Find a wrap-up of the latest in Wyoming library news in the December 2020 Outrider newsletter from the Wyoming State Library. Subscribe today, and we’ll send the Outrider straight to your email inbox each month. You can also see past issues.

Do you know any library colleagues, trustees, advocates, or volunteers who might be interested in the Outrider? Please share the news with them and encourage them to sign up for our monthly email.

Have news you’d like included? Contact Susan Mark, WSL Outreach Librarian, at susan.mark@wyo.gov or (307) 777-5915. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, too.

Free, online, continuing education events for December 1-6 from the Wyoming State Library Training Calendar. Descriptions are below. You can subscribe and view the events in your calendar software, or you can find all the events at library.wyo.gov/services/training/calendar.

All times MST

Tuesday, Dec 1 (10-11 am)
First Tuesdays: Engaging and Transforming Communities Through Social Learning (Washington State Library)
Libraries can use social learning tools to curate the knowledge and wisdom of people in their communities, inspiring creative problem-solving and new collaborations. Our guests co-facilitate social learning events in Whatcom County public libraries through Western Washington University’s Community Engagement Fellows program (www.cefellows.org). They will share the theory and practices of their shared work, and offer opportunities for other libraries to become involved in this exciting partnership between public libraries and higher education.

Tuesday, Dec 1 (12-1 pm)
Winter and Spring YA Announcements (Booklist)
There’s no better time than winter to curl up with a gripping read. And with upcoming YA releases like the ones covered in this free, hour-long webinar, teen readers—and YA lovers of all ages—will want to do nothing else. Join us for not only a must-see book buzz (brought to you by Bloomsbury Publishing and Tor Teen), but a special panel starring Brigid Kemmerer, author of A VOW SO BOLD AND DEADLY, and Charlie Jane Anders, author of VICTORIES GREATER THAN DEATH. Sarah Hunter, Booklist editor, Books for Youth, will moderate.

Tuesday, Dec 1 (12-1 pm)
What is NAPCS? An Overview of the Recently-Released NAPCS Data From the Economic Census (U.S. Census)
This webinar will provide an overview of the recently-released North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) data from the 2017 Economic Census. These data replace the Product Lines data historically released as part of the Economic Census. The webinar will include a demo of how to access the data on data.census.gov, following a typical use case.

Tuesday, Dec 1 (12-1 pm)
Successful Volunteer Interview Strategies (Volunteer Match)
Interviewing each prospective volunteer can seem overwhelming, but it’s one of the best ways to ensure that the volunteers you recruit are the volunteers you need. This webinar introduces a variety of question types used in volunteer interviews and offers strategies for honing your interview skills. Materials will be provided to help you implement this process in your organization, as well as a training syllabus so you can learn how to recruit and train a volunteer staff to assist with prospective volunteer interviews.

Wednesday, Dec 2 (9-10 am)
Reading Diversely (Nebraska Library Commission)
Nebraska Library Association Diversity Committee members will booktalk diverse titles and share resources for finding more reading to diversify your shelves. Attendees will be encouraged to share titles of diverse literature they have read to create a list for everyone to use.

Wednesday, Dec 2 (11-12 pm)
Learning Trends 2021: Facing the Future in a Business as Unusual World (Training Industry)
Join us for GP Strategies’ annual learning trends webinar. Your host, Matt Donovan, chief learning and innovation officer at GP Strategies, will go beyond learning trends and explore the ways L&D organizations can thrive in a business as unusual world.

Wednesday, Dec 2 (12-1 pm)
Mastering Complex Geographies on data.census.gov (U.S. Census)
Are you looking for a deeper dive into the Census Bureau’s complex geographies? This webinar is what you’ve been waiting for! In this training, we will show you how to select geographic components like urban and rural, find which geographies are compatible with a dataset, and how to use the mapping feature on data.census.gov. You will also learn tips and tricks that will help with the selection of complex geographies like census tracts and block groups, vintage-based geographies, and geographies that fall within other geographies.

Wednesday, Dec 2 (12-1 pm)
Creative and Innovative Recognition Strategies for Today’s Volunteers (Volunteer Match)
Are you doing the right things to recognize the work volunteers do for your organization? Are your recognition strategies and events stuck in the past? In this webinar we’ll discuss what motivates today’s volunteers and discuss strategies for matching recognition to motivation. We’ll also share examples and ideas to incorporate creative and meaningful recognition into your volunteer engagement strategy.

Wednesday, Dec 2 (1-2 pm)
NNLM Resource Picks: Public Programming and NLM Traveling Exhibitions (National Network of Libraries of Medicine)
NLM Traveling Exhibitions are a unique way to connect your patrons to valuable NLM health information resources through related public programming. To support you and your communities when your libraries borrow NLM exhibitions, the Exhibition Program is developing sample programming ideas related to individual exhibition topics. These ideas will help jump start your creative planning. Julie Botnick will discuss how those ideas can be adapted to your situations and ways to develop your own unique programming.

Wednesday, Dec 2 (1-2 pm)
How to Attract Volunteers and Donations with a Strong Visual Brand (Nonprofit Hub)
Nonprofits need donors and volunteers to thrive. But, a worthy mission isn’t enough to win them over. People support specific nonprofits for many important reasons, including the strength of a nonprofit’s visual brand. A strong visual brand can inspire confidence and dramatically boost donations. This interactive session will discuss the power of visual branding for nonprofits, when it’s time to refresh a visual brand, how to build loyalty and engagement through the visual brand design process, and simple ways to personalize stock template websites and emails.

Thursday, Dec 3 (10-10:30 am)
Confronting Institutional Bias in the Noprofit World (Nonprofit Learning Lab)
Everyone has biases even though people often are not aware of their biases. That is called an unconscious or implicit bias. Whether intentional or not , implicit biases influence decisions and the culture in the workplace. Having a bias doesn’t make someone a bad person as not every bias is negative or hurtful. It’s not recognizing and shifting negative institutional biases that leads to issues in the workplace.

Thursday, Dec 3 (11-12 pm)
How To Write Top Performing Fundraising Emails (Network for Good)
During this webinar Vanessa will show you examples of exceptionally well performing fundraising emails and will share email writing quick wins you can implement during your year-end campaign.

Thursday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
Practical Tips for Accessible Content and Multilingual Websites (Digital.Gov)
In this talk, we’ll go over the central principles of digital accessibility and how these principles remove access barriers and improve user experience for everyone. We’ll cover key ways you can create content that is usable and understandable. Lastly, we’ll touch on the accessibility considerations needed when creating and working with multilingual platforms and content.

Thursday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
Government Resources for Children, K-9 (Indiana State Library)
From Ben’s Guide to Kids in the House, the federal government produces a wealth of resources for teachers, students, and parents. Learn about the various websites, lesson plans, and educational guides that are available from the U.S. government. This session will highlight and provide searching tips to discover free digital resources for educators to utilize. This webinar is hosted in partnership with Indiana’s Networking for Documents and Information of Government Organizations (INDIGO) to provide continuing education of government information.

Thursday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
Why Nonprofits Must Optimize the Year-End Fundraising Experience (TechSoup)
In 2019, the CauseMic crew set out to research, monitor, and benchmark donor engagement, the donation experience, and cultivation tactics across 152 nonprofit organizations. The result? A comprehensive overview of nonprofit engagement from all sizes and sectors. Explore their key findings and take away easy wins that your nonprofit can use to upgrade your year-end strategy right away, even if your campaign is already underway.

Thursday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
Playing by the Rules: Creating an Effective Volunteer Handbook (Volunteer Match)
Learn how to create a living document that can help both paid and volunteer staff be better informed and know what is expected of them. A good Volunteer Handbook can also help you better identify and deal with challenging volunteers. Whether you’re just starting to create a Handbook or if you’re looking for best practices on information to include, this webinar will evaluate the Handbook you have and help you create a stronger framework for your volunteer engagement program.

Thursday, Dec 3 (1-2 pm)
Legacy Giving at Ages and Stages: How to Get the Right Balance for Your Donors (Bloomerang)
Join Lori Kranczer, legacy giving expert and philanthropic advisor, to go over the ways to address a donor’s interest in legacy giving and how to have a conversation that brings out what the donor values to match to the best legacy giving options for them.

Saturday, Dec 5 (9-10 am)
Tech for Girls Club : Coding a Story (PACER)
In this virtual workshop, middle school girls of all abilities will create their own story and use Scratch, an online coding program, to code scenes and animate characters. Zoom access links for this workshop will be emailed to participants the week of the virtual meeting.

How are you celebrating the holidays this year? Will you create menus with friends and family to share the experience via Zoom? Will you be hosting a Netflix party to watch a holiday classic film?

As the pandemic continues to impact our lives, the Wyoming State Archives and State Museum, the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center (AHC), and the Wyoming State Historical Society are working together to preserve your experiences and encourage our communities to take photographs, write stories, create artwork, interview friends and family, and tell us how you lived through this historic time and celebrated the holidays with friends, family, and loved ones. If you’re writing down your thoughts or capturing images, consider donating a copy to the State Archives or the AHC. If you prefer to reflect on social media, use the hashtag #Covid19WY.

Thanksgiving is a great time for sharing family memories and recording conversations with the older generation. Will you be missing your usual family gatherings, or gathering in a different way, such as by virtual platforms? Here are tips for conducting a COVID memory conversation.

For more information or to offer items, contact:

• Kathy Marquis, State Archivist at kathy.marquis@wyo.gov
• Jennifer Alexander, Wyoming State Museum Collections at jennifer.alexander@wyo.gov
• Sara Davis, University Archivist at the AHC at sara.davis@uwyo.edu

To send your digital memories directly to the State Archives, visit their website  and click on the COVID19 donations link. Participate in the AHC’s COVID-19 survey and learn more about the project here.

Find a wrap-up of the latest in Wyoming library news in the November 2020 Outrider newsletter from the Wyoming State Library. Subscribe today, and we’ll send the Outrider straight to your email inbox each month. You can also see past issues.

Do you know any library colleagues, trustees, advocates, or volunteers who might be interested in the Outrider? Please share the news with them and encourage them to sign up for our monthly email.

Have news you’d like included? Contact Susan Mark, WSL Outreach Librarian, at susan.mark@wyo.gov or (307) 777-5915. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, too.

Conrrado Saldivar, Adult Services Specialist at Natrona County Library, is this year’s recipient of the Wyoming Library Association’s Outstanding Librarian award. This award recognizes the significant and outstanding accomplishments of a library employee in the past year, including service to the public and/or library community. The yearly award is meant to reflect the goals of WLA and the library profession as a whole.

Saldivar has a lot to show for his accomplishments in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and Wyoming, Saldivar saw an opportunity for the Library to use their Creation Station equipment to make personal protective equipment (PPE) for Natrona County and Wyoming health care workers. Saldivar took the lead in partnering with the Wyoming Technology Coronavirus Coalition (WTCC) to produce face shields and masks using the library’s 3D printer, Cricut Maker, and sewing machines. In fact, Saldivar single-handedly produced 120 face shield parts that went to several local medical centers in Casper including the Wyoming Medical Center, Central Wyoming Counseling Center, and Child Development Center of Natrona County. Saldivar also organized a medical supplies donation drive at the Library on April 7 to gather personal protective equipment from the community.

Along with his contributions to COVID relief efforts, Saldivar is recognized for his leadership abilities, service to the community, and unwavering kindness. This is not the first time that Saldivar has been noticed for his achievements, either. He received the American Library Association’s 2019/2020 Spectrum Scholarship for his commitment to equity and inclusion. Saldivar was also named a Husky 100 Honoree for 2020 from his graduate school, an honor awarded to students of excellence.

Conrrado began working at the Natrona County Library in April 2015 as an Adult Services Specialist. He received a B.A. in anthropology and Spanish from the University of Wyoming in 2013 and began working on his MLIS at the University of Washington iSchool in 2018. He is currently a contributing writer for the Hack Library School blog and Co-President of the Student Chapter of the American Library Association at the University of Washington.

Would you like some gentle reminders for your patrons to wear masks in your library building? The Wyoming State Library has created these posters for you to use. Click on the image for a full-size downloadable JPG you can print and post in your building.

The Arts in Libraries program intended to train and coach librarians and artists in the field of Creative Aging has been postponed until 2021. The project, announced in May, was originally slated to begin with face to face training sessions later this summer. More details on the rescheduled training will be announced as they become available.

Creative Aging is an effective way to address adverse health effects associated with aging with intentional arts engagement. Arts in Libraries will help Wyoming’s librarians and teaching artists learn how to provide innovative, arts-based direct programming for older adults.

The Wyoming Arts Council received a $20,000 grant from the Wyoming Community Foundation’s McMurry Library Endowment Fund to support Arts in Libraries. The Arts Council has partnered with the Wyoming State Library and Lifetime Arts on this project.

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

As communities and businesses are opening, you may be looking for ways to resume some daily activities as safely as possible. While there is no way to ensure zero risk of infection, it is important to understand potential risks and how to adopt different types of prevention measures to protect yourself and to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

See these tips on visiting libraries and other places from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As a reminder, if you have COVID-19, have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, it is important to stay home and away from other people.

The 4th annual Wyoming Innovations in Learning Conference is moving to online delivery. The event takes place November 5-6, 2020. Registration is $25.

The call for proposals has been extended until June 19, with notification by June 30.  Conference organizers are looking for presenters from all fields willing to share their ideas and experiences to help inspire educators to bring their best teaching practices to K-20 learning. The registration fee will be waived for selected presenters.

This conference is hosted by the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE), the Wyoming Distance Education Consortium (WyDEC), the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming community colleges, the Wyoming State Library, school libraries, and the Wyoming Arts Council.