Dear Brad,

Pictured here are Kaylee and Paul presenting their leadership projects just before the graduation ceremony.

Kaylee's project: "Going Beyond the Checklist: Developing an Effective Onboarding Process and Mentoring Program for New Faculty Librarians"

Paul's project: "An Alachua County Community Assessment: Sparking Improved Library Engagement and Service Delivery Through Surveys and Demographic Analysis"

Congratulations to Kaylee, Paul, and all of the Year 18 SSLLI graduates!

Jenny Eason

jenny@neflin.org

Member Services Coordinator

The 2024 NEFLIN Annual Meeting will take place on Friday, September 13th, from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm, at UNF’s Adam W. Herbert University Center.  

The day’s agenda will include:

• Annual Reports from the NEFLIN Staff
• Keynote Presentation by Gene Coppola
• Presentation of the 2024 NEFLIN Awards
• Announcement of NEFLIN’s upcoming projects
• Innovation Project reports from NEFLIN member libraries
• Silent Auction benefiting the Jim Morris Continuing Education Fund
• and more content for library staff throughout the day!



Cost to attend:  $45.00 (includes a catered lunch)

Please note: If this will be your first time to attend an in-person Annual Meeting, you are eligible to receive a pair of NEFLIN shoes! However, you must register by Monday, July 29th, to get your shoes. If you register after this date, even if it is your first in-person meeting, you will not be eligible to receive shoes.

Registration for all attendees will close on Friday, August 30th, unless the event reaches capacity before that date.

This year, we're again including Lightning Round sessions as part of the Annual Meeting agenda. If your library has a program, service, or resource you'd like to share, please consider submitting a proposal.

Each presenter will have 5 minutes to present their Lightning Round session.

Remember that the NEFLIN membership includes all types of libraries from all types of communities, and if something is important or interesting to you, it will be to someone else, as well.

To submit a proposal, fill out the form below with a short description of your topic by Monday, July 22nd. Contact training@neflin.org with questions.

The 2024 Florida Libraries Online (FLO) Conference has come and gone. This year's theme was Libraries as Community Anchors. Our keynote and breakout presentations told the stories of how libraries are an increasingly valuable part of their home communities. This special relationship was shown via five tracks: Marketing & Brandings, Artificial Intelligence, Outreach & Partnerships, Customer Service, and Creating Spaces. NEFLIN ran the Outreach & Partnerships track. A total of 308 people joined us over the course of the day.

Our thanks go out to keynote speaker Audrey Barbakoff and our Outreach & Partnerships track presenters - Curtis Rogers, Gene Coppola, and an elite crew from Jacksonville Public Library Special Collections (Laura Minor, Devon Holland, Imani Phillips and Nina Kostic).

Thanks to all of you who attended! 

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

9:30 am - 4:00 pm

@NEFLIN Headquarters

Cricut is a brand of electronic cutting machines, which allows users to precisely cut a variety of materials for various crafting projects such as vinyl decals, iron-on transfers, and paper crafts. The machine is connected to a computer or smartphone through software, which allows users to design their own creations or use pre-made designs.

During this workshop, we will utilize the Design Space Software to create a variety of crafts using a variety of materials. The projects will start simple and build into more complicated projects using drawing, “print then cut” and layering. 

These craft projects from class will be designed for you to use for programming at your library. 

For the last few months, we've been highlighting the 11 NEFLIN member libraries who are recipients of a 2024 Innovation Project Award. These libraries all submitted their innovative ideas to the NEFLIN Board, who then awarded up to $7,500 for each winning idea. All of the libraries are working now to put their projects into action, and at the NEFLIN Annual Meeting on September 13th, they will share their progress and results.

Our next featured project is "Can You Hear Me Now?": The Power of Sound in Library Instruction with the University of North Florida's Thomas G. Carpenter Library:

“The project has three aspects: First, we seek to add lapel microphones for each member of the instruction team to enhance and project the library instructors’ voices in the library classrooms and instruction spaces across campus without audio setups. Second, we seek to add voice amplifiers and microphones for use during large group library tours and library outreach events on campus in large spaces without an AV set up. Finally, we are seeking funding to purchase a set of wireless Bluetooth headsets for a “silent disco” style Augmented Reality experience in the Virtual Learning Center at the UNF Carpenter library." 

Meanwhile, Volusia County Public Library's innovative project is ESOL Language Computer Learning:

"Volusia County Public Libraries needs dedicated language learning space for patrons who are learning proficiency in English. Pronunciator software and headphones can turn a dedicated computers at each of our 14 branches into a language learning lab. This would allow ESOL patrons access to language learning during library opening hours, rather than being restricted to our weekly English Conversation classes. Many patrons work and cannot attend the English Conversation classes. Many patrons do not have internet access. Having the dedicated language computers would allow language learning access for patrons who cannot currently learn at the library."

We look forward to seeing the results of these innovative projects!

For 2023-2024, we are celebrating 30 years of NEFLIN, and this month, we're highlighting our Continuing Education awards, including the highly coveted "Golden Apple" Award.

The Golden Apple is awarded to the NEFLIN member library that showed an exceptional commitment to training and staff development by sending the most staff to NEFLIN training.

The very first Golden Apple was awarded to the St. Johns County Public Library at the 2000 Annual Meeting. SJCPL went on to dominate the Golden Apple competition for the next four years, winning in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. In recent years, the Suwannee River Regional Library has excelled in training, winning the award in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Other Continuing Education awards include the Making the Most of NEFLIN Awards, which are awarded to the library at each membership level (determined by staff size) who makes the best use of all of NEFLIN's Continuing Education services, which includes the Equipment Loan, Lending Library, and more.

Join us at the 2024 NEFLIN Annual Meeting to find out who our next Golden Apple and Making the Most of NEFLIN Award winners will be!

For FY2023-24, the total state and federal budgets for NEFLIN's programs are $694,693. 42% of the total costs ($294,693) are supported by federal funds, and 58% of this program ($400,000) is supported by state funds.