MLA 2021 Virtual Conference Archives

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The CryptoLibrary: NFTs, Copyright, and the Future of Intellectual Property on the Blockchain

This session aims to give participants an introduction to the latest innovation from the world of cryptocurrencies- non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. NFTs allow digital assets to be minted as unique items that can be verified and traced back to their original provenance. This will make the impossible possible and revolutionize all aspects of our lives- finance, art, entertainment, education, etc. Come to the CryptoLibrary to see the future of the blockchain.

Finance and Budgeting for Libraries

Sound financial management is the cornerstone of a healthy bottom line. With this session, you will increase your financial awareness from the professionals and learn how to implement these tools in the real-world library setting.

Transforming Teen Services

Transforming Teen Services is a nationwide initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association. Transforming Teen Services aims to support and elevate teen services in libraries and other learning environments by integrating connected learning, computational thinking, and youth development to help build responsive services for and with teens.

Not Just Talking Heads: Building Community Through Interviews

Media consolidation is a recognized problem for smaller towns that no longer receive coverage in local newspapers or other media outlets unless a negative event happens. Community spirit can dissolve as residents never hear about good things happening in their town. The Parchment Community Library's solution is a weekly interview series titled "Parchment Update." Community members can watch video interviews online or listen to audio podcast versions. This session covers the logistics of how to build community by developing your own interview series to let your local voices be heard.

Going Forward from the Pandemic: Libraries’ Role in Economic Recovery

As drivers of local innovation and job creation, entrepreneurs and small businesses must have deep support in order to help communities recover and move forward from the pandemic. Public libraries have an essential part to play in strengthening the local support network for entrepreneurs and small businesses, particularly for professionals from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. Urban Libraries Council members united in 2020 to launch an action team focused on identifying immediate ways that all libraries can better support entrepreneurs and small businesses in the post-pandemic world. Working together, this team helped to launch ULC's Closing the Entrepreneurship Gap Toolkit, which provides a framework to advance libraries of any size and strengthen their role as an entrepreneurial and small business hub. In this session, leaders from this team will discuss how they have innovated and stepped beyond in-person programming to address key challenges in their work to support local businesses and entrepreneurs, including narrowing digital and physical access barriers. Team members will also share general strategies and action steps to help attendees apply an equity lens in order to advance economic recovery in their own communities.