NCompass Live: Who Doesn't Love a Field Trip? Staff Development Through Library Visits

Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Encompass Live. I am your host Christa Porter here at the uh Nebraska Library Commission. Uh Encompass Live is the commission's weekly webinar series where we cover a variety of topics that may be of interest to libraries. We broadcast the show live every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Central time. But if you're unable to join us on Wednesdays, that's fine. We do record the show as we are doing today and it will be available for you to watch later at your convenience and I will show you at the end of today's show where you can access all of our show recordings. Um both the live show or in the recordings are free and open to anyone to watch. So please do share with anyone you think might be interested in any of the topics we have on encompass live. Uh [snorts] for those of you not from Nebraska, the Nebraska Library Commission is the state agency for libraries. So we are similar to your uh whatever state library. Uh so we provide uh training and consulting and resources and databases to all types of libraries in the state. And so we will have shows on encompass live uh useful to all types of libraries uh public, academic, K12, corrections, museums, historical societies. Really our only criteria is that it is something to do with libraries. Uh we have Nebraska Library Commission staff that sometimes come on and do presentations for us about services and programs and resources we offer uh through the commission here in Nebraska. But we also bring in guest speakers and that is what we have with us today. Um with us today we are um going on a field trip. Yay. Well, we're going to talk about going on a field trip. We all would love to go on a field trip sometimes. [laughter] Um and uh Cindy and Michaela are here uh from the uh Jay Robert Jamerson Memorial Library in Virginia and they are going to talk to us about uh this program that they've been doing with their staff uh going uh doing staff development through their library visits. So I will send yeah hand it over to you Cindy and uh Michaela to uh introduce yourselves and tell us all about what you've been doing at your library. >> Good morning everyone. Thank you for being here. I'm Cindy Shu, the library director at the J. Robert Jamerson Memorial Library in Appamatics County, Virginia. >> And I'm Michaela Harvey, our youth services specialist. And today we want to talk with you about something a little different from your typical conference session, the library field trip, and why we think every library, no matter how small, should be taking them. >> So, we're a small rural public library. We don't have a huge staff or a huge budget, but over the past year, we've taken two staff field trips to other libraries, and they've genuinely changed how we think about our own work. >> We want to share with you what we did, what we learned, and how you can do it, too. >> So, pause for dramatic effect. Who doesn't love a Who doesn't love a field trip? Let's get into it. >> Yes. >> Not all those who wander are lost. That's JRR Tolken. and it's become a bit of a motto for us on this journey. Let us tell you our story. >> Our first library field trip was in October of 2025 and it actually came about because of a local festival. Our library had to close for the day for the row festival in town. So instead of just taking the day off, we decided to make it a professional development opportunity. And four of us piloted into a rented SUV or as Cindy called it a land yacht and visited three sites in one day. Cumberland County Public Library, Mlotheian Public Library, and the Library of Virginia in Richmond. >> It was a packed day, but it gave us a great first taste of what a field trip like this could look like. Our second field trip was this past May, and it was a bigger undertaking. This time, seven of us went, so we had to rent a van instead of a land yacht. We chose May specifically because it's a quieter time of year for us. No summer reading rush yet, no major holiday program, so it was a natural window for professional development. On that trip, we visited the University of Virginia's Shannon Library, the Waysboro Public Library, and we also stopped at the Green Valley Bookf Fair. That last stop wasn't just a fun add-on to the day. It was actually a business trip disguised as a field trip. We've been working with Green Valley to bring one of their book fairs to our own library. So this was our chance to see their operation firsthand, meet the people we'd be coordinating with and understand exactly how their setup works before we try to replicate a version of that at home. >> Walking their warehouse and talking through logistics in person gave us a much clearer picture than any phone call or email could have. How they organize inventory, how they structure a fair, what they need to hook from a host site. That visit directly shaped how we're planning our own event with them. >> Two trips, two very different scales, four people versus seven, an SUV versus a van. But both grew out of the same idea. Get out of your own building and go see how other people are doing this work. >> So, what did we actually take away from all of this? The biggest thing, honestly, wasn't a program idea or shelving trick. It was the relationships. My staff and I made real connections with staff at other libraries who do similar jobs to what we do every day. Now, that matters more than people realize. When you're a small rural library, it can feel like you're on an island. But now, we have people we can call or email when we're stuck on a problem because we've met them. We've toured their space. We know how they work. And beyond the relationships, we came back with a whole list of ideas, new program concepts, new shelving styles. We saw cookbooks displayed on their sides instead of spines out. And we saw libraries mixing media formats right into their book displays. And we saw memory kits designed for patrons living with dementia and Alzheimer's. >> And this is the part that we're proudest of. These weren't just ideas we admired and forgot about. We've already started mixing media into our own displays back home. And we're actually actively developing memory kits for demention Alzheimer's patrons at our library right now. That's really the test of whether a field trip was worth it. Did anything change when you got back? For us, the answer was yes. So, let's step back from our own story for a minute and talk about why we'd recommend this to any of you, regardless of the size or type of library you work in. First, professional development. A field trip is a genuine team building opportunity, but it happens in a low pressure environment. You're not in a training room with a slideshow. You're walking through someone else's building. You're having conversations. You're noticing things together. and staff bond differently when they're doing that side by side. >> Second, networking with other library professionals. This gives you direct knowledge transfer between individuals. Not a webinar, not an article, but a real person explaining how and why they do something. It's also a low stakes way for staff to practice their interpersonal and communication skills. And don't underestimate it. It's the perfect opportunity for exchanging business cards and building your own professional network, not just your directors. Third, the exposure to diverse operational models and innovative practices. Every library runs a little differently, even within the same state or the same size category. Seeing those differences firsthand, is genuinely inspiring. It gives you real concrete ideas for adapting programming and policies back at your own library. And it opens the door to actually implementing new programming and policies once you're home. >> And sometimes it's not just inspiration. Our Green Valley Bookf Fair visit turned into an actual partnership we're now bringing to our own library. So it's not just a nice day out. It's professional development, networking, and exposure to new ideas. Get that through all three in a single trip. So, when is the right time to actually do this? Honestly, it depends a lot on your own library schedule. For our first trip, the decision was made for us in a good way. We already had to close for a local festival. So, instead of an idle closure day, we turned it into a development day. If your library has a day like that coming up, it's a great lowcost opportunity. >> For our second trip, we made a more intentional choice. We picked a quieter time of year for professional development rather than trying to squeeze it into a busy season. Think about your own calendar. Is there a stretch that's naturally slower for you where taking a day away wouldn't create a backlog? And the other thing to watch is for special events or exhibits at other libraries. And ask yourself, does a library nearby have something happening that your staff should rarely see? We actually timed that our second trip specifically around this. It landed right before our own summer reading program, which of course was dinosaur themed that year. So, it lined up perfectly for us to visit Public Library and see their amazing tenant skeleton on display, which of course was on loan from the Virginia Museum of Natural History. And that kind of alignment between what you're planning back home and what another library has on exhibit is exactly the kind of thing worth timing a visit around. >> One thing we can't stress enough though, before you lock in a date, you need to check that the libraries you want to visit are actually available and willing to host you that day. >> Your own schedule is only half the equation. >> I mean, we learned this ourselves. A library might have exactly the program or exhibit you want to see, but if their staff is short-handed that week, or they've got their own event going on, or they simply can't spare someone to give you a tour, the timing just isn't going to work. So, reach out early and confirm before you build the rest of your itinerary around them. It's worth reaching out to two or three libraries at once when you're planning. Honestly, rather than falling in love with one destination and then finding out too late that they can't accommodate you, having a backup option keeps the whole trip from falling apart over one scheduling conflict. So, pay attention to your own schedule, pay attention to what other libraries have going on, and confirm their availability before anything else. Sometimes the timing picks itself, but only if you check. So once you've decided you want to do this, there are a few questions worth asking before you start planning logistics. First and most basic, what do you actually want to learn by visiting a particular library? I mean, don't just pick a destination because it's nearby. Pick it because it offers something you're genuinely curious about. From there, get specific. Are you looking for programming ideas, new ways to run a storytime, book clubs or maker programs? Are you looking for organizational ideas, how they arrange their collection, their workflow, or their space? Or are you primary primarily looking to meet other library staff and learn from their experience directly? And practically speaking, do you have contacts at the libraries you want to visit? Having someone on the inside who can facilitate an actual tour, just not just a self-guided walkthrough, makes an enormous difference in how much your staff gets out of the visit. And answering these questions upfront shapes everything else, which libraries you choose, how long you stay, and the questions you want to ask when you get there. Now, let's get into the actual mechanics. How do you pull one of these off? You, of course, start with the timing. Figure out what time of year works best for your library. What's your least busy stretch and can you actually close for the day or do you need to plan around keeping the doors open? Next, decide, is this a departmental trip or a whole library trip? Depending on the size of your library, it may be much easier to send just one department at a time. If you take the entire staff, you will need to close the building for the day, which is exactly what we did both times since we're a small library and we didn't have the coverage to split it up. Then travel considerations. How will you actually get there? Think about if the weather might affect the trip and decide ahead of time who's doing the driving. In this case, Cindy did. And just as important, contact the libraries you're visiting early enough to make sure someone will actually be available to give you a tour. and answer questions. I'll be honest, don't just show up and hope for the best. >> Another consideration is a specific route and combination of libraries you want to hit in a single day. Your staff have scheduled hours you don't want to blow past, so you need to map out drive time between each spot stop, not just the time you'll spend touring once you're there. It's [snorts] easy to underestimate this. Three libraries that look close together on a map can still add up to hours in the car once you factor in actual roads and traffic. Build in a buffer and don't be afraid to trim your list down to two stops instead of three if the driving time doesn't leave enough room for a meaningful visit at each one. Budget is the next piece. What's your professional development budget and does it allow you to either borrow or rent a van big enough to transport your staff? We've rented an SUV or land yacht for four people and a van for seven. The right vehicle really depends on your group size. So figure out early since rentals need to be booked in advance. And finally, what are you going to bring along? Will you pack lunches or plan to catch lunch at a restaurant sometime during the day? And make sure you ask ahead of time whether anyone on staff has special dietary needs so no one gets left scrambling to find something to eat. And none of this is complicated, but thinking it through ahead of time is what separates a smooth, productive trip from a stressful one. [snorts] And thank you so much for joining us on this journey today. We want to leave you with one more quote. The world is a book and those who do not travel only read a page. That's St. Augustine and we think it applies just as much to library work as it does to life in general. You don't need a big budget or a big staff to do this. You just need a rented vehicle. I bought a rented landot, a willingness to close your doors for a day, and some curiosity about how the library down the road does things. If you have any questions about how we planned our trips, budgeted for them, or approached any of this, we would love to hear it from you. Thank you. Okay. Do you have a slide with any contact info or >> I unfortunately did not put that in there. >> Okay, that's cool. We can do that later. >> Sorry. >> That's something and that's actually um a good question. actually since we mentioned that um someone did ask uh about the slides being available and yes usually um if you're willing to share the slides we will post them up um so yes they will be available later um with Cindy and Michaela's contact info on there if you do want to ask them any questions but we do have some questions that did um pop up while we you're going through your presentation so um we will get we will ask those so thank you so much for uh this the the presentation this is some I thought this was a very fun thing obviously Um, like you said the beginning, you know, who doesn't love a field trip? Um, that's probably one of our favorite days of school when you hear field trip day. We are not actually going to sit in the classroom all day. >> Very much so. >> Yeah. Favorite time of of school. Uh, and we really should talk about going on field trips more often. You know, we go on vacations and things, but we need to call them something else. Um, so I do have some questions that I did grab here. And if anyone does have any questions, yes, type into the questions section of your go to webinar um interface and I will grab them all from there. I'm just clicking over there to get that open. There we go. So um we can do this. So um yeah, thank you everyone. Um someone wanted to know, let's see what we got here. Um did Okay, so uh you all came up with this idea. Did you have to um how did you get um either admin or library board buy in on this? Did you need to work with you know presenting this to your library board that we're going to be doing something offsite? Um how did that uh how did you get that kind of a >> it had a few pieces that went with it. Part of it was that when we closed for the railroad festival, they still want us to work. >> And and the the year before we did it, we had a confrontation with people who were representing the railroad festival and I didn't want that to happen again. So, I went to my library board and was like, "Look, you know, we want to do professional development that day, but doing it here is not really a viable option because we won't have a parking lot to park our cars in." [snorts] >> Ah, >> so we um >> the festival like takes place in your parking lot or throughout the whole town or >> It takes place on about five streets around us. >> Ah, okay. That's part of why we have to shut down between that and the fact that they actually caused $10,000 worth of damage one year from flooding the bathrooms and grinding food into our carpets. >> Oh my gosh. >> And it also got stuck stuck in our book drop too. >> Yes. >> So yeah, we just shut down for the three days of the festival and we use it for other things. >> Sure. Makes sense. >> Yeah. But we decided that we would do the field trip instead. And it was such a wonderful opportunity because the first three libraries we chose were one was the s same size as us, one was a bigger one and then of course the library of Virginia which is like our head thing. Um but we did I did have to run it by my library board and they were on board for it. Um the county itself did question why we were doing it, but once the library board approved it, they were like, "Okay." So, yeah. [gasps] >> Hey, it's it's just like I mean, you mentioned about the whole networking. I mean, that's something you do when you go to like a a conference or an actual a meeting. Um >> it's just the same kind of connection you can make just going to them at their library. >> Exactly. And that was what I told them. I'm like, you know, we're going out to meet people. The question that we got from the county was, well, what happens if you're in a wreck on it? I'm like, the same thing that would happen if they were, you know, going to the post office here and we're in a wreck. You know, it's part of your job. If you're going to do it, it's part of your job. >> I think they were more worried about the workers compensation part of it than anything. >> Well, yes, it is work time and it would be covered as normal. if we were driving to the state annual conference we would and something happened then the similar situation. So that's what someone did ask so and I guess kind of you answer your question the library was closed that first one so but then so it was paid time this isn't like >> yes it is paid time >> because that situation with the library being closed. Yeah. >> Um the first one at least. Yeah. And the second one you just said we're going to pick a day and many libraries do do that. I know we have our main library here, Lincoln City Libraries, has a um professional development day and they announced it ahead of time. Everyone knows this whatever Friday um the library is shut for staff to learn and you know get um bring in a speaker, do whatever it's it's done in the library traditionally, but um it's a very common thing in libraries now to shut down or you know we need to keep our education up. We need to keep learning and and knowing more about how to serve youth. So generally you don't get a lot of push back on that from people. Do you get any from any of the community saying or any >> we we had people being like well do you really need to do it? Um but we chose a day that's not traditionally very busy. >> Yeah. >> Um so that was a consideration that we did, you know, take into consideration because you know we don't want to inconvenience people and for us Fridays are very quiet. So, we did we did it on a Friday. >> And you give people enough heads up they can plan around it. It's it's only one day. Um Yeah. >> Exactly. >> You know, there's there's holidays and things, times when you're closed, too, that maybe people are like, "But I wanted to to to return a book to get a book." It's okay. Come back tomorrow. [laughter] Um you mentioned you were small. I don't remember. Did you um What is your population served officially? We serve about 16,000 people in our county. >> Okay. >> Um and there are eight of us in the library. >> Okay. So, are you officially the county library or just >> You're the county library. Yes. >> Okay. >> Virginia is very strange for how counties and cities are delineated because um technically our town is a separate entity from the county. Uhhuh. >> So while we are in the town of Appamatics, we actually belong to the county of Appamatics. >> Okay. >> And it's it's weird because the the town owns our parking lot, but the county owns the building. >> It makes for fun times sometimes. [laughter] >> All right. That's a fun budget thing to figure out what money goes to taking care of what. Huh. >> Interesting. Okay. Um, so when you uh see we got here uh so did you not everyone knows the geography and where all these libraries were. So were you visiting things that were out outside of your county? How >> Yes. Um the first trip the Cumberland library is about a 45minut drive from us. So it was two counties over >> and then the Library of Virginia is about an hour and a half from us. So when we when I planned it, I had to look at the routes to see what was the most optimal route that we wouldn't get stuck in traffic because we had to take into context Richmond rush hour traffic to >> and which ones we could get to have a decent amount of time and then get to the next along with getting lunch in between. >> Sure. Sure. >> And when we went the other direction, so like if you look at the state of Virginia, you know, it's kind of a triangle. We're kind of in that middle of that triangle. >> So, the first time we kind of went to the northeast and then the second time we went to the northwest. >> Okay. So, it's nice to be centrally located then for something like this. >> Yes. Yes, it definitely helps. >> Um, would you ever know all the libraries you did were in Virginia. Um, is there would you ever go like to another state? Is that any sort of reason not to for one of these things maybe? >> No reason that I would know of. Um we are close enough to North Carolina that it's within about an hour and a half that we could get to North Carolina as well. So, >> I know here in Nebraska, we're >> Oh, sorry. Getting to some of the other states is a little bit longer of a trip and we don't want to do the overnight thing necessarily, >> of course. >> But I have heard of other libraries that are closer to the border that have gone up to Maryland and um West Virginia and stuff. >> Yeah. know, here in Nebraska, we're a very big state and it's uh not a big deal to say, you know, I'm driving three hours to do this thing and then driving home three hours just because everything is so spread out and with all here with all the um the ranches and the and the corn fields. And I know it's it's a you know cliche, but it is true. It's it's most of our land is for the cattle and the and the um agriculture. Um so traveling Yeah. Yeah. Uh, all right. So, uh, you mentioned that you rented a car and someone was wondering about is was that a specific um was there a reason to rent rather than just say, "Oh, someone has a personal van or >> it was the none of us have a big enough vehicle to put everybody in it." Um, and I wanted us to be able to discuss the libraries after we got out of them. So like as we were going to the next library, we were talking about what we liked about that library, what we necessarily didn't like about the library, how we could um bring that back to our library. So it gave us that opportunity of being able to, you know, have that discussion in between, >> be all together in the same car, >> right? >> Absolutely. Yeah. So, someone wants to know, oh, the Green Valley Bookf Fair. What is What exactly is that? What is Green Valley? You said something about warehouse. >> Someone wants to know more about what does that all entail? You know, of course, we're getting the whole Scholastic bookf fair vibes. Is that what we're talking about or >> kind of? Yeah, it's um it's a book fair up in Harrisonburg, Virginia. And it used to only be open five times a year, but now it's open all year round. They have three warehouses of books that you can go in and buy and they are they're not brand like they're brand new books but they're not like just released books. >> So you get them at a discount. So like average price there is like $6 for a book. >> Kids books run about $2 a piece. Adult books about six kind of thing. And they have everything you can imagine. And sometimes they have things like crafts. They right now they're having costumes for Halloween >> during at Christmas they have a big Christmas like decoration thing that they do >> and stuffed animals. >> They have tons of stuffed animals and yeah we have loved it so much because we use it a lot of times to get books for our summer reading that we give away. And so >> some of our prizes actually came from there too for >> a lot of our prizes came from there because they do have toys and crafts and all of the stuff in addition to the books. >> It's kind of like a librarian's dream place. [laughter] >> Yeah. Is this an open to the public thing or is it >> It is open to the public. Yes. >> Oh wow. >> Yes. >> That seems dangerous. [laughter] >> It's very dangerous. Oh yes. And I will be going up in about 3 weeks to pick out our books for the book fair >> cuz unlike Scholastic, we actually get to pick the books out that we want to sell. >> So you can actually kind of like do it. It's kind of like Scholast Scholastic for kids, but this one could be something for like the adults. Kind of like a nostalgia feel of going to a Scholastic book fair when they were in school. >> Right. Right. So this So you said you went there to see about doing So have other libraries done this so you get that. They work with quite a few libraries to do it. >> Okay. So, Oh, so they bring stuff to you to >> We actually have to go pick it up. That's the only real difference. But we get a percentage of what we sell like with Scholastic and stuff. So, >> but if you're ever in Virginia, that's a good place to visit unless you're trying to fly back with a bunch of books. [laughter] >> Oh, plan on shipping. >> Find [clears throat] a post office. Yeah. Um, let's see. Uh, all right. [clears throat] I've got a couple of questions here. Trying to see which one was okay. >> But I can say that you can look it up online. Green Valley does have a website and they do sell through their website. They just don't have everything on it >> and they do ship. So, >> yeah. Okay. [laughter] Good. Good. We're, you know, libraries are always looking for new pl new places and good places to get new books from. Um, >> uh, you know, a lot of scrambling from when the whole Baker and Taylor thing if that was something you were doing. And so, we're always looking for new >> new resources, uh, to make up for that. Yeah. Um, someone wants to know, can you talk a little bit more about the shelving idea you learned um, specifically about cookbooks, shelving them on their sides? What? Yeah, I'm wondering about that, too. Okay. So, um it was a way to break up the shelf itself. So, um it was something that the librarian had taken from Barnes & Noble, actually. >> Oh, sure. >> They stacked them on their side. >> Oh, okay. >> Cuz you know when you're looking at a cookbook, you you don't want to be like this the entire time. And so, they just turn them on their side and it wouldn't be the entire shelf. It would just be like the book um end part of it. >> So, and then it wasn't every shelf. They'd look three or four of the same type or color and stuff and it was seasonal. So, they could change it out. If it was Christmas thing, they would have Christmas themed cookbooks. If it was Easter, they'd have Easter themed. And it just broke up looking at the shelf of just having this row of cookbooks. It broke it up for better visual appeal. Mhm. >> And then we also saw where they mixed um videos in um if you have a certain theme or um display, they would mix videos in with it. Mix um art books in with it. So, like if it was say um Easter, they would have the books you can read, Easter movies, but also crafts that go with it because we had a lot of libraries now have the library of things. >> Yes. Yep. >> So, we have um maker kits that we will mix in with the books and stuff. >> So, they're not just totally separate. Everything, you know, I'm interested in this topic. Here's all the things we have about that topic. whether it no matter what uh format. >> Yes, exactly. >> Oh, that's very cool. Yeah, I I've seen some libraries that do like um bags of like combos like here's the book, here's the movie, here's a maybe a stuffed toy like you said Miguel or something to go along with it or a game or a craft. >> It kind of shows, you know, the wealth of what a library has by putting all of it in one spot for a display. >> Yeah, definitely. Cool. All right. Um, >> I think one of the ones they're thinking about possibly coming up because we're going to have a cat cafe as part of a grant that we have. And yes, we're going to have adoptable cats in the library. Everybody here is excited and volunteering for that day. >> Cool. >> Um, [laughter] >> I would, >> but we also are having hot chocolate and tea and stuff. So, as one of the displays, we'll have something about cats, but we also have like a makaker kit that's hot cocoa bombs. >> Oh. So, you know, you kind of mix it all together and make a dynamic display of it. >> Nice. Um, okay. Uh, someone wants you to explain. Oh, I've know about this. Yeah. Can you explain about the memory kits? I think you said it was all the time >> for dementia and [clears throat] Alzheimer's. So, one thing that we have found with dementia Alzheimer's, because my mother passed away from Alzheimer's, is that they go back to an almost childlike state after a while and they like to be able to feel things and mess with things and look at pictures that they recognize. So they come they have come out with books that have pictures from like previous uh for example books of dogs or books of cats or books from the 1960s that just are pictures. That's all they are and they can just go through it and it helps with the memory of it. And then they have um I for they have puzzles and stuff that are made for people with dementia and Alzheimer's. They're bigger pieces. They're patterned in certain ways that help them be able to see it easier. And there are little hand games because a lot of people with dementia, Alzheimer's need to be doing something with their hands, not just talking like I am at the moment, but um like there's the fidget toys. It's basically fidget toys >> for older people. >> And like they have mats that they can tie things. They have um mats that you put stuff into pockets. And it's just a fidget thing and you just put it all into a bag and somebody can check it out and then they can you it helps kind of keep their memory from going as fast as it does without it. >> Yeah, I have I have heard of of the memory kits and and that this is a some libraries doing that. Um, we actually did do a session on Encompass Live a couple years ago about memory initiative with lots of tips and tricks about it too. Um, but I've seen other libraries doing doing that same kind of thing. Um, >> yeah, a couple of us here have parents or had parents with dementia or Alzheimer's, so we're pushing it really big because it does help. Um I think uh possibly looking into working with um ARP uh they may have uh programs for that. Uh we have here in Nebraska creative arts or creative arts is a group that does things that are specifically train uh programming for um well for older people and just not not necessarily just dementia but just anybody like 55 and older but definitely that kind of thing is available there as well. It's a very >> Have a couple of places like that around here as well. >> Cool. Um, where is this? Okay, we had another question. Where'd it go? Where'd it go? There it is. Okay. Uh, uh, someone wants to know, uh, can you share some of the things you learned when you visited the University of Virginia library? um specifically things you might not think of at an academic library that can be applied to a public library. Was there things there that >> you learned more from it than I did because I used to work at an academic library so I knew what they would have? >> Oh my gosh. Um >> or am I putting you on the spot? >> I think you put me on the spot with that. Um, I can tell you some of the things that really fascinated people were um the scanning capabilities of books and documents and how things are cataloged cuz like we pull down especially in public libraries a lot of times we often pull down stuff that's already cataloged. We pull down the mark records and all of that. >> They are the ones that make those records. M >> so you know that to me was an important thing for my people to see was that where that information is coming from because their whole cataloging department is broken out by language and by specialty and you know all of that. So it's not just that somebody has thrown that information up on the web somewhere. >> It's actually being parsed out in a way that is reliable. >> Well, I can tell you actually what I liked about that. It's the preservation. If you've had like old documents that are like from the 1970s or the n even like the 1960s that you want to keep preserved, they actually have the capability to kind of preserve that document in its entirety to keep the integrity of it but still make it available for people to look at. Mhm. >> And one thing that a lot of public libraries don't realize, I think, is that if you work with the university, you could create those partnerships to have the stuff you have historically on hand to be preserved. Like they may not necessarily house it there, but they can scan it and you can house it on your server kind of thing. [snorts] >> So, it's creating those partnerships with a university or college. [snorts] Yeah, that we we keeping historical documents it is such a hard thing. Yeah. And most many public libraries and probably the smallest ones don't have the capability, the knowledge at all to do that. Um >> and we don't have the funds to buy the cameras, >> right? Right. Yes. Yeah. >> Cheapest ones start at 25,000. So [laughter] >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And you need like special giant scanners maybe for like big things like maps or big documents or >> scanners, special paint, no windows. There's this whole list of stuff. >> Even the temperature has to be kept. >> Even the temperature has certain >> degrees. >> Uhhuh. >> Yeah. >> Awesome. Yeah. We have a program here in Nebraska called Nebraska Memories where we will um scan things, items for libraries. We don't do the whole storage of them afterwards, but we can get them digitized and be available online. And that's what UVA does a lot of. >> Yeah. >> Um, University of Richmond did a lot of that as well. That's where I worked at as an academic librarian. So, >> um, so do you think that connections you made with these academic librarians will help with other things in your work? I know what it was I was thinking about was because there's a lot of things we talk about in libraries is making partnerships with other libraries and jumping to the other types of libraries. um like I know in a public library you may have someone coming in and doing a research paper on something for school or for college and you know can you then refer them to I know an academic librarian who I can call now or >> yes and that that's part of it you know UVA is a little bit further from us but we do have what it's up to 10 now that we know of. >> Yes. >> Longwood Hampton Sydney the seven that are in um Lynchburg. Yes. >> And then CBCC. We have 10 colleges within 30 minutes of us. >> Oh wow. Okay. >> And you know knowing the librarians at those we can always direct students and be like you know and that's students that come in here like high school students we can be well you know Lynchberg has this particular database that you can use online and help them learn how to research in their own way. Like our high school here also partners with the community college and so a lot the community college in our area doesn't have a library on campus. Their campus is in Lynchburg. So a lot of students will come here looking for stuff as opposed to going to Lynchburg for it. Mhm. >> But having those connections with those universities and colleges, especially the research librarians, helps because we can be like, "Hey, go up here to CBC and Lynchburg and talk to this person >> because they that's their specialty [snorts] >> and now we know them." Yeah. Making [clears throat] that connection. Yeah. >> Cool. All right. So, are there any other uh spec uh programs or things you've instituted from these field trips at your library? >> Um, not from the field trips, but other things because I'm a big proponent of library tourism. Um, and everybody's like, "What is that?" [laughter] Um, everywhere I go, I find the library. >> That's something we do as librarians. It's like ingrained into our genes, I think. Yes. >> Exactly. And you know, we have brought things here that we have seen just when we've traveled. We have we started a um meal in a bag program here that has become a food pantry that is available all the time. I saw it in a library out in Montgomery, which is out in the southwestern part of Virginia. Um oh, the the browsing bins. We got that from Mlotheian Library. It just flips all the kids books to face out. Mhm. >> It has really helped with, you know, the kids. They love being able to see the bright colors and the pictures and they just love flipping through it real fast. >> Even increasing our limit of checkouts. What other libraries were doing was originally our checkout limit was 20 books and at least three movies, but that still left with crowded space for the books that we have currently. So talking with other directors and seeing what their checkout limits were and seeing how they implemented it in their policies, we were able to up the limit to 50 books now in 10 movies so that we can see more books are check more books getting checked out. But it still leaves us enough time to see what books haven't checked out to where we can um delete them from our system because it's like, okay, we're seeing what's checking out, but now we can see what's not being checked out, >> which gives us the space to get new books. >> That's a good that's a good idea. And the the whole point is you want the things items to be out of the library to be out to people using them >> used. >> Yeah. And Yeah. And I get that Michael is an awesome way of thinking about Yeah. the more you let them borrow that you can see the more things that are popular. >> Yes. >> And then it kind of reveals, oh, and here's all the four ones left behind that are not. [laughter] >> You probably were really great when you first bought and we first had you, but >> you're bad for them and then we find them new homes. of [laughter] course, >> which was to um be able to separate out the favorites of the kids, which now we have a separate section of like the favorite picture books or the favorite holidays because we have like at least like 20 or 30 books of Christmas books just just Christmas, >> of course. >> And of course, the character books are like majorly popular with the kids. So that's why we had to have them separate because we've gotten so many of them because they've been requested so much. They literally go out the door. The moment we put it back on the shelf, it's gone literally the next minute. >> Think like gluey. >> Yes. >> That bin constantly stays empty. So, [laughter] >> well, that's awesome. Yeah. Um, have you uh heard of any other libraries doing uh field trips like this? >> Two others that I know of. Um, but they're both university libraries. I learned about it personally from the University of Richmond. Um we were undergoing renovations and we were they were planning for a huge renovation. So they took us to a whole bunch of different libraries to see what we could use for ours. >> Oh, I've heard of I know people Yeah. libraries have done that. Like yeah, we we know we have a specific thing that we're doing and want to go and visit and see other libraries for that specific purpose. Yeah. And the other university was Shannondoa University and they like to go meet people. So, so they choose a lot like they choose one library at a time to go visit so that they can really get to know the individual that is their equal at that library. >> Oh, okay. Interesting. >> So, it's really dependent upon what you want to get out of it >> because there are so many different options for what you're looking for. Definitely. Yeah. All right, we're almost we got about fiveish minutes, five to 10 minutes left in the hour. Does anybody have any other desperate last minute questions that you want to ask? Um Cinder Michaela, uh type in the question section. Um let's see here. Oh, well of course something pops up right as I'm talking about it. Uh oh. Uh can you share any uh key think points that you learned from visiting your state library? How was that go? >> That was an interesting visit because um the people that we usually directly work with are kind of separated from the library itself. So while they are considered Library of Virginia workers, they don't work directly with the books and the um actual historical things that are there. And so it was neat to actually see how it is organized. Um, and they're actually getting ready to go undergo a major renovation to bring them from like 1992 to at least 2026. Um, and it was really interesting to see the different people that were using it. um the mix of people and what they were doing because it is >> more towards a genealogical historical library. So you can go in, they have a whole section that has, oh, you're from this county. Here's all of your stuff. >> So yeah, >> nice. Yeah, I was >> I mean, and honestly, that's actually a really good place to go for if you're wanting to know something about history. Like if you wanted to know more about your ancestors, you may have found out, "Oh, I lived in AppMax my whole life, but my ancestors actually came from Witzville. I actually came from a different county." I'm like, "Wait, so I grew up here, but my fam my family history actually is from a different county over here." Yeah. >> So, there's a lot that you don't realize when you're researching, and it's making sure that you kind of branch yourself out. Don't stick with what you know. that's like what you're used to. Go ahead and try to see what something what's different. Go ahead and try to see what else can you find out because you never know what you're going to unlock if you don't actually go looking for it. >> You may be surprised. Yeah. >> Yes. >> Good or bad? But yeah. Wow. >> I was curious about that, too, since like I said, we are the state the state library here in Nebraska. Um, and we do have many of our shelves are full of the oldest items that you can go walking through and we are open. Yeah. People can come in and and see things or just call our reference desk and ask about things. Um, >> and that was one of the reasons I wanted to visit there is because people don't realize you can visit those libraries. >> We're not just here for the libraries. We're here for the the citizens as well. Yes, >> we are funded and and uh have some of our directors of what we do comes from our state legislature. Yeah, [laughter] we're here for the citizens. Cool. [sighs] All right. I think I was going to ask you and I forgot. Okay. All right. Any other questions? They seem to have slowed down a bit. I think people got their questions answered. Um but as we said, the slides will be available. Um maybe Cindy add one with uh your if your contact info on there if you're willing to do that whatever you want to include. >> Definitely. >> And that will be available to everyone after the show here. So anybody have anything else they want to add? I've gotten all the ones that I saw earlier and asked everything I wanted to ask. [laughter] Oh. Oh, I know. Um do you have another field trip planned? Do you have some another one you're planning on? >> Um, not yet. Um, we do have another railroad festival coming up, >> but I'm going in a slightly different route this time with our professional development. We're going to do something a little more creative where we actually do hands-on art-based things for professional development because >> I find that being creative also opens your mind to other ideas >> while you're doing something. So, we're going to see where people want the library to go. So, >> cool. All right. >> But we will probably do another one in the spring like we did before because that seems to be the best timing for us to do trips >> before that summer reading really takes over everything. [laughter] >> Reading person. >> Yep. We're in that nice we wrapped it up and we can relax for a bit and think about other things right now. >> Yep, pretty much. >> Yeah. >> All right. All right. I don't see any other questions coming in. I think we will uh do our wrap up here. Um so, thank you so much, Cindy and Michaela. This is so cool. Um I wish my library would have gone on uh we need to go on field trips more. Definitely meeting other librarians, networking. That is a thing that a lot of people say is one of the most important things about attending conferences, attending meetings sometimes and not to say anything about presentations because like that's what this would have been a presentation could have been a presentation at an actual you know conference. Um sometimes the best thing you get is they call lobby con uh convention in the lobby meeting people going out and doing things and this is another way of doing that just taking it to those libraries. Well, the other thing with field trips is, you know, not every library can afford to send everybody to a conference. >> Exactly. >> But if you group it all together, you might be able to afford to take everybody on a trip. >> Yeah. And those people at that library you're visiting maybe can't afford to go to a conference that you would be going to, so you would never have met them, >> right? Exactly. >> Without going to them. Yeah. So, on both sides. Yeah. We're all struggling with budgets, definitely. That's a big thing. And all across the board. So, anything you do, you can do to make it easier on everyone, which is why we also have this show, this weekly show. We know libraries can't always travel everywhere to attend presentations and do things. So, this hopefully helps people get the spread the word about cool things they are doing that you all are or um to learn about things that other libraries are doing. That's our goal here. >> Wonderful. >> Yeah. All right. I think I'll work on get my wrap up here. So, thank you so much, Cindy and Michaela. This was awesome. Thank you everybody for attending. Um as I said the uh slides will be available, the recording will be available afterwards and I am going to pull presenter control back to my screen here to show you. There it is uh where you can get to all of this. So, if you use whatever um this is the session page for today um but if you use whatever is your search engine of choice and type in the name of our show and Compass Live, you'll come up with here our um main page or our archive page. Um these are our upcoming shows and right underneath them is a link to our archives. Um every the recording should be available by the end of the day tomorrow at the latest. Um, as long as, uh, all the technology cooperates with me. Um, everyone who attended today's show and registered for today's show will get an email from me. Um, letting you know when it's recording is ready. Um, this is where they go, their most recent one at the top of the page. And this is last week's. There will be a link to the recording, which our recordings are kept on the Nebraska Library Commission's YouTube channel for everyone to watch. And then the slides would be um, depending on wherever um, we'll have a link to that, too. Uh this is um you can search if you want to see if we've doing it while we're here on the archives. You can search to see if we've got a a show on a particular topic of interest to you. Uh you can type in whatever you want here. You can search the full show archives or just most recent 12 months if you want something very current. Um but that is because this is our full show archives and I'm going to do a quick scroll here. So watch your eyes going back. I didn't scroll all the way down but you can see here 2018. Um, going back to when Encompass Live first premiered, which was in January 2009, so 2026, this is our 18th year. We're an adult. Yay. [laughter] Um, so, but do pay attention when you are watching any of our recorded shows, uh, because they are all here going back 2009. They all have an original broadcast date on them, so you know when they first went live. Um, some of the shows we find to watch stand the test of time, have good, useful information, but some information may become old and outdated. Resources may have changed drastically or no longer exist anymore. Links might be broken. Uh, people will work at different places than when they presented for us. Uh, so just keep an eye on that. But as you mentioned earlier, this is something libraries do. We keep things for historical purposes. And as long as we have a place to host our recordings, which right now is our YouTube channel, we'll always have them out there available for you. Um, when the recording is done, as I said, it'll be posted on there. I'll push that on our social media as well. We have a Facebook page for Encompass Live. If you'd like to use Facebook, give us a like. We promote here's promotion about our upcoming show, our show going live, uh, meet our presenter, and then when the recording is is ready, we post about that here as well. Uh we also use the library commission's um Instagram uh we don't have our own for the show uh to post and we use a little hashtag little abbreviation of EN complive to put out that information. Uh one last thing I will mention because I just uh did it yesterday and it actually is related to this presentation today. Um another thing that we do here through the uh Nebraska Library Commission is Big Talk from small libraries. It's a free online annual conference always the last Friday in February. And yesterday I opened up the call for speakers for our 2027 event. And this is something that Cindy and Michaela actually submitted a proposal for the 2026 one. And we always get more proposals than we can fit in one day. It's we don't have multiple sessions going at the same time. So when I run out of room on that day, um I I invite any proposals that came in that didn't fit to come on our encompass live. So that's how I first heard about what Cindy and Male were doing. So if you have something cool you are doing at your small or rural library, please do submit a proposal. Um we try to keep all of our presenters are just from libraries with an FTE or population served of 10,000 or less generally. We do accept bigger ones depending um but that's you know this is the smallest libraries, the rural ones like you were talking about can't travel to attend something um or to present at something. this is an event for you. Um we are co-sponsored by the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. So they will be uh um promoting about it as well. So please do submit a proposal um for Big Talk. We do have social media. We have an Instagram and also a Facebook page for um Big Talk. Let's got this over here. Yeah. Um, so if you want to follow the conference online, you can do it either through our Facebook page or our Instagram page as well. And there's my call for speakers. This is the 16th annual Big Talk from small libraries. So I went with a color scheme of pink kind of sweet 16. Um, or you could say it is an homage to our wonderful Dolly Parton. Uh, all right. So that wraps it up for today. So submit this proposal. Uh next week we'll be back um talking about publishing uh beyond PDF publishing open educational resources with press books. Uh Craig Finlay and Jay Cely who are from our Nebraska University of Nebraska at Omaha Chris Library will be talking about a program they've been using at UNO to get um books published for their faculty. So please do sign up for that. Any of our other upcoming shows that we have here on the schedule. All right. So thank you again everybody for being here. Thank you Cindy and Michaela. Good to see you and hopefully we'll see you all on a future episode of Encompass Live. Bye-bye.