Kempenfelt: a week-long training session for County library staff

Course Outline
Expectations
Reading List

Printable copy of programme in Word

Kempenfelt 2010
September 12 - September 16

On behalf of ARUPLO - (Administrators of Rural-Urban Libraries of Ontario) the Kempenfelt Committee invites you to make the most of your experience in the 2010 edition of the Kempenfelt training session. ARUPLO continues to support and supplement this training because we believe in the advantages of a residential training course for staff.  The value of the course is in what you put in. You will learn as much from your colleagues as from the instructors, and your colleagues and instructors will learn as much from you.  The Administrators look forward to sharing ideas with you on Wednesday and socializing with you at the “Mixer” Wednesday night.
 
We would like to take the opportunity to welcome the class of 2010 to the tradition of Kempenfelt. For over thirty years, staff from county and regional municipal libraries has found time to enjoy new company, learn, and participate in the learning experience of others.
 
The Kempenfelt Committee
 

Directions to the Kempenfelt Centre

The Workshops

All the workshops are geared to County/Regional Public Library situations.
 
The workshops and discussion groups will provide personal development, skills development, and an opportunity to share information and views. A plenary session is planned that will bring together staff and CEOs.

Dress Code

There is a casual dress code. Shorts and jeans are entirely appropriate. The key is comfort.
We will be spending long days (and, in some cases, long nights). Kempenfelt Centre is located right on the shores of Lake Simcoe, and in past years, the weather has been fine enough to warrant the inclusion of bathing suits in your luggage. Beware - rocky bottom and Zebra Mussels, so you may want to include beach shoes.

Accommodations

Accommodations are comfortable, but not luxurious. Many of you will be sharing a room. We will share a second floor lounge. Also available are a pool table, hot tub, bicycles, tennis courts, as well as an exercise room.

The County Library group will be together in the Bayview Building, and our classrooms are in the same building.

There are fridges available for your use in the building. Free beverages are provided in the lounge of our building - coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fruit drinks. Meals are served at set times. Please let me know if there are any food allergies or restricted diets that should be identified. I can be reached at 1-877- 532-2901, or by email at .

Expectations:

Read the books on the attached list, and come prepared to discuss. Generally, come prepared to participate, and to question.

I look forward to meeting you all in September, and have fun preparing for the course.

Hélène Golden
SOLS Consultant
1-877-532-2901
email:

Course Outline
Kempenfelt 2010

Expectations for Kempenfelt 2010

Overall:

• You are expected to participate! You can expect me, as course co-coordinator, to make that possible by making time for discussion, by listening to all points of view, and by making you feel safe to speak up.
• You can expect information overload. You can expect me to repeat, and to reuse some skills throughout the course, so as to make it easier to take it all in.
• You can expect to learn new skills, and to revisit skills you already know. You can expect me to build on those skills throughout the week, and to wrap it all up on Thursday.
• You are expected to be on time. You can expect me to finish on time.
• You can expect a relaxed atmosphere, definitely casual. However, you can expect the content of this course to challenge you and to demand something of you.
• You can expect to spend some time filling in evaluations forms. You can expect me to demand that you fill in evaluation forms.
• You can expect 15-minute breaks morning and afternoon, free coffee, and lots of beautiful scenery. You can expect me to demand your attention (away from the lake). I’ll also herd you back from breaks – don’t take it personally.
• You can expect evening get-togethers, for games, talks, walks, etc.  You can expect to find me in the bar, playing pool or talking, every evening.
• You can expect terrific food, and plenty of it. You can expect me to enjoy every meal.

1. Introductions and Discussion With Hélène Golden (Sunday, September  12, 7:30 PM)

We will be packing in a lot in this first evening session. Not only will you get an introduction to the course outline and the expectations, but you will also learn each other’s names, and become familiar with people you have never before met!

After this session, you should:

• Be able to call most of your fellow students by name
• Understand what is expected of you for the week
• Be able to find your way around the Centre
• Have been able to ask questions and to participate in discussion

2. Reader’s Advisory with Hélène Golden (Monday, September 13, 9:00-12:00)

Reading as many of the books on the reading list will allow you to fully participate in the discussion of reading tastes, and of the difficulties of doing a good reader advisory interview.

Expectations for this session are:

• you will have read the books on the reading list, and brought them with you
• you will have an understanding of the appeal factors
• you will have a good understanding of the reader advisory process
• you will understand the need for a very wide variety of resources in order to please readers in your community

3.   Knowledge resources with Hélène Golden and Peter Atkinson
      (Monday, September 13, 1:30-4:30)

Starting with the basics of reference interview, searching skills and database choice, we will explore the abundance of electronic resources available to the public libraries of Ontario. This will be hands on, and will require students to bring laptops.

 4.  Web 2.0 : a Survivor’s Guide with Peter Atkinson and Hélène Golden
      (Tuesday, September 14, 9-12)

More hand-on, this time in the world of social networking.

Expectations for the two sessions are:

• conduct an excellent reference interview
• feel comfortable with the concept of  open questions
• understand the difference between print and e-reference materials
  know when to net
• you will have an understanding of how to answer reference questions using the Knowledge Ontario databases
• you will be more familiar with good searching skills
• you will have had an opportunity to practice those skills
• you will be much more comfortable with Twitter, Facebook, etc.

5.   Customer Service with Hélène Golden (Tuesday, September 14, 1:30-4:00)

This half-day session will look at the principles of customer service, specifically in an environment of ever-changing expectations. The focus is on how to build a system approach to quality service.

After this session you should:

• Understand principles of customer service
• Have had an opportunity to talk about changing services and expectations
• Have had a chance to problem-solve around how to approach change in a way that best serves the public
• Have worked together to understand reasons for changes
• Have begun to understand how different, and how alike, your library systems are
• Wellness of the system – the symptom of a system that isn’t well is customer service that is just adequate

6. Marketing Your Collections with Sharron Smith (Wednesday, Sept. 15, 10-12, 1-4)

This full session will look at the principles of using your collections to support your work of connecting to your community. Sharron Smith is well known as an exceptional trainer, and has been very popular in years past at Kempenfelt.

After this session you will be able to:

• build effective displays, no matter the size of your library
• understand why displays are necessary
• have had a chance to problem-solve around themes and methods
• have begun to understand how different, and how alike, your library systems are

7. Mixer with your Administrators (Wednesday, September 15, 7:30 - ? )

Entirely fun – the only objectives are to mingle, eat, drink, and stay up WAY too late! This party is hosted and catered by the Administrators.
 

8.  Wrap-up, with Hélène Golden (Thursday, September 16, 9:00-12:00)

PLEASE come prepared for a wrap up of the week. We need to hear from you about what you learned that was useful, and we also need to hear if you found something not helpful. This three hour session will be a chance for you to discuss with your classmates what bits you found challenging, what you will take away with you from the week, and what you wished we had done differently.

Expectations are:

• Exhaustion
• Participation
• Fun
• You’ll want to come back

Kempenfelt 2010
Reading List

Please read as many as you can – these titles are the basis for an in-depth discussion of reader’s advisory.