In this session participants will learn about the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). There are many ways our chapter can help Colorado librarians connect their patrons with books for young people by local authors and illustrators. Our Rocky Mountain Chapter (RMC) maintains an up-to-date list of authors and illustrators who enjoy giving presentations at both school and public libraries. In our session, librarians will also learn about new books by local authors that often feature characters drawn from our resilient and diverse Colorado communities. Finally, librarians can find out about upcoming author events of interest to their young patrons and writing conferences that can encourage their own personal creativity.
Led and volunteered for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI (the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), Rocky Mountain Chapter Society of Children's Book Writers or Illustrators
Volunteer and conference presenter for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI
In September 2025, Library Research Service began planning a new blog series: Colorful Colorado Libraries: Stories from our Centennial State. The past year has been full of library visits, fascinating conversations, story-crafting, and many lessons learned. This session will cover the process of telling different stories from all types of libraries big and small across Colorado. It will draw from both Kate McDowell’s book Critical Data Storytelling for Libraries: Crafting Ethical Narratives for Advocacy and Impact and the hands-on experience gained from months of collecting data and transforming it into stories. Not only is sharing library stories inspiring, informative, and fun, but it can be a critical way for us to communicate our purpose and the positive impacts that library services have on patrons.
Over four years of experience working at Library Research Service (LRS), a degree in English and a professional writing certificate, and a year of planning and executing the Colorful Colorado Libraries blog series. This session will share lessons from this lived experience., Colorado State Library
AI is obviously a hot topic in libraries (and everywhere), but one thing I struggled with in my programming was figuring out where to begin with my patrons. It's one thing to know about AI and another to know how to navigate educating people about it, especially when one's own feelings about it can be complex. This is essentially a presentation about a programming series I've planned (and already begun) that includes both general information sessions (Intro to AI), topical sessions (Internet Privacy in the age of AI), and more fun/social sessions (Is it AI Game Show- about identifying AI in different forms). I talk about how I weighed my own feelings about AI with my patron's information needs, how I covered difficult and often political questions, what patrons have been most interested in, etc.
