Northeast Kansas Library System

Next User Group Meeting
2026-01-20 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | NEKLS Office & Zoom
Here is the registration form for our January 20, 2025 Next Users Group meeting, lunch, and State Stats Help Drop-in: https://forms.gle/FjZfNju72RKSaX9T9

Next Users Group Meeting (10am-Noon)

Lunch (Noon-12:30pm)

State Stats Help Drop-in (12:30-3pm)

Please register by 1/13/2025. This helps us make sure that we have enough lunch for everyone that wants it!

After the Next meeting, please feel free to stay for lunch. If you have any annual state public library survey questions, NEKLS staff will be available at the drop in to help. Don’t forget to bring your laptop!

Public Library Survey: In-Person NEKLS Support
2026-01-20 12:30 - 15:00 | NEKLS Office, 4317 W 6th Street, Lawrence, KS, 66049, United States
Here is the registration form for our January 20, 2025 Next Users Group meeting, lunch, and State Stats Help Drop-in: https://forms.gle/FjZfNju72RKSaX9T9

Next Users Group Meeting (10am-Noon)

Lunch (Noon-12:30pm)

State Stats Help Drop-in (12:30-3pm)

Please register by 1/13/2025. This helps us make sure that we have enough lunch for everyone that wants it!After the Next User Group Meeting, please feel free to stay for lunch. If you have any annual public library survey questions, NEKLS staff will be available in the afternoon to help. Don’t forget to bring your laptop!

Unearth a Story: Will Stuck Webinar
2026-01-22 13:30 - 15:00 | Online
Please join us on January 22nd at 1:30pm -3:00pm for a wonderful 2026 Summer Reading webinar with Will Stuck hosted by NCKLS and NEKLS!

Join longtime public librarian, professional speaker, and Edutainer Will Stuck for a high-energy, idea-packed webinar designed to help libraries bring the UNEARTH A STORY summer reading theme to life in 2026.

Will Stuck worked in a public library for 24 years. During that time, he worked in multiple positions but he found his calling while working in the library’s Children’s Department and ended up spending 20+ years working with children. However, his work isn’t limited to the youngest library patrons. He planned and performed programs for preschoolers through senior citizens both in the library and throughout northwest Missouri. Since 2017, Will has been a professional speaker, library consultant and an Edutainer, bringing his M.E.S.S. (Music, Education, Stories & Science) across multiple states.

Attendees will leave with concrete ideas, renewed confidence in the theme, and tools they can adapt to fit their community’s needs as they plan for Summer Reading 2026.

The webinar link will be sent out the week of the session. The recording will be available after the session.

Register here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPgC0Z04BDHorlgQ1yFY6wfUSKQWOehKKHrfL5K0PKpN_Ppg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100135973194181931719

Unearth a Story: Dig into Library Programs for Adults
2026-02-12 13:00 - 14:15 | Online
Do you provide summer programs for adults at your library?Save the date!

Thursday, February 12, 2026 – webinar 1-2:15pm

Register at: https://kslib.zoom.us/meeting/register/C49oMc3RQAiDcFjMq8UCHg

You will be provided the log in information once you register. Hope to see you there!

Join Greta Funk, Chair of the CSLP Adult Programming Manual, for a webinar packedwith ideas for adult activities that will Unearth a StoryTM during Summer 2026 andbeyond.Greta Funk is the director of Nortonville Public Library (a town of about 650 people)and has been providing library programs for adults in her community for more than fiveyears. She has two adult and two teen “children” and when not hosting craft nights,paint nights, and other library programs for adults in the evenings, she obsessivelycrochets amigurumi critters while listening to audiobooks.Registration and Zoom log in information will be announced a few weeks beforethis event.

Questions? Contact Anna Foote @ NEKLS, afoote@nekls.org.

How to be an ILL Sleuth
2026-02-17 10:00 - 12:00 | NEKLS Office, 4317 W 6th Street, Lawrence, KS, 66049, United States
We will discuss the various reasons you may not be finding an item to request, ILL workflow best practices, resources for ILL sleuthing, and current ILL issues that NEKLS libraries may be experiencing. This training is for anyone that places interlibrary loan requests.

Digging into SLP, 2026: Teen Idea Share
2026-02-19 13:00 - 14:15 | Online
SEKLS invites all Kansas librarians to join Annelies Brubaker, Director at Eureka Public Library, Brandon Tiecke, Teen Librarian at Parsons Public Library, and Jennifer McCulley, Youth Services Director at MacPherson Public Library to gather and share ideas related to this year’s Summer Library Programming for Tweens and Teens.

Click here to register: https://bit.ly/Teen_SLP26

KOMA Training for Trustees
2026-02-19 17:30 - 19:00
Maintaining openness in government is a key responsibility for a library’s board of trustees. It is critical for every board of trustees, and the staff who support them, to have a working knowledge of the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA). While enforcement of KOMA is typically corrective, the Act allows for civil penalties of up to $500 per knowing violation, per individual. This webinar, presented by Nicole Prouix Aiken of the League of Kansas Municipalities, will provide an in-depth analysis of KOMA. Attendees will learn:

• Types of governmental meetings and bodies covered by KOMA;

• Requirements of the Act;

• Executive sessions; and

• Enforcement and penalties.

Registration is now open: https://forms.office.com/r/UsepaVRxqR

Registration closes at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 18.

The webinar will be held live on Thursday, February 19, from 5:30–7:00 p.m. A recording will be available for sixty days—the link will be sent to all registrants. The webinar is open to NEKLS member libraries only. Registrants will receive the webinar link by email prior to the event.

When viewed in its entirety and discussed by the board of trustees, this training satisfies the trustee continuing education accreditation requirement for NEKLS member public libraries.

Nicole Proulx Aiken is communications & education counsel for the League of Kansas Municipalities. In this position, Nicole enjoys conducting trainings on topics like the Kansas Open Meetings Act and the Kansas Open Records Act. Nicole graduated from Benedictine College with a B.A. in political science and attended the University of Kansas School of Law. After law school, Nicole clerked for the Kansas Supreme Court and has been practicing municipal law for over 15 years.

The League of Kansas Municipalities is a membership association that advocates on behalf of cities, offers training and guidance to city appointed and elected officials, and has a clear purpose of strengthening Kansas communities. Since 1910, the League has been a resource for cities across Kansas and has acted as a body to share ideas, facilitate communication between members, and provide information on best practices in city operations. League membership consists of cities with populations from 20 to over 390,000.
