I had the privilege of attending several educational seminars over this past year, and I gained helpful knowledge and insight from all of them.  I am very thankful for WMRL's continued support of these opportunities for our staff here at Ruth Enlow Library.

In September 2013, I attended a webinar in Oakland titled Dealing with Difficult Patrons.  We watched Dr. Steve Albrecht demonstrate how to deal with problem patrons in an effective manner and in a way that is minimally disruptive to the other library patrons.  I especially appreciated the emphasis on the need for proper enforcement of the Library Codes of Conduct to help avoid escalating situations, as well as the communication tools that he gave us for helping to calm an angry or unstable person in the library.  My only criticism of this presentation was that the slide presentation was not very engaging or interactive.

In November 2013, I attended the annual MD Statewide Circulation Conference in Prince George's County.  I was able to see the brand new library there, which was really enjoyable.  It is always interesting to visit other libraries to see how they arrange their collections and displays.  We enjoyed a delightful presentation on "Books & Butterflies: an ecologist looks at libraries as an ecosystem" by Dr. Leslie Ries in which she compared various facets of the environmental ecosystems to the functions of the library.  I also attended a workshop entitled "Let's talk circulation" where we collectively discussed various topics of interest that affect libraries and how to handle situations that can arise in every library (people talking loudly, homeless patrons, computer usage rules, overdue fines, etc.)  This was especially helpful as a variety of people shared innovative ideas for dealing with these situations.  My last workshop there was titled, "A Step Above: what it means to be an effective supervisor" lead by Moniek Frasier.  This was by far my favorite and most helpful session at this conference.  She was an engaging speaker with years of supervisory experience, and she provided many helpful hints on being an excellent supervisor in an informative, interactive fashion.  I have implemented a few of her ideas, including acknowledging years of service for my staff in some special way along with notes to articulate how vital they are to our workplace.

Also in November 2013, I attended the annual WMRL Summit in Frostburg.  As always, the interaction with our neighboring county libraries was enjoyable and helpful.  I participated in the Yoga session on stretching, which I found extremely useful for long days at a computer desk.  The Disaster Preparedness seminar was disappointing; it was not dealing with the aspect of library security that I had thought it would, and I didn't find the information very practical or helpful for me in the library setting.  Maurice Coleman's presentation of online resources was very informative and enjoyable (he is always a great presenter!!).

Finally, in March 2014, I attended a day-long seminar on Mental Health First Aid.  The presenters did a very good job of giving us the tools we need to assist people who have special needs.  The booklet we received is a great resource, as well as the 211 phone number that we discovered is available to people all over the state who are needing special assistance in a variety of areas.  It did seem like the information could have been condensed into a half-day seminar, as much of it was repetitive for the various scenarios which were presented.  But it was still an overall worthwhile educational opportunity.