All courses | WebJunction Course Catalog

Building Community in a Changing Climate

Format: Webinar, original date November 21, 2024
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

Climate change and its impacts on the health of our environment and communities are pressing concerns that can feel daunting. Where can you find the resources and partnerships to tackle these unique challenges? Join us to hear from public libraries and their partners who are championing community resilience in the face of climate change. You'll gain valuable insights, resources, and inspiration to empower your community and drive meaningful change. Together, we can build a more sustainable future.

Presented by: Kate Gomes, Brenda Harrington, and Sarah Kirn

Climate Action Planning: An Introduction

Format: Webinar, original date August 16, 2023
Hosted by: WebJunction and Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Climate action requires a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions combined with increasing community resilience, all through a lens of climate justice. Join this webinar to find out where your time and energy can be best spent in the face of the overwhelming nature of climate action. Learn from library practitioners who have been early adopters of climate action through the award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program, to help organize your own thinking on how to implement a climate action plan at your library that will have the biggest impact locally and globally.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich

Climate Action Planning: Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience

Format: Webinar, original date September 26, 2023
Hosted by: WebJunction and Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

This panel discussion will feature practitioners with deep experience in preparing both their libraries, and their communities, for the impacts of climate change. Our panel will speak to traditional disaster preparedness, business continuity planning, community resilience work, and preparing communities for severe weather events and the increased likelihood of food supply interruptions. While libraries are not first responders, they should be connected with the emergency management community and be positioned as part of both the short-term and long-term “first restorer” network as disruptions amplified by climate change happen with more frequency.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Keith Adams, Michele Stricker, and Sarah Lipuma

Climate Change Communication: How and Why to Do It in Libraries

Format: Webinar, original date December 5, 2024
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

What are the best practices for discussing climate change? Join us to explore effective communication strategies developed through the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (which has been advancing this work for over a decade) and the new National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries. Gain insights from Seeding Action, an initiative aimed at fostering a culture of planetary health action with communities through science centers and museums. Discover how libraries and museums communicate about climate change, its causes, and its solutions. Participants will leave empowered to engage staff, board members, and community members in meaningful conversations that inspire action and foster a proactive response to climate challenges.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Matt Bollerman, and Rose Hendricks

Climate Justice

Format: Webinar, original date October 3, 2023
Hosted by: WebJunction and Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Climate justice recognizes the disproportional impacts of climate change on the people and places least responsible for the problem: systematically oppressed communities and communities of color. Libraries that approach climate action through the lens of climate justice can accelerate necessary work in communities to ensure all are heard in disaster preparedness and emergency management work. Learn how to think like a 21st century economist and how libraries can help lead the way to a just transition of our communities to strengthen community resilience and livability not just in the aftermath of climate change-driven disasters, but well before they ever happen.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich and Michaela Porta

Food Access and Seed Libraries in Rural Public Libraries

Format: Webinar, original date June 9, 2021
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

Are you looking for ideas to "grow" a seed library and improve access to food for your community? Presenters from small and rural locations in South Carolina will share their experiences with seed libraries (inside branches, at outreach events, and on board a bookmobile) and community refrigerators, and highlight the value of partnerships. You’ll gain knowledge on how to start a seed library from the ground up, how to collaborate with community organizations not generally considered as library partners, and learn better practices for making your library an access point for those experiencing food insecurity.

Presented by: Rebecca Antill, Devon Andrews, Maddie Hibbs, Heath Ward, and Jimmy Wooten

Libraries That Lend Things

Format: Webinar, original date July 22, 2015
Hosted by: Infopeople
Length: 1 hour

If your library can lend books, why not:

Telescopes and microscopes?
Synthesizers or spinning wheels?
Or even replica dinosaur bones?

A chief strength of libraries is making knowledge accessible through the lending of physical objects. Join us for an interactive discussion on building a circulating collection of objects for your library. Together we will explore how to select the tools needed by your community. We will also examine how partnerships with local organizations and events can help raise awareness of your tools collection.

Presented by: Steve Teeri and Anne Drozd

Library of Things: The What, Why, and How of Lending Objects

Format: Webinar, original date October 19, 2022
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

Hey library workers, are you thinking of starting a Library of Things for your community? From tools to toys, cameras to kitchen appliances, fishing gear to musical instruments, and from blood pressure monitors to robots – you can do it! The presenters talk about launching these collections for a small library and a large suburban children’s collection. They highlight their experiences selecting, budgeting, cataloging, displaying, sustaining, and marketing their Library of Things. They also share what has and hasn’t worked, and you’ll leave with strategies for making the right decisions for your community.

Presented by: Dania Souid and Lindsay Delaney

Living Our Values Out Loud: Programs that Walk the Talk

Format: Webinar, original date November 28, 2023
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

From zero-waste events to upcycling to refreshments, how we choose to carry out our work in libraries says a lot about our values. We can’t just pay lip service to sustainability—we need to practice what we’re talking about! This webinar will be an inspiring discussion with a panel of practitioners who have found ways to design, implement, and evaluate library programs using frameworks that better represent their libraries' values, such as the triple bottom line definition of sustainability and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Mandi Goodsett, Evan Meszaros, and Hazel Onsrud

One Step at a Time: How Libraries Can Promote Healthy, Thriving, and Livable Communities

Format: Webinar, original date October 22, 2020
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

During COVID-19 stay at home orders, improvements to air and water quality around the globe showed how changing our transportation practices could benefit the environment. We also know that physical activities, like walking, can help prevent chronic diseases and promote health. This webinar will highlight the multiple benefits of walking and walkable communities, and provide the information and inspiration you need to join the hundreds of public libraries around the country that are contributing to the development of healthy and resilient communities. Learn how to advocate for safe walking routes to your libraries, how to partner with parks and recreation, local transportation departments, and others committed to building safe, accessible, equitable places to walk and move.

Presented by: Mike McGinn, Noah Lenstra, Mary Sizemore and Jeffrey T. Davis

Reduce Waste, Build Community: Hosting Repair Events at Your Library

Format: Webinar, original date February 13, 2019
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

Libraries around the world are hosting repair events, inviting people to bring damaged household items and clothing to be repaired instead of throwing them away. Repair events can help your library reach diverse communities, teach and maintain valuable repair skills, and engage with skilled volunteers and invested community partners. Help your patrons save money on electronic, mechanical or sewing repairs and divert waste from the landfill with fix-it fairs, repair cafes and U-fix-it clinics. Join us for this webinar to learn everything you need to know about hosting a repair event, from finding partners to recruiting fixers, and from getting management approval to effectively getting the word out.

Presented by: Tom Watson, Laurie Finlayson and Steven Bailey

Stronger Together: Collective Impact and Climate Action Programming

Format: Webinar, original date December 13, 2023
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Libraries are catalysts and conveners for climate action in our communities. This webinar will feature practitioners who are having a collective impact through collaborations with others in the community, to address the pressing challenges related to climate change. Join these practitioners to hear practical ideas for how to ensure that good intentions have a positive impact on our communities.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Jenny Garmon, Gabrielle Griffis, and M'Balu "Lu" Bangura

Sustainability 101

Format: Webinar, original date July 18, 2023
Hosted by: WebJunction and Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Length: 1 hour

Start here for an overview of our profession’s newest core value, Sustainability, as adopted by the American Library Association in 2019. Identify the four characteristics of a sustainable library and learn how the triple bottom line definition of sustainability can be used to adapt library operations, service and program design, and partnerships in our community, to respond to the impacts of climate change. This webinar will focus on introductory concepts that will set the stage for the other offerings in this series.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich

Sustaining Ecosystems for Climate Learning and Action

Format: Webinar, original date October 24, 2024
Hosted by: WebJunction
Length: 1 hour

Join this webinar to learn how public libraries can develop or expand their role in learning and teaching about climate change, climate science, and climate action. We’ll introduce the STEM Learning Ecosystem Model, which can clarify the need for collaboration across various sectors and organizations to drive meaningful action. You’ll then hear from libraries about their experiences, successes, and challenges working in partnership with other sectors to support climate learning and action. Plus, we'll share strategies to enrich existing partnerships and pave the way for future collaboration. Don't miss this opportunity to become a stronger partner in climate education and action.

Presented by: Rae Ostman, Vivienne Byrd, Gabriel Varela, and Sarah Weatherby