NEWI: Free webinars on going fine-free, marketing your events, makerspaces on a budget & more this month

Go to the NEWI list of free webinars to find continuing education opportunities in which you can participate without leaving your library; most sessions are 60 minutes long, and are provided – at no charge to you – by associations, agencies, companies, and library systems.
 
Here’s a sample of webinars offered this month; click on a title to register:

• Body Odor: The Most Dreaded Conversation of All Time – March 5
• Marketing Crash Course for Librarians: The Beginner’s Guide to Promoting Your Collection and Events – March 10
• Services for Older Adults: Library Programs for Any Time and Any Place – March 11

• Going Fine Free: A Look at the Impact It could Have On Your Community – March 12
• Creative and Innovative Recognition Strategies for Volunteers – March 18
• Advocacy from A to Z for Children's Library Services – March 19
• Library Programs for the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day – March 19
• Creating Makerspaces on a Budget – March 21
• Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Children's Behavior – March 25
• The Opioid Crisis and Public Libraries: A Call to Action – March 31

​Missed a webinar? It might have been archived, so check NEWI’s list of webinar recordings you can watch for free, anytime.

​Bonus: Next month, nationally-known library consultant Pat Wagner will present a three-part webinar series focusing on customer service in libraries:

• The Ethics of Library Customer Service: Fair Treatment for Everyone – April 1
  The four principles of library ethics are privacy, transparency, access, and fair treatment. As applied to the service desk, it translates into ensuring that the library respect the privacy of the library users’ visits and transactions, that rules and policies are written in plain language and available to everyone and applied to everyone, that everyone in your greater community or institution, regardless of their situations, can have the information they need and want, and that everyone is treated with courtesy and respect, regardless of their status. No special favors for friends or family, no deferring to status, no gossiping about library customers.
• Dealing With Hostile and Potentially Dangerous Library Users – April 8
  Good manners and a friendly demeanor can handle most library customer issues. But what if being courteous is not enough? Do you, your staff, and your co-workers know what to do if someone is emotionally bullying or physically threatening to staff or other customers? Belligerent? Acting out because of drugs, alcohol, or other cognitive issues? Refusing to leave? Caught stealing or damaging property? The awareness, attitude, and actions of library employees are the first defenses against customers who are AOA (Angry on Arrival). Make safe practices a priority for front line staff. Planning, consistent enforcement of policies, training, support from supervisors and managers, and applied technology can work together to protect employees, customers, vendors, and visitors as well as your workplace’s property.
• When the Library Makes Mistakes – April 15
  Some mistakes are easy to fix, like giving someone the wrong change when they paying a fine, or mispronouncing the name of an author. What’s harder is when a library user feels they have been insulted or abused by a staff member, when they see or hear other library users receiving deferential treatment denied to them, when they experience incompetent assistance, or when they are given wrong information. When they are accused, wrongly of course, of stealing from the library. When they are made fun of because of the way they speak or dress Or when the library fails to ensure their physical and emotional safety.

All three webinars will be recorded, and each session is worth 1 contact hour for public library certification.
 
NEWI is a continuing education (CE) partnership of library systems located in North Eastern Wisconsin.  The NEWI website aims to be a central source of CE info for staff working at libraries in four library systems: Manitowoc‐Calumet Library System (MCLS), Nicolet Federated Library System (NFLS), Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS), and Winnefox Library System (WLS).