CALCON 2026 Courageous Libraries Resilient Communities: Full Schedule

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8:45am MDT

The Standards Advantage: A Framework for Strategic Planning and Library Success

Friday September 11, 2026 8:45am - 9:45am MDT

Step 1: Read Colorado Public Library Standards.
Step 2: ???.
Step 3: Library growth and success!
If your library’s director, leaders, and trustees are wondering about “Step 2”, learn how the Clearview Library District is using the Colorado Public Library Standards to drive library assessment, identify improvement opportunities, and shape our Operational and Strategic Plans. We’ve built a framework that we’d like to share and we've learned a lot along the way. This candid conversation will feature our successes, along with lessons learned, and we invite anyone with a passion for library leadership, growth, and development to join us.

Speakers

Jeromey Balderrama

Trustee, Clearview Library District

🥁Drummer, 👧🏼👧🏼Dad, 👨‍💻Tech Geek, 📸 Photographer Wannabe, 🏈🔸🔹Broncos Nut, 📚 Library Lover

Erica Rose

Library Director, Clearview Library District

I currently serve as the Library Director for the Clearview Library District. Before landing at Clearview, I was able to scratch the library itch in a variety of settings including higher ed, outreach, customer service, programming, youth services, and even a touch of law librarianship... Read More →

Friday September 11, 2026 8:45am - 9:45am MDT
Digital Defender Breakout Room 5

Breakout Session

10:00am MDT

Pragmatic and Resilient Approaches to Planning for Libraries

Friday September 11, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am MDT

Digital Defender Breakout Room 5

Planning for the future of your public library often feels hard and overwhelming. Engaging outside help can feel outside of your budget but how do you approach developing a new strategic or other kinds of plans for your library without getting overwhelmed? This presentation will pull from the speaker's 30 years of planning experience, the last 12 of which were fully focused on public library planning to help you understand the most important aspects of planning development. It will cover how you can successfully manage such a project, provide a toolbox of assessment and analysis activities to gain further insight into your organization, provide key tips for engaging your resilient community throughout the process, and will offer a Strategic Plan framework that has worked well for hundreds of libraries across the country. The session will also cover questions of when you might want some help from outside your organization to support certain aspects of your process. If that help is needed, advice is provided as to how you can approach getting the right help for your organization and setting the service expectations for that assistance.

Speakers

Rob Cullin

Rob brings over 20 years of experience working with libraries nationwide and internationally. As co-founder of ReThinking Libraries (RTL) and a former leader at Kimberly Bolan & Associates (KBA), he has supported thousands of libraries and visited more than 1,000 facilities. His work focuses on strategic planning, facility planning, and community engagement. Rob’s expertise includes library space programming and design, demographic and usage data analysis, technology planning, and organizational assessment, helping libraries translate community insights into practical, data-informed decisions., ReThinking Libraries

Friday September 11, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am MDT
Digital Defender Breakout Room 5

Breakout Session

1:15pm MDT

Beyond D&D: The Wide World of Roleplaying Games in Libraries

Friday September 11, 2026 1:15pm - 2:45pm MDT

Digital Defender Breakout Room 5

At this point, you know about Dungeons & Dragons. But what else is out there?

We’ll discuss the diverse range of roleplaying games (RPGs) currently being published and strategies for connecting library patrons to their next favorite game, whether it’s at a library program or with their own playgroup. Similar to traditional reader’s advisory, we’ll discuss factors like genre, tone, familiarity-level and more, as well as challenges to connecting people with games they might love.

This panel presentation will include perspectives on purchasing, reader’s advisory interactions, and programming, for libraries serving varied communities. You’ll walk out with a deeper appreciation for how RPGs in libraries can help grow resiliency and belonging for patrons, and a wider view of what’s available – and you’ll roll a few dice along the way.

Speakers

Becky Van Den Berg

Hosting RPG library programs, Pine River Library District (Bayfield branch)

Matthew Galloway

Purchasing RPG-related materials for library collection, Anythink Libraries (Collection Development department)

Jakob Seelig

Branch Manager, Anythink Libraries (Adams County)

I use he/him pronouns.

Some of my favorite things that happen in library spaces are: the eyes of new patrons widening as it dawns on them what a library is – children and parents discovering an unexpected book together – patrons helping other patrons.

Recent favorite authors include Ann Leckie, Tamsyn Muir, Naomi Novik, and still Terry Pratchett GNU... Read More →

Patrick Austin

Teen Guide, Anythink Libraries (Huron St branch)

I have been running role playing games as a teen guide at Anythink for the past three years. When I'm not gaming, I am writing and collecting zines, tinkering with retro games and cameras, and conducting Unwise Microwave Experiments