This is part of a series of Session Notes from grantees who have received Professional Development grants from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries. Each grantee will share their professional development experience and include tips and other resources from the workshop or class. Grantees had their choice of an article for the Compendium, a webinar or a podcast. This project was made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Shu Qiu

by Shu Qiu

Working at the Dalton Community Library, which is located in a small town with population slightly over a thousand, I’ve been wearing many hats as the director.  I always look for opportunities to develop skills for management, technology, collection development, community partnership, etc.

In the fall of 2016, my board started planning to add a deck of 9’ X 18’ to the existing building to have more space for programs and events.  Our air-conditioning system will also need to be replaced.  To learn more about facilities management, I attended PaLA annual conference held at Kalahari in Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania from October 16 to 19, 2016.  Among many interesting topics, I benefited the most from “PA Forward: Recipes for Success”, which covered and shared information about PA Forward.  True recipes for successful programming for all ages were provided.  Knowing the five categories of PA Forward — Basic Literacy, Informational Literacy, Civic & Social Literacy, Health Literacy, and Financial Literacy, I suggested we should name our new deck “PA Forward Deck” painted with the five bright literacy colors.

At the staff meeting, I also proposed ideas for new programs which got everyone involved excited.  PA Forward is a great exercise that would help get the flow of ideas started.  Its user-friendly website could be used a “go to” for all programs.  Our goal is to better publicize and advocate our library’s programs.  And we believe the new deck would definitely play an important role!

Below is a drawing of our “PA Forward Deck”