ULA Annual Conference 2025

In 2024, former Utah Library Association President Rebekah Cummings became the first librarian to run for Lt. Governor on a major party ticket in the United States. In addition to being a historic moment at the intersection of librarianship, advocacy, and public service, the selection of Rebekah as a Lt. Governor candidate highlights how the national book challenge battle has thrust librarians from the fringes of politics into the mainstream. In this presentation, Rebekah will share her inspirational seven-month journey on the campaign trail, the reasons that she now believes librarians are uniquely well-suited for public office, lessons learned, and a call to action to all librarians looking to engage in public service or run for public office.

Through personal narratives, we will discuss our paths to librarianship, how we defended ourselves as part of marginalized groups, and how our colleagues supported us through our journey. Resources will be shared.

Teens and Tweens patrons are busy people, so how can you inspire them to spend their limited time at the library? By offering "Return Programming"! From Bookopoly, to Plinko, to Junior Dungeons & Dragons, ongoing activities encourage readers to keep coming back and reward reluctant readers for trying something new. Join Kaitlin and Sarah as cover how to put a "Return Program" together, where to gather inspiration, and share some of their most successful ideas.

Librarianship as a profession often appeals to introverts. Working with books and seeing the regular patrons in a relatively quiet setting seems like the perfect job for the more reserved. But what happens when an introvert advances in their career and suddenly find themself in a leadership position? Can introverts be effective leaders? Yes! In this panel session we will hear from some great librarian leaders who are introverts and learn how being introverted actually helps them be effective leaders.

Scrapbooks from the 1960s Alpenbock Climbing Club were donated to the Library in 2006, but were only made publicly available in 2023. This presentation describes the challenges of a multi-author unpublished donation and my multi-step de-risking process so the library could publish the scrapbooks in the Digital Library. The digitized scrapbooks immediately received recognition. Scrapbook images were featured on the front-page of the Salt Lake Tribune and several other news stories highlighting the historical significance of these inspirational stories. This case study's process provides a framework for other complicated donations, especially for those working within a community.

Mid to late career librarianship is experienced differently by all of us, but can predictably have a powerful impact on our professional lives that can be measured and examined. For example, have you ever had a colleague say something like, "wow! you know everything about the library!" OR "you've been here that long!?" The mid to late career librarian can experience phenomena such as professional identity stressors, career plateaus, changing family responsibilities, leadership opportunities, burnout, political change, professional growth, working with younger generations, technology paradigm shifts, needs for refreshment & community, and plenty more. While this is well documented in the literature of management, private industry and elsewhere, the post-pandemic library is in a great position to foster this valuable conversation as we grow and contribute to the next generation of academic libraries. Panelists come from a variety of institutions in Utah and their panel interests follow:

Every librarian gets asked for help choosing a book, but sometimes it can be difficult to know what to recommend. This session will help you solve the mystery of what your patrons want to read.

Learn how to make inclusion a natural part of your library's operations -- without needing to overhaul programs, services, or resources. Multiple presenters will share their practical strategies, personal experiences, and key takeaways from creating more inclusive library spaces, programs, and offerings.

All libraries face the challenge of reaching the non-library user in their communities. Come listen to a panel of out-reach tasked librarians from academic, public (small and large), and special libraries discuss the challenges and opportunities of reaching out and engaging their communities. Learn from their failures and successes and gather outreach ideas for your own library.