In This Issue

President's Corner ~ RI Library Challenge ~ Professional Development Opportunity for School Librarians ~ CLA's 2024 Library Leadership Institute ~ NAHSL 2024 Presentation Proposals ~ NELLS 2024 Tier I: Emerging Leaders Cohort ~ Sensory Friendly Programs at RI Public Libraries ~ RI Latino Books Award Committee Seeking New Members ~ School Library Survey ~ RI Library News

Welcome to the late summer edition of the Bulletin!

We hope you have been able to enjoy all that summertime in New England has to offer. The RILA Board is gearing up for another busy year! 

Congratulations to the Rhode Island cohort of NELLS Emerging Leaders: Evan Barta, Dragan Gill and Monica Gonzalez. Our Rhode Island cohort represents the range of libraries, experience and library roles right here in our small state. We wish them all well as they take the next steps in their professional development and growth. This issue is also chock full of info about other professional development and learning opportunities happening in Rhode Island and around the region. 

We hope that something here speaks to you and your talents or if you have been meaning to get more involved with RILA but want to know more about other opportunities, fall is also a great time to consider joining a committee. Commitments are often very flexible and this is a great way to get to know more folks within our cozy, library community. Don't hesitate to connect with me to learn more about getting involved.

Beatrice Pulliam, RILA President

president@rilibraries.org

Rhode Island Center for the Book's RI Library Challenge

We have been overwhelmed, in the best way possible, by the response to our RI Library Challenge this summer! We asked Rhode Islanders to visit five libraries, send us photos at each one, and in return, receive a surprise library package. They didn't just send photos, they shared glowing reviews of the libraries they visited: the Lego Challenge at Tiverton, the Poop Museum at East Greenwich, Weaver's plant exchange, Italian classes at Community Libraries of Providence, Coventry's Minecraft scavenger hunt, Louttit's story path, the extensive resources at Warwick Library...and SO much more! The enthusiasm and love for libraries is inspiring! Everyone who participated has gushed about their visits! One mom put it best..."We love everything about libraries! My kids love going and they always feel so welcome!" Bravo to all of you amazing librarians!

When people send us photos at various RI libraries we post them on Instagram. Follow us at: ricenterforthebook 

Connecticut Library Association 2024 Library Leadership Institute

We hope you'll join us for the annual CLA Library Leadership Institute, which will be held Friday, August 23rd on the campus of Middlesex Community College in Middletown. Join the CLA Career Development Committee and your colleagues for a full day of inspiration and information presented by talented speakers, leaders and managers. If you're a library leader, or aspire to lead, you'll want to attend this event!

NAHSL 2024 Presentation Proposals

The 2024 NAHSL Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit presentation proposals for this year's conference, which will be located in Mystic, CT, on October 20-22. This is a great opportunity for you to share your innovative work, research, and programs with your colleagues. 

This year's conference theme is "Looking Back, Looking Ahead: NAHSL at 65." Deadline for submissions: August 30, 2024.

NELLS 2024 Tier I: Emerging Leaders Cohort

NELA is pleased to announce the following individuals who have been accepted into the New England Library Leadership Symposium for 2024. These individuals submitted applications that demonstrated a sincere interest in developing their leadership skills, and the potential to make a significant impact in the profession.

These individuals joined facilitator Jami Yazdani at Southern New Hampshire State University on August 5th for an immersive and unique learning experience, followed by weekly virtual meetings until October. Congratulations to the 2024 cohort!

Our RI emerging leaders are Evan Barta, Dragan Gill, and Monica Gonzalez.

Sensory Friendly Programs at RI Public Libraries

The Sensory Friendly Inclusive Group seeks to empower librarians to better serve individuals of all ages and backgrounds who are neurodiverse or on the autism spectrum disorder and their families by expanding programming, outreach, partnerships, and resources that welcome all abilities.

Visit our website and follow us on Facebook for more information.

RI Latino Books Award Committee is Seeking New Members

The Rhode Island Latino Books Award Committee, part of Rhode Island Latino Arts, is seeking new members to serve a 2-year term beginning September 2024. Each year, the Rhode Island Latino Books Award committee selects the nominees for grades K-12 for the award. Rhode Island students are encouraged to read from the booklist and vote for their favorite book.

Margaret Merga's School Library Survey

Are you a school library professional currently working in a school library anywhere in the world?

Please be part of research conducted by Margaret Merga at the University of Notre Dame Australia and Saiyidi Mat Roni at Edith Cowan University. We want to learn from your experiences and views to capture challenges faced by the school library workforce, with a view to supporting the advocacy and best-practice needs of school library professionals both now and in the future.

Cranston Public Library Receives Two Core PR Xchange Awards

The Cranston Public Library has received two Core PR Xchange Awards from the American Library Association (ALA) for its 2023 Impact Report and 2023 Youth Summer Reading Video - Make Some Noise!

East Providence Public Library hires to Library Aides

East Providence Public Library is happy to announce that Bernadette Vaughan and Ashley Qualls have been hired as Library Aides.

Born and raised in East Providence, Bernadette walked up the street to Weaver

Library’s Children's Room with her mom as a little girl, getting her first taste of love for

the library. She graduated from RISD and is an avid knitter, crafter and reader.

Previously, she worked in circulation at Seekonk Public Library and Lincoln Public

Library, but is thrilled to now be a part of her home library's staff. She currently lives in

Riverside with her husband, son and two cats.

This is Ashley’s second time working at the East Providence Public Library, as she

worked as a page during her teenage years. Ashley has extensive experience in

customer service through her years of work with the airlines. She enjoys book collecting and exploring the outdoors, and she is happy to once again be working at the Library.

Tiverton Public Library Receives NASA Moon Tree

After over 270,000 miles of travel, the moon tree has landed at its forever home in Tiverton.

We are excited to announce that Tiverton Public Library is the recipient of a NASA Moon Tree sapling. The library was chosen out of 1,300 applications to be one of 50 sites across the country to receive a free sapling.

The seed our new sweetgum tree grew from flew aboard the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I test flight around the moon and back in November-December 2022. After its flight and before arriving at Tiverton Public Library, the moon tree was grown by the U.S. Forest Service Coeur d'Alene Nursery in Idaho.

Thank you to our Children's Librarian Meg Paquette for completing the application, Tiverton DPW for assisting us with the digging and protective fencing required by NASA, NASA, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Get Involved!

The RILA Communications Committee is looking for members to assist in posting to and monitoring RILA’s social media platforms and website. Specifically, we are looking for members who can assist us in one or more of the following:

Web Administrator:

• Edit submitted articles for length, RILA Style, and readability
• Monitor and edit the homepage
• Create and update website pages
• Assist with questions about the website

Social Media Team:

• Posting/sharing posts to the RILA Facebook page at least twice weekly
• Tweeting/retweeting on behalf of RILA at least twice weekly
• Posting or creating a story on Instagram at least once a week
• Posting to LinkedIn at least once a week
• Monitoring one or more of these platforms a few times per week - which includes likes, comments, and reshares of content pertinent to RILA’s mission and vision

These tasks may be handled by one person or (ideally) a few team members. The estimated time commitment is less than 1 hour a week!

Please contact Kyera Shea at communications@rilibraries.org for more information.