Dr. Michael Stephens joins us to chat about empathy - why it's important and tools to help us develop our empathy muscles. Adjacent to the important topic of empathy is compassion fatigue and how the work that we do requires us to take care of ourselves, to step out our work roles, take time for dreaming and find joy in our lives and our work. Join us at the upcoming "Empathetic Public Libraries" workshop. More information on the OLA website or email us at education@accessola.com  Referenced in today's episode:  "A Wholehearted Approach to Service...and Burnout or Soft Skills are Hea ..read more

On July 8, 2022 Canada experienced one of the largest telecomm outages in recent memory when Rogers Communications experienced a massive network failure. Millions of people were unable to access wifi, or process debit transactions, and even getting a cup of coffee proved difficult. Today three library systems are sharing their stories of how they handled the challenges of that day. They'll tell us what it looked like in their branches, how library staff coped, and what lessons we should all be taking away from this.  Thanks to Margie Singleton from Vaughan Public Libraries, Michael Ciccon ..read more

Nancy Cooper, First Nation Communities READ coordinator is here to tell us all about the program, this year's 2022/2023 selected titles and how you can learn more and get involved.  Links from the episode:  First Nation Communities READ website  Goodminds.com  First Nations Public Library Week website FNPLW Poster  Follow @FNCReads  Follow Michelle @citybrarian ..read more

This week we're talking about banned books with host and creator of The Stacks podcast, Traci Thomas. Earlier this year Traci hosted a five part series on banned books where she had some really interesting conversations with librarians, authors, students, teachers, performers, politicians, and bookstore owners. The series explored all the nuances around the implications of banning books and she joins Michelle to chat about what she learned over the course of that week.  Here are some links to things that we chatted about in this conversation:  The Stacks - Day 1 - Banned Books in th ..read more

October is Canadian Library Month and this week we're recognizing Ontario Public Library Week. In an ode to public libraries we're thrilled to speak with "power library user" Lanrick Bennett Jr. Five years ago, Lanrick spearheaded #jackslibrarytour, a project that took him and his son Jack to all 100 branches of the Toronto Public Library system using public transit. This episode is a love letter from a library user to libraries, and a reflection on the place libraries fill in our world right now. Big shout-outs to the Jones Branch of TPL!  References from this episode: Ontario Public Lib ..read more

For years Andrew Colgoni has been the beauty and brains behind Ad/Lib, a website and social handle dedicated to documenting and analyzing the marketing and branding efforts of libraries around the world. We chat with Andrew about some interesting examples of libraries attempting to branch out in new directions (with varying levels of success), and some fun and surprising ways that libraries are engaging with their communities.  References from today's conversation:  1. Seattle Public Library rebrand  2. Toronto Public Library rebrand  3. Library of Congress rebrand  4 ..read more

This week we chat with Bessie Sullivan, CEO of Orillia Public Library and get her top five reasons why libraries should go fine free, and why we should be challenging the power structure in libraries and start examining the principals of our profession. We close our conversation with a brand new (and as yet unnamed) segment where we pebble our guest with a series of rapid-fire questions that help us get to know the person outside of the library.  References from this week's conversation: Things Are Not Fine: Fines in the Library by Bessie Sullivan Fines & Fees, Customer Experienc ..read more

It's season four and we're back with some practical, inspiring and wisdom-chocked life tips about how to survive in library land as both someone who is managed and also does the managing. Joanna Aegard from Bruce County Public Library gives us her top five professional life tips and talks about losing that loving feeling at work and getting over her bad attitude towards management.  This week's episode was captured as part of the Ontario Library Service conference, on Tuesday September 21, 2021.  If you have a topic you'd like to discuss with Michelle reach out @citybrarian or email ..read more

Library Land Loves is back for season four! Every Monday, host Michelle Arbuckle will be joined by someone from library land to discuss their work, their library and their loves. We'll be back next week, coming straight to your ears on September 27.  Have ideas for a show? Pop Michelle a note @citybrarian or marbuckle at accessola dot com ..read more

This week we are thrilled to welcome Lauren McKeon, the author of "Women of the Pandemic: Stories from the Front Lines of COVID-19", a LoanStar Adult Top Pick last month. Many of the themes she writes about relate very poignantly to the work we do in library land - the toll of emotional labour, the importance of self care and mental health first aid. We also speak about what she learned from the incredible women in her book and how she prepared herself to write about a global pandemic while also living through it.  Find out more about the LoanStars program here.  Follow OLA @onlibrar ..read more