Academic Library Friends Workshop

Sign up today for this workshop, designed for teams from academic libraries throughout the NEFLIN region. This workshop grew out of last year’s strategic planning work. This session is for academic libraries only, recognizing the unique issues that arise for Friends of the library in an academic setting.

This workshop is for you if

• You have a Friends’ group that meets, but you’re not sure what it does.
• You are wondering if it would be a good idea to establish a Friends’ group.
• You have a vigorous Friends group, but it sometimes is more combative than collaborative.
• You have the best friends ever, and want to keep them that way.

We strongly encourage at least two people from each library or campus — staff and a friend – to attend so they can work together during and after the workshop.

Among the topics covered:

• Friends and Advocacy – Influencing Decision-Makers within and Outside Your Campus
• Friends and Fund-Raising – Where does fund-raising specifically for library purposes fit into your overall institutional development effort?
• Friends and Staff Support – From volunteering at daily jobs to providing scholarships.
• Friends and Creative Programming – Ideas for Friends-sponsored author talks, lecture series.
• The nitty-gritty infrastructure issues
  • Legal issues – nonprofit status, bylaws, charter
  • Board organization – best practices
  • Friends-staff relationships and responsibilities
• Story-sharing, building on each other’s experience and ideas.

Outcomes
Attendees will leave this workshop with:

• Confidence in their ability to return and build strong and imaginative Friends’ groups.
• Specific techniques to strengthen existing Friends’ group.
• A plan of action for one to three years.
• Ways to identify and avert problems as Friends grow.
• Future follow-up and individual consultation with the workshop presenter will be available.

Presenter

Lawrence Webster has worked with Friends of the library groups for more than 25 years, including almost a decade with the Florida State Library as the specialist for Friends, Trustees, and Community Relations Consultant, and in her ongoing work with libraries and library organizations throughout the country. As a trainer, she is known for a tailored, hands-on approach to creating lively learning experience, designing workshops so participants leave with real, practical ways to put new information into practice. Lawrence also works with related organizations in the arts and media as well as government agencies concerned with libraries and cultural life. She believes that libraries – and many other agencies and institutions – need vigorous citizen involvement to remain relevant and viable.