Southern Library Support Staff Conference 2026

Libraries are uniquely positioned as community-centered institutions, yet the emotional labor required of library staff is often underrecognized and underdeveloped. This session explores how cultivating emotional intelligence (EI) among library employees can strengthen internal workplace culture while deepening meaningful connections with patrons and community partners.Drawing on practical examples from library settings, the presentation highlights how emotionally intelligent practices—such as empathetic communication, emotional self-awareness, and trauma-informed service—support collaboration, reduce workplace conflict, and promote staff well-being. Participants will examine how these same skills extend outward, shaping more inclusive, welcoming patron interactions and strengthening the library’s role as a trusted community hub.Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for embedding emotional intelligence into staff training, leadership practices, and daily service interactions. By intentionally leveraging emotional intelligence, libraries can foster resilient teams, build authentic relationships, and create spaces where both employees and community members feel seen, supported, and connected.

In an age when the very foundation of library service undergoes swift and unrelenting change, a solemn obligation to bind patrons to knowledge through profound and inventive means stands even more imperative.  This session presents a practical, relationship-centered approach to strengthening library engagement while responding to rapid changes reshaping library services at a R1/Top 100 research institution to support faculty and students in their research endeavors. This is done through the forging of powerful and creative library instruction and leveraging multiple software platforms with the end goal of creating that genuine human connection.  


Rather than relying solely on traditional one-shot library instruction sessions, the presenters will focus on sustained engagement: showing up in student spaces, attending organization meetings, collaborating on events, and using those relationships to design more relevant and effective instruction experiences and memorable moments for the patron. Along with the direct human engagement, the presenters will focus on technology’s measured yet informative role to extending the library’s outreach beyond the classroom. The use of LibGuides to create impactful subject guides with curated information and library resources, leveraging software platforms like LibCal through Springshare to create a in real-time-research consultation booking platform, where students and faculty can book specific time slots with a librarian, and redesigning the library’s web presence so information is easily accessible in the chaotic world wide web.  


Together, these approaches highlight relationship-building, student-centered teaching, and purposeful use of technology—elements that, when combined, spark innovation and deepen human connection. The session will feature real-world examples and candid reflections on both successes and challenges. Attendees will leave with adaptable ideas they can bring back to their own libraries to foster student success through personal engagement and effective use of technology. 

Join me for a fun, relaxing session as I share with you some of the books I have read this year, loved, disliked, thought-provoking.  And then ask that everyone participate in sharing something they have read this year, with the hopes that everyone has a few adds to their TBR list. 

Community On Full Display: How Book Displays Strengthen Connections in the Library - Cyrenity Augestin
This lightning talk will explore and expand upon the way that book displays, a task typically overlooked, can serve as a stage for larger conversations. Through taking the initiative of including personal anecdotes and reaching out to patrons within the community for title contributions, the library can add a personal touch to their book displays and create connections between the patrons that visit the library. Furthermore, it allows patrons to learn more about the people who make the library such a special place, whether that is through their interactions at the desk, or the unseen work behind the scenes. Creating book displays in an intentional and meaningful way not only creates connection between patrons but also allows patrons to further connect with the people they see every day behind the circulation desk.

Sowing Knowledge: Seed Libraries as Outreach - Kelseigh Bien; Taylor McPeake
UT Libraries' Seed Library is a free resource for the campus community to "check out" seeds for growing herbs, vegetables, flowers, and more! We will discuss how this initiative has presented numerous unique outreach and collaboration opportunities that have immensely contributed to our engagement efforts. This program has offered us a creative new approach to engagement overall, and we will share in detail how this has benefitted both the Libraries and the patrons we serve.

Surprise Date with a Book - Your library's path to inclusivity and patron engagement. - McKindree Borges & Nichaela Williams
At the end of the day, everything we do is done for the patrons. Therefore, patron engagement should always be top of mind when it comes to any involvement activities. At the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library, one of our biggest engagement days of the year is February 14th, also known as Valentine’s Day. We hand-wrap books, write witty descriptions about them, include student engagement materials in the wrapping, and make pin-back buttons for students. Patrons will come up and check out a book without ever seeing the cover or knowing the title! Notably, this event requires pulling books to wrap that are representative of the demographics of the patrons in your library. That is why our curated list of books includes LGBTQIA+ authors, Black authors, Female authors, and other marginalized voices that are often forgotten in such activities. This interactive workshop will include a presentation about why and how we do Surprise Date with a Book, real feedback from patrons about the event, and a how-to session working with attendees on actually making and wrapping books and materials.

Whose Catalog?: Homosaurus as a Pathway to LGBTQ+ Belonging - Jude Romines (PowerPoint uploaded, link below speakers)
Since 2021, Emory University Libraries (EUL) has been adding Homosaurus, a linked data vocabulary of LGBTQ+ terms, to bibliographic records in the catalog. The goal of this project is to increase the discoverability of LGBTQ+ resources, which are often under-described due to various factors, including representational gaps in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and the challenge of retroactively enhancing older records. While correcting outdated and harmful language and increasing access have been at the forefront of EUL's Homosaurus project, positive feedback from faculty, staff, and students has demonstrated another benefit: fostering a sense of belonging and affirmation in catalog users. This presentation will explore Homosaurus as a cataloging tool at EUL, share lessons learned from our outreach efforts, and discuss how this work creates pathways for education while nurturing the library community's sense of representation and ownership in catalog systems.

It takes a village: Collaborating with a family resource center to improve access to consumer health information - Kayce Gill (PowerPoint uploaded, link below speakers)
The Family Resource Center (FRC) staff at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center faced significant challenges impacting their ability to provide health information to patients and their families. Some of the challenges included inadequate staff access to Alma, missing items, catalog records with incomplete and/or wrong metadata, and a paper-based checkout process. To address these issues, the Eskind Biomedical Library staff collaborated with the FRC staff to implement a multi-faceted plan: establish Alma accounts and staff training, conduct a systematic print inventory using Alma's print inventory tool, reconcile discrepancies between physical holdings and Alma records, and withdraw obsolete materials. Eskind staff also created shelf categories to make browsing easier for patrons and developed an Alma Analytics dashboard with key data to assist the FRC staff with loan statistics. Future projects include developing a plan for lost items as well as finding a way to combine print books and ebooks into one catalog. 

Meeting Students Where They Are: Promoting Electronic Resources at University of Florida's Annual Fall Fest - Sheri L. Edwards
Each Fall semester, the University of Florida (UF) Libraries engages in a self-created outreach program known as "Fall Fest."  The program is designed to draw students of all levels to information booths that promote various services and resources the UF Libraries offer.  Fall Fests in 2024 and 2025 revealed a gap in the promotion of electronic resources specifically, resulting in the electronic resources unit (ERU) creating various pocket-sized cards to denote databases of electronic resources geared toward for various majors.  This lightning round describes the processes and work that went into the ERU making connections with students outside our typical behind-the-scenes work of setting up and troubleshooting access to electronic resources.  This lightning round also discusses learning objectives for our audience and recommended electronic resources-based outreach for future Fall Fests.

How can we expand access in our collections to patrons who need our materials but are unable to get that access? Whether that lack of access is through lack of adequate copies or simply lack of knowledge that the materials exist. By using WKU Libraries BIOL 131 A&P Bones Study Sessions program as an example, we will explain how to best assess your collection and see if there is need that is not being met and how to create a program to address that.

Past experiences often define who we are today.  Our past has led and shaped each of us into the person we are now, but no one shares the same path in life.  Differences in backgrounds are what make each of us unique in our daily lives and future pursuits.  Today we'll hear from three individuals working in the same field of information science, each with very different pathways that led them to where they are now.  Bryn Murphy, Joanna Tuskey, and Riley Vagis share more about their individual pathways and stories and discuss the skills they have learned and utilized along the way in their professional pursuits.

Library users and their expectations for services and collections are evolving, resulting in libraries being proactively responsive to providing services. In the 2020 Spring Semester, the University of Houston Music Library, along with the rest of the world, transitioned to a fully online remote environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This transition required creative solutions to maintain mission-critical library services in a digital environment. This pivot was transformative to the workplace and to the life of the patron and included: digitization on demand, curbside pickup, virtual reference and library drop boxes. 
In 2025, a music faculty member requested the assistance of a library staff to support the advanced research needs of visually impaired students in the music library, at the University of Houston. Collaboration with University of Houston’s Justin Dart, Jr. Student Accessibility Center. [1] and UH Libraries administration, led to the access and circulation of a Da Vinci Pro Device. [2] 
In this presentation, Eric Larsen and Michelle M. Joseph, support staff at the University of Houston Music Library, will share their personal narratives of crucial decision-making in times of high-change and high-stakes. Eric and Michelle will further engage participants, through a guided reflection, on their transformative practices using the formative assessment tool, Plickers.[3] 
 
 
 
[1] See https://www.uh.edu/accessibility/index.php
[2] Da Vinci Pro device “a high-performance desktop video magnifier for individuals with low vision.”
[3] Plickers “collect real-time formative data, that gives participants feedback which determining learning pathways.”

In the demanding environment of Access Services, we can often “lose the forest for the trees” by letting daily operational demands overshadow core principles that ensure departmental success. This session explores a strategic approach to leadership that fosters a productive and healthy work environment by mentoring and supporting library staff to model departmental expectations and core principles for student employees at an academic library. This methodology emphasizes the importance of adapting leadership styles to the unique needs of individual team members while maintaining a consistent standard of accountability at all levels. 


Using three real-world examples, this presentation will illustrate how a healthy work environment is maintained through intentional collaboration, self-reflection, and compassionate conflict resolution. The presentation will also examine how the performance, morale, and retention of student employees serves as a direct reflection of the culture and collaborative spirit established by library leadership and staff. 

The presentation will be divided into three parts: an introduction, a description of the three real-world examples from the speaker's library and how they serve a thriving work environment, and a guided self-reflection for attendees to apply some of the methods discussed to meet needs and challenges at their home institutions.