Greetings!

We're always sad when we have to say goodbye to a NEFLIN member, and this one cuts especially deep! We were honored to attend New River Public Library Cooperative director Tricia Wylie's recent going-away party before her move to Michigan. We heard many heartfelt thank you's and farewells from the NRPLC members, and we add ours to that list! Tricia has been an active participant at NEFLIN and has served in many roles, including on the Continuing Education Committee, as a peer reviewer for Library Insights, and as a mentor for the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute.

We will miss you, Tricia, and we wish you all the best!

Jenny Eason

jenny@neflin.org

Member Services Coordinator

There are only a few spots remaining for the 2025 NEFLIN Annual Meeting!

If you plan to be there, don't wait - now is the time to register!

The Annual Meeting will take place on Friday, September 19th, from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm, at UNF’s Adam W. Herbert University Center.  

The day’s agenda will include:

• Keynote Presentation from Steve Hughes
• Annual Reports from the NEFLIN Staff
• Presentation of the 2025 NEFLIN Awards
• Announcement of NEFLIN’s upcoming projects
• Innovation Project reports from NEFLIN member libraries
• Silent Auction benefiting the Jim Morris Scholarship Fund
• and more content for library staff throughout the day!

See the complete agenda at http://neflin.org/annualmeeting/.

We invite you or your library to donate a basket to be auctioned off at this year's Annual Meeting.

All proceeds benefit the Jim Morris Continuing Education Fund, which provides scholarships for NEFLIN members to attend conferences and other professional development opportunities.

To Contribute a Basket:

1. Choose a theme and begin to assemble your basket.
2. SUBMIT the Online Form by Friday, September 5th.
3. Bring your completed basket to the NEFLIN Annual Meeting on September 19th.

To Make a Donation:

Don't have time to donate a basket and would like to make a tax-deductible donation? Click here.

Please note:

Issue Two of Library Insights is currently in the editing phase and will be published in August 2025.

This Call for Articles is for Issue Three, which we expect to publish in December 2025.

Are you passionate about sharing your knowledge and insights with the library community?

We invite you to contribute to Issue Three of the NEFLIN Publication Library Insights, a platform for library professionals from all types of libraries to share their scholarly and practitioner-based work.

Articles may be submitted here: Library Insights: Call for Articles

Important Dates:

• Submission Deadline: September 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM ET
• Notification of Acceptance: October 31, 2025
• Anticipated Publication Date: December 2025

Questions? Email LibraryInsights@neflin.org.

The NEFLIN Library Insights Journal is seeking a creative and detail-oriented designer to join our Editorial Board beginning October 2025. This role involves designing and formatting each issue for online publication, ensuring a professional and visually appealing layout that showcases the work of library staff across all types of libraries.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a collaborative, member-driven publication dedicated to sharing innovative ideas, best practices, and research from the NEFLIN community.

If you have experience with publication layout/design and want to help bring library stories to life, we’d love to hear from you!

To express interest or learn more, contact libraryinsights@neflin.org.

Congratulations to our most recent class of Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute graduates!

On Friday, July 11th, participants from the Clay County cohort gathered in Orange Park to celebrate their successful completion of SSLLI Year 19. At the same time, members of the Lee County cohort were also gathering in Fort Myers for their own celebration. These participants proved themselves to be innovative and resilient leaders, and we look forward to the great things they will accomplish in the future.



We are especially proud of the 14 NEFLIN members who completed the program:



• Amber Ard (Nassau County Public Library)
• Jerome Azbell (Marion County Public Library)
• Amber Godwin (Bradford County Public Library)
• Jennifer Goss (Clay County Public Library)
• Hannah Hirst (Marion County Public Library)
• Mischa Johns (Putnam County Library System)
• Ryan Merkel (Jacksonville Public Library)
• Kim Odom (St. Johns County Public Library)
• Claire Olson (Jacksonville Public Library)
• Katherine Owens (Flagler College - Proctor Library)
• Janavi Santana (Alachua County Library District)
• Victoria Slaughter (St. Johns River State College)
• Caitlin Turecek (St. Johns County Public Library)
• Dr. Deborah Williams (University of North Florida)

Participant Hannah Hirst (MCPL) and her mentor George Risko (Florida Forest Service)

Participant Claire Olson (JPL) and her mentor Diane Johnson

(retired - MCPL)

Participant Victoria Slaughter and her mentor Dr. Anne Marie Casey (retired - ERAU)

See more pictures of our Clay County cohort graduates here.

As a trainer, coach, and keynote speaker, Maurice helps organizations improve their human processes and use of technology, expand their internal/external communications, and broaden their focus and implementation of EDI activities.

Maurice is also the host and producer of the long-running (and oldest) training/education and empowerment podcast T is for Training and the Technical Trainer at a county library system located in the North-Eastern corner of Maryland.

He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2010 and was a member of the first class of WebJunction’s National Library CE Training Institute in 2014.

For the next few months, we'll be highlighting the ten NEFLIN member libraries who are recipients of a 2025 Innovation Project Award. These libraries submitted their innovative ideas to the NEFLIN Board, who then awarded up to $7,500 for each winning idea. All of the libraries are now at work putting their projects into action, and at the NEFLIN Annual Meeting on September 19th, they will share their progress and results. The project descriptions below were submitted as part of each member's Innovation Project application.

Stetson University - duPont Ball Library:

cHatter Box:

A Miniature Video and Audio Studio for Oral Histories, Podcasting, Video Streaming, and Mock Interviews

"The library has a long tradition of supporting innovation through an Innovation Lab on our first floor. That said, the Innovation Lab is primarily focused on 3D printing. There is a very small woodshop, some sewing machines, as well as some media computers in a shared room. There is quite literally no space left in the Innovation Lab for more innovative ideas to be snuck in. There is also very little focus on video and audio in our lab, which has long been a focus of other such spaces in libraries. That said, the time to expand our innovative offerings has come, and this is the first project we are undertaking in the framing of the “library as lab.” This is innovative, in that up until now, there has been little focus at Stetson for video and audio production and creation for any students besides the majors in our Digital Arts program.

The addition of the cHatter Box will only improve our service to our patrons, in that we will be offering a new way to engage with the library. Students in our programs will have plenty of use for the box, and we hope more will come to workshops to learn how to make use of the equipment. Since the cHatter Box will be sound proofed, it will not impact the learning already happening in the library. It will also give us the opportunity to invite in community members and groups to record their histories, something that we have long wanted to do, but have not been able to get started."

Nassau District Schools (Yulee Middle School)

Content Creation in the Library

"The goal of the project is to give teachers and students access to the training, learning, and tools of content creation. Exposing students to the skills of content creation is giving them tools for success in the future. Content creation will encompass creating podcasts, videos, presentations, and other digital content. By partnering with the teachers in implementing this project, students can be challenged to create alternative assignments for all academic subjects. It will also be utilized in the library to create content to promote literacy- first chapter Friday, reading strategies, book recommendations from staff and students, etc.

This is our first year creating a makerspace. This project is the first time we will have implemented new age technology in our library. As stated previously it will allow for enhanced learning opportunities. Access to cameras, microphones, and editing software will create an environment of creativity and enhanced learning experiences. It will allow students to deepen their knowledge through hands on learning. Additionally, students will gain skills in digital literacy, content creation, and critical thinking. These are skills that are on the forefront of job opportunities in the next 5-10 years. Content creation also fosters team work and allows for cross curricular planning and learning."

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These projects were funded either under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act from the Institute of Museum and Library Services or the Library Cooperative Grant program. Florida’s LSTA and LCG programs are administered by the Department of State’s Division of Library and Information Services.

For FY2024-25, the total state and federal budgets for NEFLIN's programs are $703,693. 43% of the total costs ($303,693) are supported by federal funds, and 57% of this program ($400,000) is supported by state funds.