2019 Pacific Northwest Library Association Conference

This panel will consider library and archives mentorship programs from both the mentor and mentee perspective. Panelists will discuss their experience with both informal and formal mentoring programs occurring within professional organizations and at different types of institutions, including archives and special collections, public, school, and academic libraries. Panelists will focus on a breadth of mentoring relationships, including those with staff, paraprofessionals, teachers, administrators, peers, colleagues, and continuing education opportunities with students. Discussions may include the challenges and opportunities that come from mentoring across generations, gender, age, geographic distance, and at different points within a career. Panelists will provide tips on how to assess the success of mentoring relationships, how to develop shared goals and understanding, useful forms and other materials, and how to make these relationships successful for both the mentor and mentee.

The Latino population of many states in the Pacific Northwest is over 20% and growing. How can the public library best engage and serve this community? Library Director Jenny Berg will tell the story of five years of increasing involvement with Latinos in McMinnville, Oregon, a town of 34,000. Utilizing available resources, making a case for engagement, and working with partners, funders, and staff the McMinnville Public Library is a city department leading the way in building strong relationships with Latinos. This will be a fun and interactive program where attendees can exchange ideas about how they might better form cross cultural connections. 

• >Make the case for engagement outside of the library walls
• >Utilize existing resources to engage Latinos in your community
• >Create partnerships to grow cross cultural connections 

With growing budget constraints, it is hard to find resources for capital projects, not to mention invest in new innovations to enhance a patron’s experience. Learn the steps to creating a grassroots capital campaign in your library from start to finish—identifying donors and community partners, leveraging matching funds, and seeking grant opportunities. We will use the Spokane Public Library as an example to learn how they privately fundraised just shy of $200,000 for the remote access 24/7 library in a year’s time. 
Learning Goals: How to identify potential partners, learn strategies to identify donors and project management  

Using 10 to Try, the King County Library System's annual reading challenge as a model, we'll explore how and why to offer a theme-based reading challenge in your library. We'll discuss designing a program with goals and outcomes in mind as well as how to implement the program and evaluate your stated outcomes. Reading challenges are easily adaptable for libraries of all sizes, and we'll brainstorm ways you can supersize or downsize a challenge to make it work for your staff and community. We'll also look at the ways that a themed challenge can inspire other readers' advisory efforts, from displays and booklists to staff development, events, and even a podcast.  

What does it take to partner with state and national parks?
Mike Gauthier, Superintendent of Nez Perce National Historical Park, Whitman Mission National Historic Site and Big Hole National Battlefield, has successfully partnered with libraries to encourage and extend access to public lands and parks. Case studies from Yosemite NP, Olympic NP, and Nez Perce NHP demonstrate how libraries and parks both benefit when together they tell the stories of our nation's extraordinary natural and cultural resources and rich heritage.

On a state level learn what Carolyn Petersen, Rural Library consultant, Washington State Library, needed to do to launch a pilot program this spring which enables 4 Washington public libraries to check out Discover passes to Washington’s state parks. The Discover Pass goes out with a backpack containing binoculars, a common animal and plants guide, and an evaluation guide.

1. what's necessary for a successful collaboration 2. how to evaluate program 3. lessons learned