TNLA 2025 Conference

As observations of escalated behaviors have increased, employees who interact with the public need fresh tools for realistic expectations, healthy boundaries, and authentic connection. In this highly interactive workshop, we look at the crucial role of purpose, keys to prevent power struggles, and what to do when you need to exit an interaction.
This workshop focuses on escalation prevention, and mental health for employees and the public they serve. This workshop does not address conflict that includes physical violence, but rather the cumulative weight of engaging with increased anger, outbursts, and anxiety.
**Separate registration required.  Please register at the TNLA website.**

Let's dive into specific ways generative AI tools can help create engaging content, design program materials, simplify administrative tasks and even personalize some patron experiences - no technical expertise required. Forget the 'why' and 'how' of AI; this presentation is all about 'what' you can accomplish with these tools in your library today.
**Separate registration required.  Please register at the TNLA website.**

Designing children's programming with intentionality; honor the voices of young library users by modeling active listening while planning activities that allow children to question, explore, and participate in their own learning.

From exhibits featuring 20th century cameras, genealogy research tea parties, and telling spooky local history stories on YouTube, the Chattanooga Public Library's Local History & Genealogy department has been doing it all to share their resources with their patrons. In this panel, Meagan Grim of the Chattanooga Public Library will be discussing how the Local History & Genealogy department has been able to show off their collections through exhibits, programming, and social media.

This presentation explains the development of two hip hop programs in the Memphis Public Library system: the Hip Hop Community Takeover and the Hip Hop Gen X: Class Reunion. These programs featured internationally recognized artists like Al Kapone, DJ Spanish Fly, Tommy Wright III, among others at small branch libraries. They were the result of coordinated efforts between colleges and universities, journalists, non-profits, clergy, and layperson experts brought together by a single librarian. We will examine how any librarian can lean into their network using lessons learned from the DIY (Do It Yourself) community to produce epic programming across The Music State.

Libraries are better with supportive, functional Friends. From healing fractured relationships to convincing groups to fund projects to drafting MOUs, this session provides practical advice to address common pitfalls and pain points and to build a productive and peaceful Friends of the Library group.

Storytime can serve as one of the most profound learning experiences for children, allowing them to naturally comprehend their surroundings through story and play. By utilizing developmental milestones and the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TNELDS), the Audrey Pack Memorial Library has successfully crafted a storytime program that facilitates a smooth transition for young learners into pre-K and kindergarten classrooms.

During this presentation, hear a lively conversation from the entire Tech Services team about the importance of streamlining, empowerment, and teamwork in creating a fun, proactive, and dynamic environment that stands in stark contrast to the traditional reputation of Tech Services departments. We will discuss seven years of collaboration and transformational changes ranging from incremental to fundamental while reviewing successes and failures. Engage with us in a candid discussion on a variety of topics from mundane Tech Services tasks to fun team building. Hear how team-oriented leadership empowers everyone to "get stuff done” while also making time for bling, capes, cookies, and regular outings.

In the summer of 2024, I combined my work as an academic librarian, my commitment to open-access publishing, and my amateur mushroom hunting antics by creating Fungi of Lambuth: A Field Guide on our Digital Commons at the University of Memphis Lambuth. This guide features photographs of mushrooms I found entirely on our campus, along with information to help students, faculty, and staff learn about my finds and begin their own mushroom hunts. In this session, I'll share why I wanted to create this resource, what the process was like, and how you can use open-access publishing to create your own campus nature guides and get your colleagues and students out exploring nature!

Norris Community Library and Rocky Top Public Library discuss the planning and implementation of their seed library and community garden. Get tips and tricks on how to find community partners, manage the budgeting and deal with any unexpected issues along the way.

After almost four years of trying to figure out how the Chattanooga Public Library could help bring free rides to children in our community, Read & Ride was born! Read & Ride, the pilot partnership between CPL and CARTA, ran from June 1-July 31 in conjunction with the Summer Learning Program at CPL with the express intention of facilitating free bus rides for children 6-18. It has been so successful that CARTA is publicly speaking about the possibility of year-round free rides for minors. There are very few of the 19 urban and municipal transit systems (or the 9 rural public transportation systems) that currently provide free rides to children 18 and under, so opportunities to increase access to transportation for their young patrons are out there! Session attendees will hopefully learn from CPL’s failures and successes to leave with at least one strategy with which to approach a collaborative project with their own transit system.

Learn about a teen program used in a public library to explore primary sources. Help teens explore local history and investigate a murder from days gone by. Have your teens ever wanted to solve crimes? Do they have what it takes to be a librarian or an archivist? Learn how to put their deductive skills to the test in this spooky historical investigation.