Nominations for the 2026 NEFLIN Awards are now open. This is your opportunity to honor a deserving colleague or community member for their hard work and dedication.

Awards include Member of the Year, Distinguished Career, Library Innovation, and Library Champion.

Send your nominations to office@neflin.org by April 30th!  

Awards will be presented at the Annual Meeting on September 24th.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the March VTC! The winner of the March Prize Pack is Heather Bumbalough from the University of North Florida. Congratulations, Heather!

Find out more about the

Virtual Training Challenge at http://www.neflin.org/vtc,

or get started NOW with the

April Challenge:

About this month's training: The one coworker who can fix the printer retired last week and IT is tied up in another department. Now what? This training will give you the tools, including a step-by-step checklist, to diagnose and ultimately fix those small daily problems that patrons and staff members routinely encounter in libraries. 



Please note: All virtual trainings are accessed through NEFLIN's Niche Academy platform. If you don't have an account, set one up using your library email address at https://my.nicheacademy.com/neflin-staff.

Questions?

Visit http://www.neflin.org/vtc, call us at the NEFLIN Office (904-278-5620), or email training@neflin.org.  

Florida Libraries Online is back!

This free, completely virtual conference will take place on Wednesday, June 10th. You don't want to miss this event featuring the topic of Florida Libraries Build.

Tracks include:

• Libraries Build Welcoming Spaces
• Libraries Build Community
• Libraries Build Leaders
• Libraries Build Opportunities
• Libraries Build Strong Teams

Registration will open in May, so watch your NEFLIN email for updates.

This event is brought to you by NEFLIN and our partners at our fellow Florida Library Cooperatives: PLAN, SEFLIN, SWFLN, and TBLC.

Find out more and register at http://www.floridalibrarytraining.com.

Thursday, May 28th

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Online

This session focuses on building intentional, community-centered programming. Participants will learn how to better understand their audiences and how to identify gaps in current offerings. The webinar also emphasizes collaboration, encouraging libraries to partner with local organizations.

Trainer Janie Hermann will address key planning strategies, discuss the real cost of “free” programs and protecting your library’s brand through thoughtful program selection is essential.

Participants will also learn how to create an annual programming plan and stay organized using shared tools and documentation.

Janie Hermann leads public programming at the Princeton Public Library, guiding a collaborative team that produces more than 2,000 programs each year across all audiences. Her work emphasizes strong partnerships with local organizations and a commitment to creating programming that reflects and enriches the intellectual and cultural life of the community.

Over the past twenty-five years, Janie has delivered hundreds of presentations and workshops at the national, state, and local levels on a wide range of topics, including library programming, community engagement, public service, and technology instruction.

Recognized as a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal in 2007, Janie has also served on the New Jersey State Library’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of Libraries. She is an active leader within the American Library Association, currently serving as an advisor to the Aging Together project and in her second term as Chair of the Public and Cultural Programs Advisory Committee for ALA’s Public Programs Office. She has also contributed her expertise as Chair of the Programming Librarian Interest Group. In addition, she has served as Chair of the New Jersey Library Association Annual Conference and Chair of the NJLA Professional Development Committee, along with service on numerous other committees at both the state and national levels.

Janie brings a thoughtful and strategic approach to her work, grounded in the belief that strong planning creates the foundation for meaningful and responsive programming.

Library Insights is now accepting submissions year-round! We encourage you to share innovative ideas, best practices, and library-related research with your colleagues by submitting an article for publication.

Our Spring Issue is in its final editing phase, and we look forward to sharing it with you in May. In the meantime, consider submitting your work to our Summer Issue, which will be published in September. Submissions for this issue are due by June 30th. Find out more at https://neflin.org/library-insights/.

We greatly appreciate everyone who took the time to complete the 2026 NEFLIN Annual Survey! We look forward to reviewing the feedback and implementing some of your excellent suggestions.

Congratulations to these five NEFLIN members who won $25 amazon gift cards for completing the survey:

Nicholas Grimes, Jacksonville Public Library

Stacy Bloomingdale, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Brian Nesselrode, The Bolles School

Cherie Houston, Bethune-Cookman University

Lynda Preston, Alachua Public Library

Be on the lookout for our annual Continuing Education Survey, which will give you the opportunity to let us know how we can best meet your training needs. This survey will open on May 1st.

Congratulations to Jason Martin, dean of the Evans Library at Florida Tech, on the publication of his new book, Creating Healthy Library Workplaces: Five Factors that Improve Employee Engagement and Satisfaction. This title is available for checkout in the NEFLIN Lending Library. Email training@neflin.org for more information.

If this topic is of interest to you, save the date for a panel discussion featuring Jason, as well as Julie Tedjeske Crane, Matty Johnson, Amy Fyn, and Amanda Kaufman. The panel will take place online on Wednesday, August 5th, at 2:00 pm. More details will be shared in future newsletters and emails.

This project is funded under the provisions of the Library Cooperative Grant program awarded to the Northeast Florida Library Information Network (NEFLIN). Florida’s LCG program is administered by the Florida Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services.