional Library

District; Megan Prueter, Edwardsville Public Library

Location: Bonnie Tyler Room

Top News at Illinois State Library

The Illinois State Library is more than just a fabulous crew

of staff to help your library succeed. We are also a fully

functioning library open to other libraries, state staff, and

the public. We are a great source for primary documents

both current and historical. Need a map? We probably have

it. Want to try out different tech or programming kits? We

have you covered. Want to know more about upcoming

statewide resources from the State Library? We are here to

help. Come learn about all these things and more, as well as

ask any questions about current or upcoming programs.

Speaker: Ryan Franklin, Illinois State Library

Location: Whitney Houston Room

Safety and Security at the Library

Detective Sam Luna from the Collinsville Police Department

presents on safety and security concerns at the library,

followed by a Q&A. (This is the second of two duplicated

programs.)

Speaker: Sam Luna, Collinsville Police Department

Location: Pat Benatar Room

Lunch

Join ILA President Ryan Johnson and Vice President Amy

Byers for a brief update on the Illinois Library Association

and Reaching Forward South. Included in registration for

Reaching Forward South is a light luncheon buffet.

Speakers: Ryan Johnson, O’Fallon Public Library;

Amy Byers, Chatham Area Public Library District

Location: Flashdance Ballroom

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

AI-Powered Productivity: Unleashing the

Potential of Artiﬁcial Intelligence in Your

Everyday Life

Have you ever wished you had a personal assistant who

could help you make meal plans, draft emails, or pick out

something new to read? Learn how new freely available

AI tools can help you stay organized and make your life

easier at home and at the library. We’ll discuss appropriate

and ethical uses for these technologies and how to apply

your own personal and professional judgment to improving

the output. Bring your smartphone, tablet, or laptop if you

would like to try out new tools and prompt engineering

techniques together.

Speakers: Henry Rodrigues, Chicago State University

& Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library;

Jessica Rodrigues, Joliet Junior College & Steger-South

Chicago Heights Public Library

Location: Cyndi Lauper Room

System Services 101

Join a group of Illinois Heartland Library System staff as

they highlight system services that you may not be aware

of. We’ll cover all the system beneﬁts and services that your

membership makes your library eligible for, and you’ll get to

meet a lot of system staff.

Speakers: Colleen Dettenmeier, Illinois Heartland Library

System; Leah Gregory, Illinois Heartland Library System

Location: Tina Turner Room

Librarian Olympics

Ready. Set. Library! Bring your team of 4 librarians

to see who can be the best at library title knowledge,

bookcart athleticism, Dewey decimal denominations,

book balancing (not the ﬁnancial kind!), book stacking,

hold request fulﬁllment, and shelving accuracies. Sign

your team up before the start of the day. The winners

will receive a trophy AND bragging rights! Also, this could

be a program that you might want to host at your library

in the future.

Speaker: Nichole Lauko, Millstadt Library District

Location: Bonnie Tyler Room

So You Want to Start a StoryWalk

...?

Jerseyville Public Library has provided a monthly

StoryWalk

for our community since May 2018–that’s over

60 stories! We are eager to share with you our experiences

with launching and maintaining this initiative, some of our

favorite anecdotes as our patrons have interacted with our

StoryWalk

through the years, and some lessons we’ve

learned along the way. You will leave our session feeling

conﬁdent that you, too, can start a StoryWalk

in your

community!

Speakers: Judy Pruitt, Jerseyville Public Library;

Laurie Ingram, Jerseyville Public Library

Location: Pat Benatar Room

Trauma-Informed Library Service

for Frontline Staff

It is not uncommon for library workers to be exposed to

primary or vicarious trauma over the course of their careers.

According to the recent Urban Library Trauma Study, nearly

70% of respondents shared that they had experienced

violent or aggressive behavior from patrons, while 22%

indicated that they experienced similar behavior from their

own coworkers.

By understanding trauma-informed practices, library staff

can better support one another and patrons in their service

to the public. They can also foster an organizational culture

of safety, trust, and inclusion culture. In this session,

participants will learn various trauma-informed approaches

and explore how to apply these concepts within their own

library. (This is the ﬁrst of two duplicated programs.)

Speaker: Brandy Sanchez, SoulFire Collective

Location: Whitney Houston Room

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

Program Schedule

Rooted in YOUR Community!

The Rochester Public Library District has hosted the

Community Farmers Market for the past 7 years. Patrons

can use their SNAP beneﬁts at our Library Market. The

Library received a Link Up matching funds grant for EBT/

SNAP funds from the USDA Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program. This year we added two new

beneﬁcial programs to the Farmers Market. With donated

funds we created “Take a Plant, Leaf a Plant,” which

is a community-based plant exchange initiative. It’s a

platform for sharing gardening tips and plant care advice.

Participants can learn from one another and enhance their

gardening skills. So that the youth have a fun experience

at the Farmers Market we added a new program, “The

Power of Produce,” which provides a fun opportunity

for children to engage in the local food system through

conversations directly with farmers, educational games and

demonstrations, and exposure to new fruits and vegetables.

Speakers: Janet McAllister, Rochester Public Library

District; Lorachelle Eck, Rochester Public Library District

Location: Pat Benatar Room

The Not-So-Scary Guide to Teen

Programming in the Library

Teen Services has long been treated as a no-man’s land in

Libraryland, but it doesn’t have to be so scary! Come learn

how fellow teen service library workers have managed to

bring ‘em in and keep ‘em coming back.

Speakers: Charessa Sistek, Centralia Regional Library

District; Kristen Reno, Edwardsville Public Library;

Samantha Lego, Glen Carbon Centennial Library

Location: Bonnie Tyler Room

Using Data to Tell the Story

of Your Library Use

The Chatham Area Public Library wanted to learn

more about how it was being used after the COVID-19

closures of 2020. The door counts each night only told

part of the story. What were people doing once they

traveled through the library doors? Did their habits

change since the COVID-19 closures? Were they

spending time in the library or were they in and out

right away? Did they browse the collections or did they

request their items for pickup? Did programming cause

higher circulation and space use? In order to ﬁgure

out those questions, the Chatham Area Public Library

staff had to dig a little deeper. They collected data on

a quarterly basis throughout 2023, which turned into

usage reports that were presented to the Library Board.

These reports allowed the staff and the Board to make

decisions on budgeting, stafﬁng, security, space needs,

and much more. They also revamped how they presented

statistical information to their Board of Trustees. They

transformed 10 pages of numbers into easy-to-understand

(and to create) charts. All libraries, no matter the budget

or staff size, can gather better data that will guide them

and their stakeholders into making decisions that will

better serve their evolving communities.

Speakers: Amy Byers, Chatham Area Public Library District;

Erica Beeman, Chatham Area Public Library District

Location: Cyndi Lauper Room

Get Your Digital Life in Order

Keeping track of our digital lives has become more

complex than tracking paper. From ﬁles to photos

to passwords, it’s hard to keep it all organized and

secure. In this session, we’ll cover how to easily

organize ﬁles, how to back up photos, and how

to manage passwords securely.

Speaker: Jeannie Dilger, Arranging Time

Location: Tina Turner Room

Trauma-Informed Library Service

for Frontline Staff

It is not uncommon for library workers to be exposed to

primary or vicarious trauma over the course of their careers.

According to the recent Urban Library Trauma Study, nearly

70% of respondents shared that they had experienced violent

or aggressive behavior from patrons, while 22% indicated that

they experienced similar behavior from their own coworkers.

By understanding trauma-informed practices, library staff

can better support one another and patrons in their service

to the public. They can also foster an organizational culture

of safety, trust, and inclusion culture. In this session,

participants will learn various trauma-informed approaches

and explore how to apply these concepts within their own

library. (This is the second of two duplicated programs.)

Speaker: Brandy Sanchez, SoulFire Collective

Location: Whitney Houston Room

2024 Exhibitors

Arranging Time

Jeannie Dilger

info@arrangingtime.com

P.O. Box 59059

Chicago, IL 60659

www.arrangingtime.com

Birth to Five Illinois Region 41

Adrienne Kaesberg

akaesberg@birthtoﬁveil.com

600 Troy Road

Edwardsville, IL 62025

www.birthtoﬁveil.com/region41

Cataloging Maintenance Center

Dr. Pamela Thomas, Manager

cmc@illinoisheartland.org

6725 Goshen Road

Edwardsville, IL 62034

www.cmcillinois.org

Dominican University SOIS

Emma Schmidt-Swartz

eschmidtswartz@dom.edu

7900 West Division Street

River Forest, IL 60305

www.dom.edu

DuPage County Health Department —

Protect Swimmers 10 Million (PS10M)

Laura Carlin Cochran

laura.cochran@dupagehealth.org

111 N. County Farm Road

Wheaton, IL 60187

www.dupagehealth.org/231/Pool-Safely

Historical Women of Letters

Debra Miller

janeaustenspeaks@gmail.com

5059 W. Wellington Avenue

Chicago, IL 60641

www.historicalwomenoﬂetters.com

Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS)

Leslie Bednar

membership@illinoisheartland.org

6725 Goshen Road

Edwardsville, IL 62034

www.illinoisheartland.org

iLEAD Trustee Learning Portal

Anna Yackle

ilead@illinoisheartland.org

6725 Goshen Road

Edwardsville, IL 62034

www.ileadtrustee.org

Illinois State Library — Talking Book

and Braille Service

Sheri L.L. Bay

sbay@ilsos.gov

200 S. Second Street

Springﬁeld, IL 62701

www.ilbph.org

Illinois State Treasurer’s Ofﬁce

Erin Slone

eslone@illinoistreasurer.gov

555 W. Monroe, Ste. 1400S-B

Chicago, IL 60661

www.illinoistreasurer.gov

iREAD

Becca Boland

iread@ila.org

560 W. Washington Boulevard, Ste. 330

Chicago, IL 60661

www.ireadprogram.org

Joliet Junior College Library

Jessica Rodrigues

jessica.rodrigues@jjc.edu

1215 Houbolt Road

Joliet, IL 60431

https://library.jjc.edu/about/lta

Lazerware Inc.

Mike Nelms

mnelms@lazerwareinc.com

2929 Gravois Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63118

www.lazerwareinc.com

Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS)

Dan Bostrom

dan.bostrom@railslibraries.org

125 Tower Drive

Burr Ridge, IL 60527

https://railslibraries.org

RMC Imaging/ST Imaging

Bob Czechowicz

stviewscan5[email protected]m

780 Creek Bluff Lane

Ro ck ford, IL 61114

www.stimaging.com

Cassandra Thompson

share@illinoisheartland.org

6725 Goshen Road

Edwardsville, IL 62034

share.illinoisheartland.org

Today’s Business Solutions, Inc. TBS

Mickey Smith

msmith@tbsit360.com

7820 S. Quincy Street

Willowbrook, IL 60527

www.tbsit360.com

Have your say in ILA’s new

Strategic Plan. Look around

the conference for the QR

code. Through it you can

share your thoughts on

implementing the new

Strategic Plan so it serves

you and your library well.

Annual Conference 2024

October 8–10 | Peoria, IL

#ILAAC24

ila.org/conference

Registration Opens July 22.

Opening Keynote

Nick Oerman

Award-Winning Actor, Best-Selling Au-

thor, & Acclaimed Woodworker

Youth Services Forum Author Breakfast

Oge Mora

Award-Winning Author & Illustrator;

iREAD 2025 Featured Illustrator

President’s Program

Mychal Threets

California Librarian & Viral

Sensation for Spreading ‘Library Joy’