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.

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.

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.”