Colorado State Library at CALCON 2021

CALCON, the annual conference of the Colorado Association of Libraries, returns in person this year on September 9-11 in Westminster, CO. The event features keynote speakers, sessions, lightning talks, vendor exhibits, and networking opportunities. This year’s theme is “Building a Bridge to Tomorrow”. Visit CALCON21 to view full event details.

As in previous years, Colorado State Library staff members will present sessions throughout the conference, ranging in topics from futurism to emotional intelligence. See the schedule below for details.

Colorado State Library Sessions

See the full schedule.

Thursday, September 9

9:00am-12:00 pm

Pre-conference Workshop:  Critical Allyship: Leveraging Privilege and Power for Justice | Dr. Cori Wong, sponsored by the Colorado State Library and CLEF
Through presented content, facilitated dialogue, and reflective exercises, this 3-hour workshop will deepen participants’ conceptual understanding of being an ally and accomplice to better inform how they show up in practice. Attendees will learn to recognize how their identities and social locations relate to power and privilege, which will reveal opportunities for more effectively leveraging their own resources to advance equity and social justice.

Pre-conference Workshop: Framing for the Future: Strategies for future planning | Kieran Hixon, Amy Shipley, Amy Pilla
Future-proof your library strategies!  Have you ever completed a strategic plan and tucked it away until it was time to write the next one?  Did your library’s strategies make sense during a global pandemic and national civil unrest?  Do you know when your library is working strategically or when you may be off on a tangent?  In this session, members of the CAL Futures Interest Group will teach you how to use tools from the Strategic Foresight Framework to develop strategies that take advantage of the good, mitigate the bad, and yet remain both flexible and useful.

2:30-3:30 pm

Empowering Teens Through Connected Learning | Beth Crist, Catherine Boddie
Teens learn best when their experiences are guided by their own interests, supported by their peers and mentors, have tangible connections to real world career and civic opportunities, and include diverse backgrounds. The Connected Learning model builds on these principles, and libraries are the perfect environment for this type of learning, providing a place for teens to connect, engage, and thrive. In this interactive session, explore the benefits of Connected Learning, what it looks like in different library settings, and how you can cultivate it in your library, using content from YALSA.

Recognizing and Addressing Community Childcare Needs in 2020: Lessons from Growing Readers Together | Joyce Johnson
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many family members, friends & neighbors (FFN) were suddenly thrust into the role of informal provider when other childcare arrangements became unavailable. Likewise, many childcare homes and centers closed in 2020- some never to reopen- accelerating an existing trend towards decreasing childcare availability. Enter Growing Readers Together (GRT), a five-year (and counting!) initiative of the Colorado State Library working to connect libraries with FFN- the very childcare providers whose work was so much in demand during the pandemic. This presentation will highlight the innovative strategies used by GRT libraries in 2020, as well as consider why building bridges between the early care & education and public library systems continues to be a vital need in our state.

Friday, September 10

1:15-2:15 pm

Lets Connect: Speed Mentoring | Christine Krieger, Bailey Wallace, Donna Walker
Want to get a little micro-face-time with people who have been-there-done-that? Want to practice your elevator speech in a lower stakes environment? Want to see what a 90-second scan of your resume tells someone about you? Or, do you have words of wisdom for Colorado library staff navigating their career path, want to connect with aspiring library leaders, or want to give back to the library community?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then this session is for you! Speed mentoring is like speed dating, but with awesome Colorado library staff! Bring your career related questions, resumes, business cards, and energy to this fun and fast paced session.

2:20-3:30 pm

Building a Bridge: Prospector/SWIFT integration | Lori Smith, Rose Nelson
Prospector, a union catalog with 50 of the largest public and academic libraries is run by the CO Alliance of Research Libraries. SWIFT, the statewide resource sharing system, run by the State Library serves 150 mainly small and rural libraries. We’ve always wanted to bridge the gap between the two systems and today that is a reality. Over the next year, SWIFT and Prospector will become one in the same. How does this change the landscape of resource sharing in Colorado What are some of the challenges in bringing disparate systems together How is this even possible with so many different types of libraries from large academics to one room libraries, to correctional facilities and K-12 schools This program will explore all of these questions and more. If you work in a library in this state, it’s almost certain that your library will reap the benefits of this integration.

Using Courage to Confront Bias | Beth Crist, Jean Marie Heilig
Bias is a natural part of the human condition and comes into play in many of our decisions and interactions. We have all experienced bias either personally or directed at others. Responding to bias takes courage. Developing a framework can help us make informed decisions on how to proceed. Courage is hard and goes against many of our survival instincts. It can feel risky. But it is how we can positively affect ourselves, our teams, our patrons, our communities, and our libraries. We’ll also explore how to take a stand in a way that is objective, factual, and affirming.

Saturday, September 11

9:00-10:00 am

That’s Not What I Meant: Improving Your Online Communication Skills | Jean Marie Heilig
The internet offers a variety of communication channels that most of us are relying on during the Pandemic. Personal relationships aside, poor online communication skills can harm your productivity and effectiveness. This means more emails, phone calls or repeated work when something is misunderstood. In this session we will discuss simple ways to improve your online communication skills with both your co-workers and patrons.

10:15-11:15 am

Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Become an Emotion Scientist | Christine Krieger, Amy Shipley
Did you know that emotions drive nearly every aspect of our work and personal lives. From decision making, to performance, to our relationships with others, our emotions can have a profound impact. Join us as we discuss the science behind our emotions, the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace, and how we can all learn to harness the power of our emotions as leadership tools.