Professional Development

Conference reports and more from ZSR Librarians

2025 Core Forum

Core Forum is the annual conference for ALA’s newest division, Core: Leadership, Infrastructures, Futures. It brings together librarians and information providers in central roles of buildings & operations, leadership & management, metadata & collections, and technology. The conference focuses on six tracks or content areas: Access & Equity Buildings & Operations Leadership & Management Metadata... more

Morgan @ Beyond the Numbers Conference

From Wednesday, November 12th to Friday, November 14th I attended one of my favorite conferences, the Beyond the Numbers Conference (BTN) hosted by the Research Division of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Held every other year at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in St. Louis, MO, this conference is designed for librarians and... more

RIO @ NCLA 2025

Over four days in October (Oct. 14–17), downtown Winston‑Salem became a hub for North Carolina’s library community as the North Carolina Library Association (NCLA) held its 66th Biennial Conference. Z. Smith Reynolds Library (ZSR) contributed throughout—serving on planning committees, sharing work in sessions and posters, and engaging as attendees. In this post, members of ZSR’s... more

Steve at the 2025 NOTSL Fall Meeting

TL;DR: Technical Services work has changed a lot over the past 3 decades, but it’s still a vital part of libraries. On Friday, October 3rd, I was honored to give the keynote address at the annual online meeting of NOTSL (Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians). I was asked to talk about the changes I have... more

Jemma at NCLA Conference 2025

In October, I had the chance to attend and present at the 2025 NCLA Conference, and it ended up being one of the most rewarding professional development experiences I’ve had so far. I co-presented “Redefining the Librarian Role: Advocates, Designers, Marketers, and More” with colleagues from the NCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Library Advocacy... more

Rodrigo at Designing Libraries for the 21st Century

The Designing Libraries for the 21st Century conference brings together architects, designers, planners, IT professionals, library administrators, and librarians from multiple disciplines to explore emerging trends, challenges, and achievements in library space design. This year’s conference was hosted at the University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries. Pre-Conference The Pre-conference, Designing With, Not For: Igniting Human-Centered... more

Colleen at MAC-MLA, Baltimore, Maryland

Membership in the Mid Atlantic Chapter (MAC) of the Medical Library Association (MLA) includes medical and health science librarians from North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and western Pennsylvania. This chapter has met in person every year since 1981! I’m glad to have had the opportunity to attend this year’s MAC-MLA conference in Baltimore, Maryland... more

ZSR and Barry Takes to the Sky

This summer the ZSR Administration team was kind enough to use some end-of-year funding to purchase a new camera drone. The idea is to use said drone for taking photos and videos of the library and all of our various events and spaces going forward from a whole new perspective! After a bit of research... more

Denice, Joddy, and Melde at ASERL Library Technology Immersion Conference

Denice, Melde and I (Joddy) traveled to Hunt Library in Raleigh, NC on Aug 20 – 22 to attend the Library Technology Immersion Conference organized by ASERL and NC LIVE – a chance to learn about innovative technologies in libraries. Denice Lewis The ASERL Library Technology Immersion Conference always presents a diverse range of technologies... more

Kathy @ NCICU Library Resources Group Meeting

On August 6, I represented ZSR at the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) Library Resources Group Meeting at the Carlyle Campbell Library at Meredith College in Raleigh. This group comprises institutions from across the state, and at this particular meeting there were folks from as far west as Mars Hill University and as... more