Free Ryan Dowd Training Webinars for WI Public Libraries

Ryan Dowd

Kim Niesing, Youth Services Consultant at Monarch Library System writes in one of her recent weekly emails to youth services librarians:

"This week, I want to highlight the free Ryan Dowd trainings available to you. These trainings have been so eye-opening and practical for me, and I highly recommend them. You may remember that through the Department of Public Instruction, all Wisconsin public libraries have free access to Ryan Dowd's trainings through the end of 2021. 

What are these trainings?

These trainings help library staff understand and serve individuals facing homelessness but also individuals who come from disadvantaged homes as well as difficult patron interactions with all kinds of people. If you do not see much homelessness in your libraries, I still highly recommend listening to Ryan's webinars. 

What can I learn?

• There is a "core training." (I think it's four hours.) The 1-hour webinars will reference principles taught in this core training. I really recommend it, but it's not essential to understanding the webinars.
• There are 1-hour webinars covering topics such as:
• Getting hit on by customers
• Unattended children: How to talk to parents about their children's behavior
  
• Backup: How to backup a co-worker during crisis
• Homeless children and libraries

How do I access the trainings?
Visit this link here. https://my.nicheacademy.com/dpi-wi-staff  You will need to create an account; use your work email address when creating the account. 

When are the trainings?

There is a new live webinar each month. The webinars are recorded and available for on-demand viewing at the above link. 

How do I stay informed?

To get weekly emails with tips on patron interactions, sign up here. To get the links to upcoming live webinars, sign up here. Note--Ryan requests that people do not forward links to his upcoming webinars, so if you want that information, you need to sign up for the emails yourself. "