Library Land Loves

For years Andrew Colgoni has been the beauty and brains behind Ad/Lib, a website and social handle dedicated to documenting and analyzing the marketing and branding efforts of libraries around the world. We chat with Andrew about some interesting examples of libraries attempting to branch out in new directions (with varying levels of success), and some fun and surprising ways that libraries are en...

This week we chat with Bessie Sullivan, CEO of Orillia Public Library and get her top five reasons why libraries should go fine free, and why we should be challenging the power structure in libraries and start examining the principals of our profession. We close our conversation with a brand new (and as yet unnamed) segment where we pebble our guest with a series of rapid-fire questions that...

It's season four and we're back with some practical, inspiring and wisdom-chocked life tips about how to survive in library land as both someone who is managed and also does the managing. Joanna Aegard from Bruce County Public Library gives us her top five professional life tips and talks about losing that loving feeling at work and getting over her bad attitude towards management.  This week...

Library Land Loves is back for season four! Every Monday, host Michelle Arbuckle will be joined by someone from library land to discuss their work, their library and their loves. We'll be back next week, coming straight to your ears on September 27.  Have ideas for a show? Pop Michelle a note @citybrarian or marbuckle at accessola dot com

This week we are thrilled to welcome Lauren McKeon, the author of "Women of the Pandemic: Stories from the Front Lines of COVID-19", a LoanStar Adult Top Pick last month. Many of the themes she writes about relate very poignantly to the work we do in library land - the toll of emotional labour, the importance of self care and mental health first aid. We also speak about what she learned from the i...

If you are interested in a library leadership role then it's important to be realistic about the fact that library school couldn't teach you what you need to know in order to be a successful leader, and you're going to need to get some experience and training that exposes you to big picturing thinking and planning. This week we sat down with the most recent graduates of the Public Library Leaders...

This week Kevin Sylvester, one of our favourite authors and head of the Forest of Reading cheer squad joins us. Because it's Forest of Reading week! Kevin tells us all about the virtual Forest of Reading events that will be taking place over the week and some of his favourite memories as a 15 time nominated author.  He'll also take us through his list of the top five things that are making li...

Have you heard about Discord yet? And more importantly do you know how it could revolutionize your library programming!? If not, Brady and Matt  from Pickering Public Library are here and they have your back. This week they are taking us through the top five reasons to use Discord in your library.  We discuss how they got approvals from library management; the types of connections to the...

This week Michelle is lucky enough to be chatting with one of the best people on the Internet (and real life, too) - Jessamyn West. Jessamyn is a library person in Vermont who speaks a lot about how to better serve rural communities. She's bringing to the Library Land Loves table her top five tips on how to be more accessible to your communities. Her tips are quick and easy and likely don't e...

If your library is hosting author chats or book talks then Carol Ann Tack from Merrick Library NY is here to give you a few tips! Carol Ann hosts authors on her wildly successful podcast "Top Shelf at the Merrick Library" and has some great stories and advice on how she prepares for and approaches conversations with both authors and her book discussion groups.  Follow Carol Ann @topshelfmerri...

The children of Library Land have spoken and they have told us their favourite games! Join us as they tell us in their own delightful words which games they love and why. Michelle Goodridge from Wilfrid Laurier University is also here to talk about her favourite games of the moment and to give us a few things to think about when it comes to gaming safely.  Follow Michelle @migoodridge We also...

Awards season is our most favourite time of the year and this has been a banner year for incredible audiobook performances. Join Michelle and Reagan Kapasi from OLA's Reader's Advisory Committee as they present their choices for the best audiobooks they've read this year.  Categories include:  Music to My Ears (Best Performance); A Perfect Marriage of Storytelling & Performance (fict...

It's not a stretch to say that library land is full of lifelong learners, and many of us have taken courses, certificates and degrees in order to build our credentials or just out of curiosity and interest. But have you ever considered how going back to school as an adult might help you approach your day job a little differently?  Reece Steinberg, a business librarian from Ryerson University...

This week Zack Osborne joins me to talk about lessons he's learned from managing his virtual team over the past year. We chat about modelling good behaviour, being authentic, recognizing burnout and impaired wellness, and most importantly when to CTDM (cancel the damn meeting).  Warning: the poop swear word is used at least twice in this episode.  References:  Follow Zack @zackosbor...

Rochelle Mazar joins me this week to chat about one of my favourite topics - hiring! If you're looking to improve the questions that you ask your candidates or just want to think differently about your hiring process, then this episode is for you. We go through Rochelle's list of five-ish things to think about when drafting your interview questions. We also chat about some questionable practices a...

This week, Michelle chats with Avery Swartz about how libraries can continue building relationships with their communities, even when they aren’t able to physically visit the library. A list of things you should check out:  See You on the Internet: Building Your Small Business with Digital Marketing by Avery Swartz “ Good job, Bruce. The guy behind North America’s top public health Twitter ac...

Last year Emily and Michelle each took a leave of absence from their jobs to try out new roles in new organizations. Emily came to OLA and Michelle took a spin at Ryerson Library. Join us as we chat about trying out new jobs, learning the unwritten rules in new workplace cultures and the brain elasticity it requires to shift gears and leave the safety of a longtime role.  Thank you to Emily f...

Have you been feeling the need to sink into your couch and escape to a world where the only vice is a well-brewed cuppa tea? We're here for you. Author Natasha Dean joins us today to bring us her top five cozy British mysteries!  Natasha is also an organizer of I Read Canadian Day - which is today! Learn more about I Read Canadian Day and how you can participate simply by reading a Canadian t...

Just kidding! We're all actually trying very hard to make eLearning successful right now and Matt Rohweder joins Michelle to discuss his tips and talk about the issues. Matt was an organizer for the recent eLearning Symposium and is sharing his top five ways to improve your approach to eLearning.  Learn more about the collective here .

Are your kids home right now? Are you finding it difficult to get anything done? Yah, us too. So this week, we asked writer Lindsay Zier-Vogel to give us her top five tips on how to get things done while there are little (and not so little) ones underfoot. She has some fantastic tips on how to structure your time, improve your focus and most importantly how to prepare in advance for the inevitable...

Many of us are trying to create engaging content right now - whether it be for library instruction, programming or the upcoming OLA Super Conference! Librarian extraordinaire Brooke Windsor is here to give us her top five tips on how to make your presentations more engaging. BYO go-juice.

Every conversation has the opportunity to be better, especially conversations where one speaker is upset or angry. Susan Cleyle, executive coach and Dean of Libraries at Memorial University is leading us through her top five tips for having difficult conversations.  Susan will be presenting a more in depth session on this topic at the 2021 OLA Virtual Super Conference. Find more information and re...

As we get settled into a new year, let's take a look around us and take Randy's tips on ways to be our best adult and take care of the space around us. Our thanks to Randy Oldham from the University of Guelph/OCUL for this thoughtful list!

Maria Martella, owner of TinLids gives her top recommendations for reading over the holidays. These titles make good gifts for the littles in your life, or good reads for your story times.

Welcome back to our third season! Library Land Loves is joined with this year's OLA President Andrea Cecchetto who talks about the meaning behind this year's OLA Super Conference theme 'Clever Minds & Human Hearts', while giving us her top 5 ways of dealing with stress during the pandemic.