The 20th Year of NEST

NEST (stands for NEKLS Education System Training)  is an annual two-day event held at The Barn Conference Center in Valley Falls. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this event. It was originally targeted at library directors from small and medium sized public libraries in the NEKLS region. It includes break out sessions and a keynote address. The thing past participants most like about NEST, however, is the opportunity to network with others.

This year’s event will be held September 16th and 17th and will feature a variety of presentations and events. We’re excited to announce that Nancy Rosenwald will be joining us as the Thursday morning keynote speaker. Nancy was the director of the Union County Carnegie Library in South Carolina in 2009 when it was voted the Best Small Library in America.

NEST Schedule:

Thursday

Something wonderful

8:30 – 9:30 Board Meeting and Registration

9:30 – 9:45 Welcome

9:45 – 10:45  Keynote speaker: Nancy Rosenwald
Nancy was the director of the Union County Carnegie Library in South Carolina when it received the 2009 Best Small Library in America Award

10:45 – 11:00 BREAK

11:00 – 11:50 Programming Lightning Round

Libraries will share programming hits and highlights from the past couple of years. Be prepared to share programming you have tried in your library.

Noon Lunch

1:00 – 1:50   Breakouts:
Option A – Why Do we Dewey: Redesigning for the Customer Centered Experience

Adult nonfiction materials are often one of the largest collections in the library, but too often these materials don’t get the attention from the public that they deserve.  Learn how one library breathed new life into their nonfiction collections through reorganization and visual merchandising.

Presented by Thad Hartman and Scarlett Fisher-Herreman from the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

Option B – Royce’s Guide to a Great Gaming Day

Have you always wanted to try gaming at your library, but just haven’t had the time or the incentive to go for it? The American Library Association has designated November 13^th as National Gaming Day. It could be the perfect time to give gaming a try! Royce will help participants think about and plan for what’s involved with holding a gaming event.

Presented by Royce Kitts, Tonganoxie Public Library

Option C  – Learning Express

Learning Express is available to you and it is available to your library users. What resources are available? How do you access and use them? Join Heather for an introduction to this valuable tool.

Presented by Heather Braum, NEKLS

2:00 – 2:50    Breakouts:

Option A – Beyond the Basics:  Specialized library services that your customers will love

Do your library customers wish you could help them find more authors/ titles?  Are there book groups that could use library assistance?  Are there distance students in your community that need test proctoring?  Take a look at some specialized library services that will make your library even more popular!
Presented by Patti Butcher, Topeka and Shawnee County Library

Option B – The 2010 Kansas Magic Bus:  The Value of Connections
NEST seems an appropriate place to talk about an organization and conference targeted to libraries just like YOURS!!  Really! We’ll talk about the organization as well as the conference, so even if you can’t attend the conference, there’s more to learn.
Presented by Laura DeBaun, NEKLS

Option C – Learning Express

Learning Express is available to you and it is available to your library users. What resources are available? How do you access and use them? Join Heather for an introduction to this valuable tool.

Presented by Heather Braum, NEKLS

3:00 – 3:30  BREAK

3:30 – 4:30  Collection Development Panel discussion
facilitated by Diane Trinkle, Nortonville

4:30 – 5:30  The NEKLS Technology Team is always on the lookout for new and useful technologies for libraries and they are always searching for opportunities to share those findings with you! During this session they will share some sites and tools and… the brand new toybox with which you can play!

Some enchanted evening

6:00 Dinner

7:00 Play board games or talk about books! A group of librarians will be gathering to play board games. Another group of librarians will be gathering to talk about the best o

Friday

Oh, what a beautiful morning…

8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast

9:00 – 9:50 Displays on a Dime

You don’t have to be a graphic artist to create great displays!  With a little petty cash, a quick trip to the craft store, and an appreciation for your collections and customers, you can create eye-catching displays that will rival the big box bookstores and “give them what they want”. Susan Brown from the Lawrence Public Library will provide ideas and tips for creating great displays as well as highlight how displays can help meet both patron demands and strategic goals.

Presented by Susan Brown from the Lawrence Public Library

Slides available at Slideshare.net

10:00 – 10:50 What’s happening at the Kansas Center for the Book?

Hear what is new with the projects with which you are probably already familiar (Letters About Literature, Kansas Reads to Preschoolers, 2011 Kansas Reads…What Kansas Means to Me), and then hear about new projects, too. These include River of Words (a poetry/art competition), a teen read program that maybe launched next year, the Kansas Young Reader Ambassador, and of course, Kansas 150 about the sesquicentennial.

Presented by Roy Bird

Resources for the Kansas Sesquicentennial:

• The Kansas Sesquicentennial Website
• 150 Kansas: A Sesquicentennial Celebration from the State Library of Kansas Website
• Kansas 150 SLK Blog: Paths to online resources covering 150 years of Kansas statehood (from the State Library of Kansas)

11:00 – 11:50   Library Signage: What message are we sending our patrons?

Good signs, bad signs… make sure you are sending the message you want to send.

Presented by Gail Santy, Central Kansas Library System

Noon Lunch