I was fortunate to be able to attend the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico from September 17-20. This is an annual conference focused on only small and rural libraries, so every session and speaker is aimed at our experiences and focused on the resources we have available.
I attended many informative and helpful sessions, but two of my favorites were about adult programming after-hours and how to deal with problem behaviors in the library.
The after-hours programming session discussed some interesting concepts that I don’t know would be feasible for our library, but I enjoyed hearing about them nonetheless. The programming librarian at this particular library holds three after-hours adult programs every week. While that would be challenging with our scheduling, I found it fascinating how she had been able to make it work in her library and in her personal life as well.
The session about problem behaviors was also enlightening. Some of this was material I had heard before because it had come from Ryan Dowd’s fantastic de-escalation training (https://www.homelesstraining.com). However, this session went into more depth about library-specific scenarios and tactics. For example, the presenters suggested we post the behavior policy multiple places throughout the building. That was something I had not previously considered doing, so it was a great takeaway.
The best part about the conference was reconnecting with some of my library friends from across the country. I only get to see them once a year at this conference, and it is refreshing and much-needed to be able to get together again. We were able to update each other on library happening as well as personal ones. I made new connections, as well, which is another wonderful part of conferences like this.
Thank you for the opportunity to attend this conference.