ILOC Registration Now Open
Keynote Speakers Announced
The New Year is almost here and that means that ILOC is right around the corner. Join the fun on January 30, 2025 as library staff and trustees statewide gather for the 18th annual Iowa Libraries Online Conference. With the theme “Assess, Adapt, Act,” the 2025 conference will focus on library evaluation.
The full schedule will be available soon, but today we can announce the three keynote speakers who will be joining us throughout the day:
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Erica Freudenberger (Southern Adirondack Library System in New York) Measure Up! Evaluation as a Springboard to Success
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Jessica Hilburn (Benson Memorial Library & Crawford County Federated Library System in Pennsylvania) Digging Into Data: Where to Find It & How to Use It to Maximize Your Impact
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Kevin Unrath (Vermont Department of Libraries) Evaluating Your Library’s Value Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis
Plus this sneak peak at a few of the breakout sessions in the works:
- Building a Culture of Evaluation
- Using Specialized Software to Wrangle Evaluation Results
- Finding Data Sources to Compare Your Library With Peer Groups
We’ve always encouraged ILOC to be a staff development day, ideally allowing as many staff as possible to login all together and make it a day of learning. Some libraries are even able to close to make the most of the ILOC Conference as a staff development day. The evening session is aimed at library trustees, making that program perfect for a “watch party” at the library. And a classic way for boards to meet their continuing education standard.
All this with ample CE credits in the offing as well. So join us for as much of the day as your schedule allows. Wear your coziest socks, settle in with your beverage of choice, and log into ZOOM for a day of online learning from the warmth and comfort of home!
Watch this space for more announcements and details about breakout sessions planned for ILOC 2025. In the meantime, avoid the
Christmas rush and register today 😊
Another online event in the New Year is the annual All Iowa Reads Webinar with the Authors. Coming on January 14, 2025 (10:00AM-12:00PM) each of the AIR authors will discuss their work and their writing process, in addition to answering audience questions.
This program also carves out some time to review resources from the State Library that help promote the AIR program in local libraries. And to review the 2025 winners
For Adults: Distant Sonsby Tim Johnston. The paths of two young men collide and spark unexpected violence in a Wisconsin town where three boys went missing in the 1970s in this "intricate, haunting novel" Gripping and immersive, this crime novel by bestselling author Tim Johnston becomes so much more: a book about friendship and love and good hard work—and a masterful read about how the most random intersection of lives can have consequences both devastating and beautiful.
For Teens (ages 13-18) Rez Ball by Byron Graves. This compelling debut novel by new talent Byron Graves tells the relatable, high-stakes story of a young athlete determined to play like the hero his Ojibwe community needs him to be. After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon's dreams, their story isn’t over yet.
For Kids (ages 8-12) Jawbreaker by Christina Wyman. This is a funny and fresh middle-grade debut novel about jawbreaking dental drama. Max has a severe overbite. She already has braces, which means she lives on Advil and soft foods after each orthodontist appointment. But now Max has to wear totally awkward orthodontic headgear nicknamed “the jawbreaker.” Could things get any worse?
Grab a 2025 calendar and make plans to attend the All Iowa Reads webinar with the authors on January 14th. Register at the button below 😊
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Beginning in January
At the State Library, the District Consultants and the Library Resource Techs (LRTs) for each District are often the first point of contact for newly hired library directors. District Consultants make initial visits to all libraries that welcome new directors, providing a State Library orientation; LRTs are in touch to assist with questions surrounding SILO, websites, Bridges, and much more.
Come January 14, 2025 (1:00-2:00PM) the District Consultants are teaming up to build on our initial orientation visits by inviting all new directors to join us in ZOOM for what we're calling "New Director Meet-Ups."
The idea is to extend our early conversations with new people by meeting online and offering the chance to talk about library management issues in more detail. Plus, we also see this as a great way to introduce new directors to each other, inside and outside of your own District. It's called networking, ya'all 😊
January will be our first such gathering, we're aiming for 3 times a year--winter, spring, and fall. And what do we consider "new?" We're thinking people who have been on the job for 1 year or less, although that question is really best answered by you. If you're a new library director for one month, for one year, or abit longer, this gathering will help you build connections with colleagues--that's the goal !
Here's another Save the Date on your New Year's calendar--January 14, 2025 from 1:00-2:00PM--it's New Director Meet-Ups. From the lyrics to a famous sitcom song "Come and Knock on Our Door" 😊
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