Registration Now Open for Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference

The winter hounds have been released! 

Mark your calendars for Wednesday and Thursday, January 24-25, 2024.

You can now register for any of the 14 fabulous online sessions during the Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference. Outstanding speakers - both from in state and nationally known - have prepared a wide range of topics to inform and enlighten participants.

The tracks this year are:

• internal communications
• marketing
• management
• programming

Kudos to Jamie Matczak and her team of Leah Langby and Jean Anderson for planning another amazing continuing education opportunity for WI library staff. And a big thanks to WI library systems for supporting this effort to keep this conference free for all participants!

For all the deets, please stop by the WWWW website.

How Can We Support Our AAC-Users?

Recently, Chelsey Roos posted on the ALSC blog about how we can better enhance the library experience of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) users. 

She writes: "October is AAC Awareness Month! AAC stands for “augmentative and alternative communication,” and it’s often used to refer to a tool that can help someone communicate without speech, like a picture board or a tablet with a communication application. It can be as simple as a white board, or as high tech as a computer that can detect the user’s eye movements and translate them to speech. Someone who is non-speaking, or has difficulty speaking, can use their AAC to communicate with others. "

To read her clear explanations, tips and suggestions, stop here. [Supporting AAC-Users in the Library. Roos, Chelsey. ALSC blog. October 14,2022.

Zoom Program - Augmentative and Alternative Commuication

Kristine Millard is working on her MLIS at UW-Madison as well as managing a lab that studies early language development in toddlers with autism. Periodically, she shares resources relating to developmental disabilities that you might find useful.

When I was working in a library, Thursday mornings were a favorite. Someone who knew my schedule might have thought it was because those were my outreach days. Don’t get me wrong, heading out to daycares and 4K classes was a great part of the job. Returning to see a small school bus in the parking lot was, too. That’s when the developmentally disabled students came to the library. They always had the best manners and our staff made sure they knew they were welcome and that we were happy to help find what they were looking for.

Sometimes there were non-verbal students in the group. As I got to know them, it was clear they were still able to share with caregivers what kind of library materials were important. Some used an adaptive communication tool that looked a lot like an iPad but was much more robustly configured for their needs. Whenever a new book was added to the collection within their interests, I only needed to see the look in their eyes to know I was handing over a winner. 

The Waisman Center has a Saturday event coming up on October 15 from 9-11 am that is free and open to the public on Zoom. This year’s Augmentative and Adaptive Communication Day with the Experts is going to include two presentations that may appeal to librarians. First, a self-advocate, Mike Hipple, will share: A Drive Through AAC Communities: Learning Why it is so Important to be in Communities on this Journey. I’m looking forward to hearing how community organizations are doing well with serving AAC users, and where we can do better. I make no guarantees about libraries getting a mention, but we all have community partners we can work with.

After Mr. Hipple speaks, a Speech Language Pathologist will share thoughts on Literacy for AAC Users. 

I checked with the event coordinator, and there is no limit to the number of people who can join the Zoom session. I hope to see you there virtually (October 15 @ 9:00 am - 11:00 am)!

Digital Byte Webinars, Courtesy of WVLS!

Check out these two great Digital Bytes webinars provided by Jamie Matczak
of Wisconsin Valley Library Service!

Having Unpleasant Conversations (During a Pandemic):
https://youtu.be/1bExfzVU3Lo

9 minutes

Communication Tips (While Wearing a Mask):
https://youtu.be/B-YLLQ65YYU

8 minutes: while wearing a mask. 

Re-Opening Issues YSS blog COVID-19 series:

WI Library Reopening Guide Addendum 4/6/21

The Mask Ask – Strategies for Cooperation  11/15/20

You Are not Alone – Coping with Your New Library Life  9/19/20

Decisions, Decisions – Thinking About Fall, School and Your Library  8/5/20 

Back to School Considerations and Tips for Libraries  8/15/20

We’re Re-opening – You’ve Got This!  7/15/20

We’re Re-opening – Should We Do In-Person Programming This Fall?  7/9/20

Digital Bytes – Unpleasant Convos (During a Pandemic) & Communication Tips (While Wearing a Mask)  7/7/20

We’re Re-opening – Wisconsin Public Libraries Reopening Guide  6/4/20

We’re Re-opening – Coping with Reluctant Patrons and Programming 6/3/20

We’re Re-Opening – Cleaning and Disinfecting Youth Areas  5/13/20

COVID-19 and Libraries: Your Questions Answered with Dr. Dipesh Navsaria (webinar) 5/19/20

Written Communication Tips Webinar

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

This post is from Leah Langby, IFLS Library Development and Youth Services Coordinator. She shared this valuable resource on our  statewide wispublib listserv:

Hi folks,

Last year we hosted Wisconsin Literacy’s Beth Gaytan for an outstanding webinar about clearing up written communication to make it easier to read and comprehend for everyone, and especially for people who struggle to read.  The recording was only available for 2 weeks after the fact, but Wisconsin Literacy has graciously agreed to make the recording available for another month.

It’s especially relevant now, when even more of our communication is written. It’s so good!   Available until May 7.

Here’s the recording.

Thanks for all your hard work, everyone!