(via Gwen Gregory, IACRL Past President)
The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) and the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) invite academic library professionals to attend a free learning series that teaches several dialogue facilitation approaches and helps librarians position themselves to foster conversation and lead change on their campuses and beyond.
Through Libraries Transforming Communities: Models for Change, a two-year ALA initiative in collaboration with NCDD, academic library professionals can participate in three online learning sessions and one in-person workshop, all free of charge, between September of 2017 and February of 2018. Attendees of this professional development training will learn to convene critical conversations with people with differing viewpoints; connect more meaningfully with library users and better meet their needs; and translate conversation into action.
Registration is currently open for three online sessions.
- “Introduction to Dialogue & Deliberation for Academic Libraries” (Wednesday, September 13, 1:00-2:30 PM CST)
- “Reflective Structured Dialogue Method with Essential Partners” (Wednesday, October 11, 1:00-2:30 PM CST)
- “National Issues Forum” (Wednesday, November 15, 1:00-2:30 PM CST)
Each session will be recorded and archived for free on-demand viewing on ALA’s Programming Librarian website. Individuals who view all three webinars, live or recorded, will be invited to attend the free, one-day pre-conference workshop at the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver (February 9-13, 2018). Details about the pre-conference will be available in fall 2017 and will be shared during the webinars.