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Last week, library staff and industry experts from across North America joined the BiblioCommons team to kick off BiblioCon ’23. As with every BiblioCon, the event was a fantastic gathering, one that generated many great real-world insights on how to build thriving and inclusive public libraries. Conference attendees got the opportunity to learn best practices from each other, engage the BiblioCommons team to build a greater understanding of the rich tools at their disposal, and network with each other.
BiblioCon ’23 kicked off with an introduction from Michael Colford, the Director of Library Services at the Boston Public Library, and Stephanie Chase, the Founder of Constructive Disruption. Stephanie and Michael set the stage for the conference, highlighting the line-up of amazing presentations tailored for library professionals to spaces for librarians to ask questions and connect with peers.
They also called on attendees to take advantage of the event, which included more than 20 sessions from library professionals and subject matter experts.
Inspiring Sessions with Tangible Takeaways
With over 50 speakers from public libraries, professional groups, and BiblioCommons teams across North America, BiblioCon ’23 offered attendees the opportunity to gain incredible, practical, and proven insights from their peers, giving them the ingredients to build actionable plans of their own. Below, we've summarized a few of the sessions (note: these are by no means all of them, just a sample of the conference):
Driving Patron Growth and Engagement
Right from the first session, BiblioCon attendees started learning the exact steps they can take to not only add patrons to their public libraries, but ensure they keep returning to access their library’s resources.
Cordelia Anderson, the CEO of Cordelia Anderson Consulting, provided strategies for easing library card access and, as importantly, encouraging patrons to use their library for their learning, growth, social connections, and much more. Session attendees walked away with an understanding of how to use proven patron engagement techniques and strategies to achieve these goals.
Next, the team at Harris County Public Library — David Cherry (Digital Content Specialist), Nancy Hu (Brand and Communications Manager), and Sarah Gardner (Young Adult Program Librarian) — showed us how to use search engine optimization (SEO) to drive visibility to their library website. It was a great window into seeing how public libraries can leverage SEO in unique ways (sometimes in ways only they can) to attract new — and unexpected — patrons, gain more visibility in the local community, and get patrons to find and borrow more items from the library’s collection.
Elevating Accessibility and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)
From internal processes to website content to website design itself, public libraries can take key, impactful steps to be more accessible and increase EDI efforts.
Arlene Keller (Web Services Coordinator) and Olga Iliuk (Translation Program Specialist) from Multnomah County Library guided attendees on how they designed their library website to be accessible and inclusive to those who’ve historically been marginalized. Not only did they show how they incorporated the voices of marginalized groups in the design of their website, but attendees also had a chance to see how to incorporate EDI at every stage of a website project.
Check out our blog series for more on how to make your public library’s digital experiences accessible.
Leveraging Technology to Build Today’s and Tomorrow’s Libraries
The team from Kansas City Public Library — Dawn Mackey (Discovery Services Manager), Debbie Stoppello (Directory of Library Collections), Stephanie Roberts (Collection Development Supervisor) — discussed their process for patron-led item selection and collection-building. Their website and online catalog play key roles in empowering patrons to have an input in the library’s collection. In turn, Kansas City Public Library offers a positive patron experience while also reducing internal costs and staff time.
Library staff want to leverage metrics to deliver greater impact for their communities. Yet, doing it in ethical ways that respect privacy — while delivering actionable insights — isn’t an easy process. Julie Oborny, the Web Services Manager at San Jose Public Library, and Chair of the American Library Association's (ALA) Intellectual Freedom Committee's Privacy Subcommittee, provided a detailed look at how library staff can set up and use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in the right ways to achieve their goals.
With the internet evolving towards Web 3.0 (Web3), M Ryan Hess, the Digital Initiatives Manager at Palo Alto City Library, provided insights on how blockchain and decentralization could affect libraries. It was a great discussion on how public libraries can leverage emerging tools, both individually and collectively.
Getting More Out of BiblioCommons’ Suite of Products
BiblioCon ’23 attendees also got a deeper look at how to fully leverage the BiblioCommons tools at their disposal, both from the BiblioCommons team and, more importantly, their public library peers.
Marie Martin, Web Administrator at Washington County Cooperative Library Services, provided a step-by-step guide on properly setting up GA4 to view and report on BiblioCore and BiblioEvents metrics. This session offered a great look at how to leverage GA4 to glean actionable insights while also building clear and accurate reports for key stakeholders using data.
Nina Coutinho (Director of Product Management at BiblioCommons) led a session on the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform. Using GA4 as the backbone, the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform equips libraries with custom data layers and new data dashboards to draw insights and make data-driven decisions. This was followed by an office hour with Nina, Maxine Levine (Operations Manager at BiblioCommons), and Tim Gordon (Product Manager at BiblioCommons), to review the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform as well as answer attendee questions.
BiblioCommons’ own Denise Macalino (Product Designer) and Kati Polodna (Implementation Specialist) equipped attendees with quick and actionable tips they can use to build custom pages on BiblioWeb. This session was a step-by-step guide to building impactful pages that are responsive, accessible, and beautiful.
Remington Steed (Webmaster at Kent District Library) also showed the innate robust nature of BiblioEvents by explaining how he used the platform’s API to build informative, yet digestible, calendars for patrons and staff alike. The focus wasn’t just on conveying information but ensuring that the intended audience was getting the information relevant to their preferences.
The final day of BiblioCon ‘23 was dedicated to office hours for each BiblioCommons product, providing library staff that currently subscribe to BiblioCommons an opportunity to ask our team questions and provide input.
A Heartfelt Thanks to Everyone!
Last, but certainly not least, we want to thank everyone who put aside the time to participate in BiblioCon ’23. From speakers to attendees to facilitators, everyone played a part in making this year’s event a great opportunity to gain actionable insights for strengthening public libraries.
We also want to give a shout out to everyone who participated in our social media contest. Congratulations to our contest winners: Cordelia Anderson (Cordelia Anderson Consulting), Kelly Moore (Wood Buffalo Regional Library), and Shawn Farrell (Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library)!
While BiblioCon ’23 passed, you can still catch all the sessions. Sign up to get on-demand access to the session recordings.
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