Southeastern NY, Library Resources Council, offers ongoing professional development opportunities. These come in the form of in-person classes, workshops, lectures, and webinars. These classes help to enrich our members’ professional experience and can be used to fulfill some requirements needed to maintain public librarian certificates.
Are you looking for information about a past event? Click here for an archive of recent Southeastern events.
Are you looking for similar events? Click here for a calendar of all Empire State Library Network events.
Southeastern welcomes people of all abilities to programs. If ASL interpreter services, captioning or audio description are needed, contact Carolyn Bennett Glauda – carolyn@senylrc.org or leave a message in the notes field to request those services when you register. Please register as soon as you know you will be attending. Requesting accommodations as early as possible is critical. Requests made at least one week in advance will help to ensure availability.
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Leadership Transitions of Key Employees
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Online via Zoom
Organizational stability and sustainability rely in part on effectively preparing for and shepherding leadership transitions for key employees, to smoothly fill critical vacancies, develop staff potential, preserve institutional knowledge, and support long-term success.
Join Kathy Parker and Kate Hall, authors of The Public Library Director’s Toolkit and long-time library directors, for a session exploring effective leadership transitions. Parker and Hall will discuss the role of staffing analyses in assessing and planning for vacancies, staff leadership development, and tools and methods for documentation of knowledge, including special considerations for small or rural institutions.
Supervisors and staff from all types of institutions—museums, archives, academic libraries, public libraries, and more—are welcome to join. The session will NOT be recorded, though slides and handouts will be made available to all who register. Ample time will be provided for Q&A. Please email amy@nnyln.org with questions.
About the presenters:
Kate Hall is the Executive Director of the Northbrook Public Library, a Library Journal 5 Star Library located in northern Illinois, after serving as a teen librarian, youth services manager, and director at various Chicagoland libraries for over 20 years. Kate graduated with her MLIS from Dominican University in 2002 and received her MBA from Marylhurst University in 2010. Kate is the recipient of the 2021 Illinois Library Association Librarian of the Year Award and has just launched Illinois Libraries Present, a new statewide joint programming cooperative.
Kathy Parker was the director of the Glenwood-Lynwood (IL) Public Library District from 2002-2018 after serving as Assistant Director at the Harvey (IL) Public Library. She has worked in public and private libraries for over 40 years and co-founded Director’s University, an intensive training program that has trained over 300 new Illinois Public Library Directors.
Join us for the next Resource Sharing SIG, in-person at Newburgh Free Library! Matthew Thorenz, the Local History Librarian at Newburgh Free Library, will join us to give a presentation on utilizing newspaper databases to search for digitized newspapers and articles.
This SIG provides a friendly space for resource sharing professionals to meet, discuss workflows, and share resources. The Resource Sharing Special Interest Group (SIG) meets to discuss issues of Interlibrary Loan, delivery, union catalogs, and other related topics. The members of the group are a mix of full-time and part-time, degreed and non- degreed library staff, and come from all library types. Registration for this event is free and open to all.
About the speaker: Matthew Thorenz is the Local History & Government Docs Librarian at Newburgh Free Library, where he oversees the library’s collection of over 5,000 items related to the history of Newburgh, New Windsor, and the Mid-Hudson Valley, including the library’s microfilm holdings of the Times Herald Record, Newburgh Evening News, and Mid Hudson Times.
Digital Accessibility & Your Library: Practical First Steps
March 25 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
REGISTER HERE
As the Title II deadline looms, many librarians are left asking: Where do I begin? How accessible is my library? Where are the barriers, gaps, and challenges? This structured “First Step” workshop helps you determine what your library is already doing and already has to support patrons with disabilities.
In this webinar, attendees will:
– Learn digital accessibility basic principles
– Discover and summarize accessibility strides and accomplishments
– Determine a library workflow for addressing accessibility barriers
– Create a list of gaps and challenges
– Outline a preliminary action plan for your library
Registrants will be able to submit questions in advance and during the session.
This session is for public libraries, library systems, and archives or museums that are part of a government or public educational institution. Private educational institutions, often held to the same ADA standards in New York State, are also encouraged to attend. All library staff including directors, librarians, trustees, academic officers responsible for libraries, general counsel, equity and inclusion personnel, IT workers, and anyone concerned about accessibility of digital resources are welcome to join us.
Presenter: Rebecca Albrecht Oling (MLS, CPACC) is the Director of Digital Accessibility at Purchase College, SUNY. Promoted to Librarian in 2024, Oling has worked to shape approaches to digital accessibility on her campus and beyond. Aside from her research and writing, she consults on accessibility best practices and leads trainings that empower people to create a more universal experience. Oling is a certified professional in accessibility core competencies from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals and is the co-author of the newly released Digital Accessibility Handbook for Libraries.
Free to Southeastern & ESLN Members. This event will be held on Zoom Webinar; registration is required. This event will be recorded, but you must register to receive the recording. The recording will be distributed approximately one month after the live event.
All attendees will receive a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of CE credit.
Live transcription will be available. We are committed to offering inclusive, diverse, and equitable services to all of our members. To request specific accommodations, please contact ESLN at least five business days ahead of this program.
RRLC Registration & Program Attendance Policies
This event is sponsored by the Empire State Library Network.
If you have any questions, please contact Tina at cbroomfield@rrlc.org.
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion SIG
Date: Friday, March 27, 2026
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Location: online via Zoom
Convener: Carida Riore, Valley Cottage Library
We’re back, and we’re still talking about ways to support diversity in libraries. As long as our patrons come from different backgrounds and demographics, our job is to create programs and services that reflect the communities we serve. In this meeting, we will check in on how our efforts are going, support each other’s challenges, and celebrate each other’s joys.
As library workers, it is no longer enough to say that we are inclusive or tolerant; we need to take action to be anti-racist and to do work to dismantle systems that perpetuate the status quo. Our plans are for this group to meet regularly as a place for us to share ideas of how we can be better allies, co-workers, and humans.
The intended audience for this meeting is library workers in the Southeastern NY Library Resources Council service area. (The eight-county area of Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan, Putnam and Rockland, NY.) All in this region are considered members or affiliate members. If you are from outside this region, you are welcome to join us. We appreciate the perspective that you might bring to our region, and hope that you understand that our conversation’s focus may be on the Hudson Valley as we think globally and act locally.
If you can join us, please register at the link below. You can catch up on the conversation by viewing the notes from previous meetings on our LibGuide.
Digital Accessibility for Everyone: An Overview of Accessibility Tools
April 16 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
REGISTER HERE
Learn how to make your library’s digital resources accessible and user-friendly for all audiences! Join Shawn Lemieux, Associate Librarian/Director of the Talking Book and Braille Library, in this third webinar of ESLN’s ADA Title II Compliance for Libraries series and learn about commonly utilized accessibility tools. This webinar will include an overview on both digital tools and handheld tools, from low cost options to high end devices.
For the majority of the session, we’ll explore digital tools that are accessible for a broad range of library types, including:
– Native accessibility features in Microsoft
– NVDA
– Fusion
– Smartphone accessibility features, such as iPhone and Android
– Screen readers and screen enlargers
Presenter: Shawn Lemieux, Director of the New York State Library’s Talking Book and Braille Library, has worked for libraries that serve people who have visual, physical or reading disabilities for 25 years. She enjoys providing reference assistance to patrons and connecting them with reading materials they’ll find entertaining and resourceful. She also works with libraries to incorporate accessibility software on their public computers. She’s a valuable resource for libraries and advocates for universal access.
Free to Southeastern & ESLN Members. This event will be held on Zoom Webinar; registration is required. This event will be recorded, but you must register to receive the recording.
All attendees will receive a certificate of attendance for 1 hour of CE credit.
Live transcription will be available. We are committed to offering inclusive, diverse, and equitable services to all of our members. To request specific accommodations, please contact ESLN at least five business days ahead of this program.
RRLC Registration & Program Attendance Policies
This event is sponsored by the Empire State Library Network.
If you have any questions, please contact Tina at cbroomfield@rrlc.org.
Reference Special Interest Group
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Facilitator: Maggie Leung, Dominican University
Location: Online via Zoom
The Reference Special Interest Group is open to library workers who provide reference services or want to learn more about it. The group is not limited by library type and comprises academic, special, public, school, and hospital library staff. You do not need to be a degree-holding librarian to attend. The facilitator will bring an agenda, and attendees are welcome to share their thoughts, ideas, experiences, and questions.
This month’s topic is: Working with neurodiverse patrons & colleagues
We will also follow up on the conversation from the January SIG:
https://libguides.senylrc.org/SIGs/20260113Reference
Leadership and Management Skills SIG
Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Facilitator: Laura Wolven, Finkelstein Memorial Library
Location: Southeastern NY Library Resources Council
Topic: Leadership and Trauma Recovery
In a new iteration of this group, we will talk about working in post-traumatic situations. Whether a traumatic situation was experienced by the collected staff or individually, on the job, or after hours, we can learn ways to adapt our management style to lead. At a time of turmoil and threats to libraries, leadership can feel lonelier than ever. This meeting is an opportunity to share collective experiences and brainstorm about solutions.
This group is for library workers of all library types who handle administrative tasks and are becoming leaders in the field. If you aspire to or are currently working as, a: director, assistant director, manager, program manager, trustee, or serve in a leadership role within a professional organization, this meeting is for you! Topics we will cover in this meeting may include:
- Supervising other staff, volunteers, and/or interns
- Introducing and running programs and services at the library
- Onboarding new employees
- Getting professional development for management skills
- Doing advocacy work on behalf of the library
- Creating and maintaining a budget
- Work/life balance in the light of growing work responsibilities
- Networking with other library workers who may become future colleagues
- Staying committed to social justice issues
- Working within union structures
- Influencing the culture of the library from within
- Deciding when and if to apply for different positions
The nature of the conversation will be based on the interests of the people who attend and may change from meeting to meeting. You can view the notes from previous meetings here.
Book Repair Workshop
Save Your Collection—Don’t Replace, Repair! Basic Book Repair for Libraries with Marianne Hanley
Date: Wednesday, May 13
Time: 9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Southeastern NY Library Resources Council
Note: Space for this workshop is limited to direct and affiliate members. We can accept only one registration per organization.
Stop throwing money away on replacements! Binding quality varies wildly, and with constant circulation, even your best books take a beating. The good news? Most damage is completely fixable—and you’ll learn how in this hands-on workshop.
Transform damaged books into circulation-ready materials while saving your budget for new acquisitions where it really counts.
In This Dynamic Workshop, You’ll Master:
✓ Essential repair tools and supplies every library needs
✓ Quick fixes for the most common types of book damage
✓ Professional techniques to reinforce hinges and prevent cover separation
✓ The art of tipping in loose pages so they stay put
✓ Complete spine replacement from start to finish
✓ Proven cleaning methods that tackle even the toughest stains
Why Attend? With repeated checkouts and daily handling, your popular titles are probably falling apart faster than your budget can replace them. These practical skills will help you keep beloved books in circulation, extend the life of your entire collection, and demonstrate excellent stewardship of library resources.
Walk away with confidence, techniques you can use immediately, and the satisfaction of giving your books a second life! Perfect for circulation staff, technical services teams, and anyone passionate about collection care.
Presenter Bio:
Marianne Hanley is the Preservation Librarian for Syracuse University Libraries, where she leads comprehensive preservation efforts that protect and extend the life of invaluable research collections. In her role, she defines preservation needs, establishes strategic goals, implements targeted programs, and manages budget allocations to ensure the long-term care of library materials.
As Principal Investigator for the NYS Conservation/Preservation Grant Program, Marianne administers annual state funding dedicated to promoting proper care and accessibility of research materials across New York. Through this program, she champions the adoption of best practices, guidelines, and technical standards in conservation and preservation work.
Marianne co-manages Syracuse University Libraries’ disaster response plan for collections and co-coordinates recovery efforts when emergencies strike—ensuring that irreplaceable materials are protected even in the most challenging circumstances.
A passionate educator, Marianne finds great fulfillment in teaching workshops on book repair and disaster preparedness, sharing her expertise with library professionals eager to strengthen their own preservation skills.
Education:
Master of Library and Information Science, Syracuse University
Bachelor of Arts, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY