Tenn-Share Showcase 2023

10 – 10:45 ET

Presented by Dr. Cindy Welch,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville 

Libraries change lives and yet we, as library workers, may be reluctant to share the magnitude of that change with others – particularly policy makes and funders. Story and storytelling can be a very successful way to share our impact and illuminate what we do. Humans are wired for story and they are a powerful tool for inspiring others, moving them to action, and for finding allies in difficult times.

(presentation resources)

11 – 11:45 ET

Presented by Olivia Chin,

University of Memphis Lambuth

With the rise of TikTok and the fall of traditional Twitter, social media has been in a state of constant change for the past several years. Instagram, however, has remained as a relevant social media app for library marketing efforts. With over 8 years of experience managing Instagram accounts for academic libraries, Olivia Chin is excited to share the tips and tricks of the app from a librarian’s perspective. Learn about what makes good content, view examples from the trendiest library accounts, and discuss technology and resources for improving your library’s Instagram potential. Come for the memes; stay for the library marketing hacks!

(Presentation Resources and slides)

Presented by Hannah Kiger, Neyland Kilpatrick, and Kip Polmanteer,

Johnson City Public Library

Social media marketing has gone through many trends and continues to evolve, and it can be hard for libraries to keep up with the constantly changing landscape. However, by looking at factors like social media analytics and new trends, as well as service area needs and demographics, we are able to adapt the ways we reach our library’s patron base and meet them where they are. Creating social media posts and videos that are fun, exploratory, and entertaining engages new groups and reaches more regular patrons. The collaborative process also creates a shared experience with staff that gives them a creative outlet and a sense of ownership in their library’s marketing efforts. Social media marketing, and especially videos with staff involvement, gives your library a way to show its human side and illustrate that it is a fun, engaging space run by real people who strive to connect with their community. It is a marketing tool that is available to libraries of all sizes and budgets, and will help your library continue to evolve its ability to reach patrons where they are. We are excited to share the insights, tips, and tricks we have learned from creating social media content that involves library staff and engages patrons.

12 – 12:30 ET

12:30 – 1 ET

Presented by Zach O’Dell,

EBSCO

Come learn what’s new with EBSCO, including collections, ebooks, technology improvements, interfaces, and key points in building customer/library relationships with vendors.

Presented by Tom Graziosi and Suzanne Arrieta, 

Ingram

Learn all about a new way to “lease” your print materials with Ingram Library Services. We designed this program by taking the best aspects of a typical lease program and turned it completely upside-down by simplifying the whole process. Libraries OWN all books they purchase, granting them more control on how to handle the inventory. Join this session to learn more and how to sign up! 

1-1:45 ET

Presented by Machelle Keen and Greg Collins, 

Vanderbilt University Libraries

We want to share a look at how one campus library began a weeding project that ended up being motivation for the other seven campus libraries to look at their collection policies and jump on the train to making space.

We will start with the impetus for the original plan to weed certain items and how that plan grew and changed over a few years.  We will talk about our plans from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd weeding events, showing the things that we learned, the pros and the cons of how we planned and implemented the process, and the experiences we had good and bad. We will show how we finally got it down to a well-oiled machine – well, as long as everyone cooperates with the process!

Presented by Beth Hall, 

Blount County Public Library

We all know the importance of social media when it comes to promoting library events, keeping patrons up to date on the latest information, and having an online presence. But with a plethora of platforms to manage, how do we keep everything in line? A basic social media plan and a few easy to use tools can help you form a method behind the madness and make sure there’s time for the fun stuff too! 

We’ll go over several social media platforms and how to use them, cover tools that can make social media content creation easier, and chat about some ideas to liven up your feed and engage your followers. 

Our goal is to leave you with a starting point to build your own social media plan, decide which platforms and methods fit your organization best, and how to flex your creativity in a way that showcases the unique role your library plays in the community.

(presentation slides)

2-2:45 ET

Presented by Lizzie Cope,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville documented outreach and engagement data in many ways across different departments- personal forms, lists, spreadsheets, and email. When we went to gather details for ARL statistics, we didn’t think we were getting the full picture and we knew we could do a better job of telling our story. My name is Lizzie Cope, the Assessment Projects Librarian at UTK and a Certified Associate in Project Management. This presentation will detail an ongoing project to streamline a reporting process using LibInsight (a SpringShare product) to gather data on engagement activities across the Library. I will discuss how the project progressed from discussion groups and testing to whole library communication and buy-in. The viewer will gain:

• insights into leading discussion groups,

• ideas for communicating and getting feedback WITHOUT MEETINGS,
• plus, some project management tidbits

(presentation resources)

Presented by Suzanne Huron,

Sullivan County Public Library

Showing and Telling are the heart of marketing. From clothing to real estate, and even libraries, marketing needs to be cohesive as well as visually and mentally appealing. It must stand out from the many other things competing for attention. Using a combination of social media marketing, through Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok as well as print marketing, radio and in- person community outreach, the Sullivan County Library strives to reach its varied audience. The Sullivan County Library System is a group of five small libraries in a semi-rural area in upper East Tennessee. 

In this presentation, Suzanne Huron, marketing specialist for the Sullivan County Library, will lead participants through the importance of branding, will show how being willing to be silly can build connection, and engage attendees in a few creative exercises to help develop ideas for their own Show and Tell marketing. Suzanne has over 23 years of experience in graphic design and marketing and has brought those skills to her first love… the library.

(presentation resources)

3 – 3:30 ET

Presented by Beth Bernhardt,

Oxford

Join Oxford University Press learn more about our new platforms for the OED and ebooks.  This session will also cover our current offerings through Tenn-Share and updates on different purchasing options.  Plus, we will leave time for your questions about Oxford University Press products.

(presentation resources)

3:30 – 4 ET

Presented by Cathy Farley,

Tennessee Library Association

Learn about collaborative efforts between Tenn-Share, TN Library Association, Friends of TN Libraries, and TN Association for School Libraries to promote Libraries and the Freedom to Read. 

(presentation resources)

4 – 4:45 ET

Presented by Sarah E. Bull and Jonathan Wilson, 

East Tennessee State University

The Charles C. Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University serves a student population of roughly 15,000 in addition to a faculty and staff population of around 5,000. In order to effectively reach these populations, the library has developed an outreach strategy which uses Constant Contact for newsletter and other mass email messaging, and Springshare for blog posting. This session will explore the Sherrod Library’s usage of these two services, our best practices, and what has and has not worked for us. In addition, Participants will be given the opportunity to share their own experiences via an online quiz and will leave with ideas to better their own practices. 

Presented by Julie Fox, 

Page Middle School

Marketing your library doesn’t have to always be done online or outside your community that you serve. You can market to the patrons already coming to your library! In this session, I’ll show how you can use your library’s resources to market to those who are already coming to your library, create a stronger reading culture and develop a sense of ownership and community among your patrons. These ideas are from a school library perspective, but may be used and adapted for any type of library. 

10 – 10:45 ET

Presented by Dr. Wendy Doucette and Professor Rebecca Tolley,

East Tennessee State University

In Summer 2023, we presented a series, Transformational Thinking in the Workplace, for the ETSU community. This series consists of three workshops: Reshape Your Organizational Culture with a Holistic, Action-Based Framework; Constructive Living & Kaizen; and Naikan. For Reshape Your Organizational Culture, we stated that by combining two action-based philosophies which may be new to some participants, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) and Constructive Living (CL), we present a unique person-centered framework that offers recommendations for improving organizational culture, work-life balance, time management, and burnout in academic settings. These strategies for regaining perspective and balance occur at a pace wholly determined by the individual, require little training, no expense, and may result in renewed motivation, increased calm, and less reactivity at the individual level and—with transformational leadership—at the organizational level. [Please note that Rebecca Tolley has literally written the book on this topic, A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services (ALA Editions, 2020)]. Our second workshop, Constructive Living and Kaizen, is for those who have too much to do, can’t get motivated, and want to change their entire outlook but don’t even know where to begin. Regardless of mood or motivation, these practices work: Constructive Living (CL) is an action-based philosophy for reframing individual response to everyday situations. Kaizen is about simplifying and painlessly improving process and workflow to achieve progress without striving. Intensely practical and applicable to the workplace, these simple, self-directed methods allow for slow but steady, enduring change in individual habits, behavior, and thoughts. Our third workshop, Naikan, demonstrates how through acknowledging fundamental interdependencies, the Japanese philosophy of Naikan (gratitude through introspection) can be used effectively as a transformative personal mindset as well as in small or large group settings to decrease feelings of alienation and increase feelings of cooperation. We will interact with Naikan as a practical, person-centered, hands-on tool for improving communication, empathy, and understanding among co-workers. As a zero-cost, reality-based intervention, this mindset shift is capable of improving employee relations and culture by focusing on shared purpose and mission in a framework of gratitude and kindness.

(presentation resources)

Presented by Benjamin Clanton, Anna Kirby, and Marie Peeples,

University Libraries, University of Memphis

As a member of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Government Publications Department at the University of Memphis Libraries operates according to the FDLP mission to “provide free, ready, and permanent public access to Federal Government information, now and for future generations.” In service of this mission, Government Publications has sought to transport the traditional methods of providing access into the online landscape through the integration of state and federal government documents into the University of Memphis Digital Commons. This presentation will showcase two projects tied to the Digital Commons: The digitization of historical print materials from the collection and the intake of born digital materials from the Tennessee state government. The first part of the presentation will discuss the implementation of the Peace Corps digitization project, wherein the University of Memphis has partnered with the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to digitize our collection of historical Peace Corps materials, to be made available to the public both on the University Digital Commons and on GPO’s online repository, GovInfo. The discussion will focus on creating and refining project workflows and maintaining successful relationships with external partners. The second part of the presentation will explore the use of Digital Commons to gather and archive state government publications that will be of use to patrons both locally and globally. This has involved the identification of pertinent documents and the organization of metadata to aid patrons in the finding of said publications. The University of Memphis has long housed physical publications produced by the myriad departments within the Tennessee state government. However, the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the limitations of relying solely on this type of repository to house publications. In response, government organizations on both the federal and state levels are well into a cultural shift of producing “born digital” publications in greater amounts. This discussion will provide a demonstration of the uploading process and how the structure allowed by Digital Commons brings government publications to patrons in a more efficient and accessible way.

11 – 11:45 ET

Presented by Casey Parkman, Davy Marsicano, Chasity Harris, and April Hobbs

University of Memphis – McWherter Library

Makerspaces have become increasingly common in libraries within the past decade; however, starting one has its own challenges in academic libraries with resource allocation, staff time, and capacity issues. Despite these challenges, the University of Memphis Sandbox has been in its current form since 2018, with new resources and programs being added every academic year. In this presentation, Sandbox committee members will discuss how they established the Sandbox and have been able to keep it maintained through the past few years, while illustrating how to do events and programs when you have budget and staffing changes. Events and programs within these creative spaces can be utilized to enhance learning and creativity, while bringing new students into the library. Presenters demonstrate how space in the library can be repurposed, and interactive discussion with the audience is encouraged to share their experiences and challenges with establishing makerspaces in their library.

(presentation resources)

Presented by Kelly Maust,

University of Memphis Lambuth

With the many responsibilities that today’s college students juggle, leisure reading tends to take a back seat on campus. However, in this session, I will discuss the benefits for students of reading for pleasure even in the whirlwind of college life. Furthermore, I will share how we have used a book leasing program at the University of Memphis Lambuth’s L.L. Gobbel Library to foster opportunities for students to discover and access popular titles. I will also discuss how we have used library events, displays, social media, and other resources to encourage students to take full advantage of our leisure reading collection.

(presentation resources)

12 – 12:30 ET

12:30 – 1 ET

Presented by Daniel Lewis, Senior Product Manager and Nathalie Duval, Director, Product Management,

ProQuest

ProQuest’s comprehensive, award-winning Black Studies content available in a single location for deeper, more meaningful research, teaching, and learning. Developed in collaboration with faculty, scholars and librarians, this database combines multi-format primary and secondary sources, like historical Black newspapers, archival documents, government materials, videos, scholarly journals, essays and more. This outstanding content is supplemented with user-friendly features including timelines, topic pages, and collection pages for easier navigation and discovery.

Presented by Katie Bennett, 

Bloomsbury Digital Resources 

In Bloomsbury’s “Year of Continuous Improvement,” we are striving to make our resources better for librarians and end-users, and we’d love to know what matters most to YOU when it comes to: the functionality of digital platforms, metadata delivery, content type preferences, and more! Please join us to learn more about how Bloomsbury is growing, and share your thoughts on ways we can continue to improve.

(presentation resources)

1 – 1:45 ET

Presented by Kathryn Brown and John LaDue,

University of Tennessee at Martin

The Paul Meek Library is always searching for new ways to engage students and improve their access to information and their understanding of how to find and evaluate it. A significant portion of the student population lacks confidence in using the physical and digital resources of the library. To overcome these barriers, library staff developed two programs designed to guide students through the most common services and resources the library offers: an in-person scavenger hunt for on-campus students at our main campus and a web-based orientation for students taking courses online or at one of our regional centers. Participants learn about the variety of services the library offers and how to find appropriate databases, navigate the physical collection, and operate the library’s online search tools. This presentation will cover how each program was planned, promoted, implemented, and revised based on feedback and experience; suggestions for developing similar programs at other libraries will also be discussed.

(Presentation resources)

Presented by Diona E. Layden,

Fisk University 

Fisk University has received a micro-grant from the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff (AUC Woodruff) Library and Project STAND, partners in the “Building Capacity in the Ethical Documentation and Archiving of Student Activism in BIPOC Communities” project. The micro-grant enables Fisk to digitize its collection – Fisk University Student Activism Collection 1924-2002. The Special Collections and Archives team, along with student workers, process and digitize the collection to share with students, faculty, staff, and the Nashville, Tennessee community. 

2-2:45 ET

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

For nearly a decade, the UT Libraries has been working with many communities aimed at increasing high school student awareness of STEM career options and educational opportunities in STEM fields. Ongoing programming provides the opportunity to improve learning outcomes, reimagine uses of library spaces and technologies, and refine the program through cyclical, reflective processes. In Doing the Work we explore developing a STEM based engagement activity that involves bringing together K-12 students, college STEM students and faculty, and community STEM related organizations and businesses. Processes for developing meaningful engagement experiences with hot topic sessions and transforming library spaces to provide hands-on experiences with technologies and networking opportunities will be presented. In Experiencing the Work we will share what the conference experience is like for high school participants, college student presenters, community organizations and businesses, and our college student volunteers. We’ll talk about building experiential learning activities and engaging networking opportunities for students. Finally, in Evaluating the Work we will discuss feedback from participants over the years and how the planning committees engage in reflection both in their experiences and with the feedback to continually evolve and improve the program. From Gaming to DNA to Superheros of STEM, our themed conference provides a fun, educational engagement opportunity for all communities involved. Join us to explore how we are showing the impact of the work and how you can develop an event like this in your library.

(Presentation Resources)

Presented by Caitlin Harrington, Tiffany Day and Karen Brunsting, 

University of Memphis

At the University of Memphis our nominal remote storage has been a source of confusion, frustration, and mold since its designation in August 1994. With four floors available for housing University Libraries’ materials, it has grown over decades into a cobbled-together dungeon of detritus. What began as a summer inventory project quickly developed into a large-scale weeding project as issues related to poor condition and mold surfaced, and the space was needed for other purposes. Without additional funds or personnel to support this time-consuming and physically demanding work, three faculty librarians in Information Access Services leveraged the meager resources at their disposal to address a collection that has been in disrepair since its conception. Though not showy, it is good and necessary work. Previously the main campus library, the Brister remote storage facility historically has been used as a space for unprocessed government documents and archival materials, in addition to temporarily storing volumes from long-closed branch libraries while space was being made available at the main campus library. As space in the main library has only diminished, more volumes have been relocated to remote storage—not always with the knowledge of critical library departments—and the branch transfers have gone uncompleted, resulting in increased inaccuracies and confusion in the catalog. This presentation will detail how we addressed this behind-the-scenes remote storage collection weeding project, including the required personnel, technology, time, and workflows; challenges and complications we have encountered; the project’s current status; and lessons learned for any future remote storage transfers.

3 – 3:45 ET

Presented by Amy Chew (UTK), Sofiya Dahman (University of Memphis), and Miriam Wnuk (Vanderbilt)

Tenn-Share is the primary library consortia in TN. One of the chief goals of the organization is to support innovative resource-sharing projects and facilitate efficient interlibrary courier deliveries. This presentation will focus on the importance of greater consortia collaboration, will explore the challenges in providing timely and quality courier deliveries for Tenn-Share libraries, and will serve as a call for connecting and actively participating in transfiguring the current resource-sharing landscape.

(presentation resources)

Presented by Meredith Hale,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Copyright is an often misunderstood concept within Libraries. The term “copyright” can be invoked to cause fear, but in reality its dual aim is to promote the spread of knowledge while protecting the interests of creators. This session will introduce key copyright resources and concepts for librarians, such as Peter Hirtle’s public domain chart, copyright formalities, fair use, and licensing. We will particularly look at how Rights Statements and Creative Commons Licenses have been applied – appropriately and inappropriately – to content in the Digital Public Library of America. After foundational concepts have been established, we will test out our knowledge together by assigning Rights Statements to examples of digital content. In addition to dispelling some myths about copyright, it is hoped that this session will encourage participants to contribute digital content from their institutions to the Digital Library of Tennessee (DLTN). Rights is one of the five required metadata fields for submission and has proven to be one of the biggest hurdles to institutions participating in DLTN in my experience. Still, this session is of use to all attendees seeking to know more about copyright, whether the knowledge will be applied to reference questions or metadata creation/remediation in the future.

4 – 4:45 ET

Presented by Allison McKittrick and Susan Martel, 

Pellissippi State Community College

Join us as we tell the story of our Pellissippi State Community College’s Appalachian Heritage Project which is housed at Pellissippi’s Strawberry Plains campus. Created in conjunction with an Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to renovate space for a new and much-needed library at Strawberry Plains, the project provides a vehicle for the college to expand humanities partnerships across the region with a mission to increase community outreach via exhibits, lectures, and special programming. Come hear about our first two years of events, workshops, and exhibits as well as about our developing partnerships and collections. This session will provide opportunities to share ideas about the benefits and challenges of creating programming that celebrates regional history and the arts. 

Presented by LaTiffany Davis and Kathryn Shepas, 

University of Tennessee

Incoming freshmen receive their first introduction to the library during new student orientation. Due to the overwhelming representation of university departments presenting their own services at orientation, incoming students can experience information overload and show difficulty recalling important library information when needed most for classroom assignments. Recognizing the need to interact with freshmen students beyond new student orientation, Student Success Librarians in the Teaching and Learning Programs Department at the University of Tennessee developed an outreach strategy to reintroduce library services and engage first year students where they are in a physical environment. Occurring in the Living and Learning Communities (LLCs) of the residence halls, the Pop Up Library initiative serves as a space for Student Success Librarians to build relationships with early career undergraduates and become a connection for these students to the library spaces, library resources, and subject librarians. In this presentation, librarians will discuss the impetus of the Pop-Up Library, relationship building with Hall Directors, challenges, and success of the initiative as well as the opportunities for future growth and sustainability. 

5 – 5:45 ET

Presented by Jessica Jeffers and Stephanie Wycihowski,

Williamson County Public Library System

By creating playful, interactive environments, libraries can help children develop important skills like problem-solving, creativity, and communication while also fostering a love of reading and learning. This can be accomplished through a variety of activities, from imaginative play areas and sensory experiences to structured games and role-playing scenarios. Ultimately, by rethinking the role of play in library spaces, we can create more dynamic and engaging learning environments that inspire and empower children to become lifelong learners. At the Williamson County Public Library System, our Main library had a space that was formerly used as a storytime theater but since the height of the pandemic, this space sat unused. Coming in as a new Director with fresh eyes, we jumped at the chance to transform this space into a Play and Learn room. We will cover funding, marketing challenges, and successes. 

Presented by Perveen Rustomfram and Bess Robinson,

University of Memphis

Most people have no idea about the astonishing range and number of resources provided by the federal government—or how to access and use them to shape ideas, inform decisions, supplement classroom materials and activities for teachers and parents, lead healthier lives, better understand personal finance, etc. The presenters will describe how they have blended their professional expertise to connect federal government resources to the needs of teachers, librarians, students, and members of the Memphis-Shelby County community and beyond. The presentation will include time for participants to share their ideas for and experiences with marketing and promoting government resources in their collections.