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| OhioNET News & Updates | February 2021
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From the Executive Director —
On a cold Friday morning less than three months ago, in the early hours before the sun had crossed the central Minnesota horizon, my mother passed away as I sat nearby. I spent the next few hours cleaning and sorting her things and I came across some of her correspondence, including letters I and others had written to her in the past few years. I am honored that she kept them, and I hope that reading them made her feel loved and connected across the distance.
Letter writing is really powerful, isn’t it? I recently reread Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” written on April 16, 1963. If you haven’t read it in its entirety, stop what you are doing and go read it. Right now. I’ll wait.
Many are familiar with the quote “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” but there is so much more to be found in this letter. Dr. King provides us with a template for fighting injustice – injustice that unfortunately has not changed substantially since he penned this letter almost 58 years ago. He calls on his colleagues to do more than provide a “superficial social analysis” – he calls for action and change.
At the 2021 ALA Midwinter Virtual Conference, the ALA Council passed a “Resolution to Condemn White Supremacy and Fascism as Antithetical to Library Work.” The vote was 160 for the measure, four against, and two abstentions. The resolution is an acknowledgement of and apology for past wrongs in librarianship, and a commitment to do better. I hope that this resolution rises above superficial social analysis and fosters demonstrable, measurable actions in our field.
As we engage in the inevitable discourse that will and should arise from this action, let us keep in mind something else that Dr. King said in this famous letter - “Constructive nonviolent tension is necessary for growth.” Let us not back away from the discomfort that comes from these necessary conversations, but rather embrace it, knowing that a better future awaits us if we’re but willing to do the real work.
Be well,
Nancy
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| New year, new training opportunity: Virtual Workshops
As we pivoted to online-only training (for now), we started thinking creatively about how to offer a wider variety of learning opportunities in this virtual space, knowing that travel budgets and staffing levels may be slow to rebound even after the pandemic. To help us continue to provide high-quality interactive learning options, we are pleased to announce the launch of a new training format — virtual workshops!
Virtual workshops will be designed for real-time attendance and engagement and will provide access to more in-depth, project-driven topics. Only virtual workshop registrants will have access to session recordings — links to these events will not be available in the Training Archive. Space will be limited and registrants should be prepared to complete brief readings and assignments between (or before) workshop meetings.
We’re offering members an exclusive chance to preview this new training format this spring at no charge. Our first virtual workshop topic will cover the creation of effective and engaging annual reports with additional workshop topics coming soon. Click the title link below for more information and registration options, or visit our blog post all about virtual workshops.
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Continuing Education & Professional Development
Read about this month's featured online learning opportunities below, or visit our Events Calendar to view detailed descriptions of each session and register online.
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OhioNET has opened its Training Archive — a repository of the last 12 months of recorded webinars and professional development resources — to all members through June 30, 2021. Visit our blog to see what recordings were added between November of 2020 through January of 2021 and what will be leaving the Archive throughout February and March.
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February Member Exclusives
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OhioNET is happy to provide our members with a round-up of new product updates and eResource offers available in the first quarter of 2021.
View available offers, offer guidelines, and pricing on our blog.
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The 2021 OhioNET discount codes for a variety of supplies are now available to members on our website.
Do you order items from Demco, Gaylord Archival, Kapco, Staples, or one of the many other vendors we work with? Check out the current list on our Services and Resources page to make sure you are getting the most for your budget dollar. Members can log in to the OhioNET website any time.
Don't have a login for the OhioNET website yet? Click here to sign up today.
For questions and additional information, please contact Pam Rossman at pamr@ohionet.org.
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| Library Leadership Ohio returns in 2021
Library Leadership Ohio will be held virtually on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons over the span of three weeks in July and August. Applications for the program will open in mid-February. The event will be facilitated by OhioNET and The State Library of Ohio.
This year, an advisory committee was formed to provide insight and guidance to the planning committee and bring more diverse experiences and voices to LLO 2021. We are proud to announce our 2021 advisory committee members:
- Ione Damasco, Professor; Director of Information Acquisition and Organization, University of Dayton
- Eboni A. Johnson, Outreach and Programming Librarian, Oberlin College
- Michelle McKinney Leonard, Reference and Web Services Librarian, University of Cincinnati - Blue Ash
- Will Reed, Manager, Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, Cleveland Public Library
- Chris Robinson-Nkongola, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Bowling Green State University
- Kelly Silwani, Teacher-Librarian, Olentangy Orange Middle School
LLO 2021 will feature guest speakers known nationally and statewide who will speak to important topics in librarianship and leadership. The program welcomes any library employee working in public, school, special, and academic libraries; all are eligible to apply.
View the full release about LLO 2021 here. For questions, please contact Evan T. Struble, Associate State Librarian for Library Development at the State Library of Ohio, at estruble@library.ohio.gov or 614-752-9178.
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OhioNET closed February 15, 2021
Our office will be closed Monday, February 15 in observance of Presidents Day. We will reopen on Tuesday, February 16.
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