TNLA 2025 Conference

TNLA 2025 Conference

Welcome to the 2025 Tennessee Library Association Conference #tnla25! We’re glad you’re here. Build your schedule below, and be sure to check the More Info page for additional conference details.

9:00am EDT

De-escalation in the Workplace Meeting Room 9Karin Peabody Talk About Worldbuilding: Teens and TTRPG Mapmaking Meeting Room 10Kip Polmanteer • Shannon Bismark

1:30pm EDT

Lessons from Retail: How to Analyze Space to Increase Circulation Meeting Room 10David Vinjamuri The Great Equalizer: Generative AI Tools for Public Library Staff Meeting Room 9Jason Sullivan • Public Libraries Roundtable

4:45pm EDT

TNLA Board Meeting Meeting Room 10Cathy Farley

8:30am EDT

Back to the Basics: Law (Foundations) for Libraries Meeting Room 11Erika Long • Xan Lasko Beyond Funding: Outreach Approaches for Grant Funded Projects Meeting Room 2Carolyn Runyon • Molly Copeland (she/her) • Sara Kaparos • John Morton Bridging the Divide: Information & Digital Literacy Partnerships to Reach Underserved Communities in TN Meeting Room 10Maggie Albro • Charles Barthel How Can a Book and a Shot Save a Life Meeting Room 17Elizabeth Harland • Katherine Horn No Longer Bound: Details of the Massive Periodical Deselection Project at East Tennessee Meeting Room 16Katherine Libby • Blair Jones We hear you! Helping Children Find Their Voice Through Library Programming Meeting Room 9Cindy Wilkey

9:30am EDT

DIFFERENTIATED LEADERSHIP: Leading in an Anxious Workplace Meeting Rooms 4, 5, 6Karin Peabody

11:00am EDT

Free Time in Exhibits Ballrooms E, F, & G Exhibits Open Ballrooms E, F, & G

11:45am EDT

Intellectual Freedom Luncheon Ballroom HKent Oliver

1:10pm EDT

Academic Roundtable Business Meeting Meeting Room 17Kelly Tilton "We're Not Boring, I Swear!": Strategies for Showing Off Your Local History and Special Collections Meeting Room 9Meagan Grim Advancing Consumer Health in Rural Public Libraries: A Strategic Partnership Between a Medical Library and a Regional Public Library Meeting Room 16Martha Earl • David Petersen • Matthew Jordan Building Stronger Communities: Effective Fundraising and Partnership Strategies for Small Communities Meeting Room 11Daphanie Gragg Check Your Alignment: Getting Back to Basics with Student Employment Meeting Room 10Zoe Bastone • Susan Martel • Allison Scripa Fun with PLIX: a public library partnership with MIT Meeting Room 2Miria Webb

2:10pm EDT

Boundary Setting: Preventing Burnout in the Library Profession Meeting Room 2Jessica McClure • Cassandra Taylor • Alex Sharp Breaking into Libraries: Expectations vs. Realities Meeting Room 16Anthony Prince • Hannah Boyer • Kimberly Brownfield • Andrea Kincaid Cataloging Fundamentals: Principles and Practices Meeting Room 17Tiffany Day Hustle and Know: Hip Hop Programing, DIY, and Leaning Into Your Network Meeting Room 9Skyler Gambert Measuring What Matters: a Back-to-basics Approach to Library Assessment Meeting Room 11Jenny Harris • Erik Nordberg Resume and Interviewing Tips Meeting Room 10Richard Groves • Madisen Kirkland

3:10pm EDT

Better with Friends: Navigating Common Challenges to Strengthen Your Friends Group Meeting Room 9Kathy Dooley-Smith Honest, Direct, and Kind: The Library Manager’s Guide to Tough Conversations Meeting Room 17Sharon Edwards Inventory: It's more than scanning! Meeting Room 10Tiffany Day • Krystal White Librarianship and Social Work: Complimentary, Not Competing, Professions for Society’s Benefit? Meeting Room 11Frank Lambert The Basics That Bend: Getting Back to Core Principles in Library Outreach Meeting Room 16Nancy Gibson • April Parker Words Matter: Exploring the Discourse of Book Bans in TN Meeting Room 2Shawn Hinkel • Janet Isbell

4:10pm EDT

Don't Drop Kirby: How to Build a Teen Advisory Board from Nothing Meeting Room 11Will Sutton Getting Fit with the Library: How to Incorporate Fitness into Programming for Libraries of Every Size Meeting Room 17Christina Sawyers Growing Library Gardens Meeting Room 16Brooke Marsh • Kelsi Gately • Chattanooga Public Library Promoting School-Readiness Skills Through Storytime Meeting Room 9Cindy Wilkey • Angela Knox The Lazy Librarian's Guide to Building a Culture of Reading: The Easiest Things You Can Do to Encourage Book Love for Children Meeting Room 2 The Librarian in the Mirror: Reflective Practice for Professional Growth Meeting Room 10Julie Lewis

5:00pm EDT

UTK SIS Alumni Reception

7:00pm EDT

All-Conference Reception AT&T Field

8:30am EDT

Children's & YA Roundtable Business Meeting Meeting Room 17Lily Woodside • Lyn Hunter • Children's and Young Adult Roundtable Forgot Your Why: Shedding the Superhero Cape and Gaslighting Phrases Meeting Room 16Caroline Mickey Interlibrary Loan: Basics and Etiquette Meeting Room 2Lily Woodside So What's a Library Doing in a Prison? Meeting Room 11Willetta Grady • Wiletta Grady Streamlining and Empowerment: A 7-Year Retrospective of How We Made Tech Services Better at ChattState Meeting Room 9Betsy Fronk • Cassie Novak • Marie Cullis • Anthony Prince Taking Control of Your Story: Telling your story to the most important person (you!) Meeting Room 10William O'Hearn

9:00am EDT

Exhibits Open Ballrooms E, F, & G

9:30am EDT

Technical Services Roundtable Business Meeting Meeting Room 17Tiffany Day Fostering Autistic Inclusion in Middle Tennessee Libraries Meeting Room 10Carolyn Runyon • Alesia Burnley • Casey Davis • Jessica Jeffers • Kathryn Wisinger • Amy Correia Information Literacy in the Time of AI Meeting Room 11Emory LaPrade Mushroom for All: Creating an Open-Access Guide to Campus Mushroom Hunting as an Academic Librarian Meeting Room 9Kelly Maust The ONEAL Project: negotiation education for library workers Meeting Room 16Courtney F The ‘Little’ Hatch Act: Balancing Library Advocacy and Not Getting Fired Meeting Room 2Sharon Edwards • William Quinn • Kelly Tilton

10:20am EDT

Free Time in Exhibits Ballrooms E, F, & G

11:10am EDT

TNLA DEI Committee Business Meeting Meeting Room 17 ADHD and the Library Profession Meeting Room 2Courtney Lewis Back to Basics: Rebuilding Student Engagement and Outreach Post-COVID Meeting Room 16Lydia Gwyn • Jonathan Wilson • East Tennessee State University Beyond Books: Exploring the Possibilities of Non-Traditional Collections Meeting Room 10Richard Groves • Crissy Varnell Nurturing Your Community Through Library Agriculture Meeting Room 9Kimberlee Byrge • Kelly Harris Putting Some "Fun" in the Fundamentals of Locating Government Publications Meeting Room 11Perveen Rustomfram • Bess Robinson

12:00pm EDT

Trustee /Friends of the Library Luncheon Ballroom HAlison Lebovitz • Friends of Tennessee Libraries

1:30pm EDT

Public Library Roundtable Business Meeting Meeting Room 17Dinah Harris • Public Library Roundtable Constructed and Contextual: Exploring Concepts of Authority through the Creation of Student Zines Meeting Room 11Amanda Roper Pushing Back Against Censorship in TN Libraries: One Group's Experience Meeting Room 16Frank Lambert • Keri Lambert • Jessica Robertson Read a Good Book Lately Meeting Room 2Jamie Osborn • Cathy Farley • Jennifer Cowan-Henderson • Michael Hale Read and Ride: A Pilot Partnership Between Chattanooga Public Library and the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority Meeting Room 9Lyn Hunter They are called Comics for a Reason: Humorous Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens Meeting Room 10Scot Smith

2:30pm EDT

Beyond Books: How Libraries Can Offer Even More Basic Skills to Our Youngest Children Meeting Room 10Erica deBin • Shelley Headrick Encouraging the Anxious: Free and Low Cost Events to Lift Spirits in the Academic Library Meeting Room 16Jan Cohu • Michaela Rutledge • Jules LeFort-Cleary Generative AI Sandbox: Hands-On Learning for Beginners Meeting Room 11William Quinn Haunted History: Teaching Teens About Primary Sources Meeting Room 9Dottie Higgs • Brittany Mountford • Okland Scott Library Data Storytelling: From Data to Narrative Meeting Room 17Dwight Hunter • Andrea Kincaid The Basics of Becoming a Good Leader in Your Workspace. How and Why? Meeting Room 2Rebeckah Coleman