ARSL Conference Early Bird Registration

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Christa Porter

Get Ready for The Biggest Little Library Conference!

Early Bird Registration for the 2021 Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) Conference is open! The conference will be held at the Nugget Resort in Reno/Sparks, Nevada, from October 20-23. From now through August 17 conference attendees can register at reduced Early Bird rates.

Early Bird Registration Rates:

  • ARSL Members: $275
  • Nonmembers: $350
  • Advocates*: $225

After August 17 attendees can register at the regular registration rates.

Regular Registration Rates:

  • ARSL Members: $350
  • Nonmembers: $425
  • Advocates*: $275

*Advocates include library Trustees, Board Members, Friends, and Volunteers.

Preconference workshops are back for in-person attendees this year! These workshops are priced separately from general conference attendance and will take place on Wednesday, October 20. Check out the Program Descriptions page for full workshop details!

4-Hour Workshops (8:30 AM – 12:30 PM) | ARSL Members: $65 | Nonmembers: $85

  • Tools For The Good Life
  • Backyard Explorers: Citizen Scientists in Training at the Library
  • Library Space: A Planning Resource for Librarians

3-Hour Workshops (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM) | ARSL Members: $50 | Nonmembers: $70

  • The Post-Pandemic Library: What Will Be Different?
  • Measuring the Digital Divide
  • Effective Staff Development on Any Budget: Learn Something New Every Day
  • Misinformation Escape Room

There will also be a limited selection of virtual offerings for those who can’t make the trip this time.

Virtual Attendance Rates:

  • ARSL Members: $50
  • Nonmembers: $75
  • Advocates: $25
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2021 Recordings Now Available

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Christa Porter

Recordings of all Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021 sessions are now available!

You will find them through the Previous Conferences link on our header menu. You can also jump directly to the Previous Conferences page.

Don’t forget to complete the conference Evaluation! We’re looking for input from people who attended the live conference and watched the archived recordings.

And mark your calendars now – Big Talk From Small Libraries will be back in 2022! Next year’s conference will be on Friday, February 25, 2022!

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

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Map of 2021 Logins

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Christa Porter

For the 2021 Big Talk From Small Libraries conference, there were 989 pre-registrations. Throughout the day, there were 670 individual logins from across the United States and Canada.

However, there were multiple locations hosting groups, and when we add in those numbers, our total attendance this year was 701.

This was the highest registration and attendance in the 10 year history of the conference!

Click on the picture to see the full map. This map was created using ZeeMaps.

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2021 Conference Wrap-up

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Christa Porter

Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021 is a wrap! Thanks to all the presenters and attendees. It was a great day!

Evaluation

What did you think of Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021? Please share your impressions of this year’s event on our Feedback Form.

Continuing Education Credit

A “Thank you for attending” email has been automatically sent from the GoToWebinar system to all attendees who logged in to the live session. That message serves as your proof of attending. In addition, a link to a PDF certificate is included with the e-mail.

Nebraska library staff and board members: You can earn 1 C.E. credit for each 50-minute session attended. Due to the nature of this event, we cannot track which sessions you attended, so please fill out and submit this special Big Talk From Small Libraries CE Report form, so your C.E. credits can be recorded correctly.

Non-Nebraska attendees: Any CE credit you wish to earn for this event will need to be arranged with your CE-granting agency, since we are not authorized to issue CE credits for other states or programs, only for Nebraska.

Recordings and Presentations

At the moment we have a single eight-hour-long video file. As with previous years, we’ll be editing this down into the individual presentation recordings, and adding them to the site under Previous Conferences. We’ll also post any presentation materials provided by the speakers. This process will take some time and everything will be posted as it becomes available, but experience tells us that it will take a week or two to complete.

Watch Parties

If you watched our event with others, please let us know the size of your group for our statistics via our Contact form.

Thanks!

And mark your calendars for Big Talk From Small Libraries 2022 – Friday, February 25, 2022!

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Login Instructions for Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Christa Porter

Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021 is broadcast online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements and firewall configuration. GoToWebinar works on Windows, Mac, Google Chrome OS, Linux, iOS, and Android devices.

TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE – Pre-Registration is no longer required!

You can join the conference at any time on February 26 by following these instructions. There is one login for the entire day of presentations – you can use these instructions to log in and out of the conference as you like throughout the day, based on your interest and availability.

1. On your computer workstation, go to

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4840328767268593933

and register in the GoToWebinar system.

2. Use the link on the confirmation webpage to connect to the session.

3. You will be connected to audio using your computer’s speakers (VoIP).

If the link above does not work, go to https://www.gotomeeting.com/webinar/join-webinar Type or paste in the Webinar ID: 889-371-987 and enter your e-mail address. Click ‘Yes’ or ‘Always’ (or ‘Trust’ on a Mac) if prompted to accept the download.

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Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021 is tomorrow!

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Christa Porter

Join us tomorrow for the 10th annual Big Talk From Small Libraries online conference. Registration is still open, so head over to the Registration page and sign up!

We have a great agenda for the day, with seven 50 minute sessions plus four 10 minute lightning round sessions.

Topics range from technology to programming to new roles for libraries as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This event is a great opportunity to learn about the innovative things your colleagues are doing in their small libraries.

So, come join us for a day of big ideas from small libraries!

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Only One Week Until Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021!

Posted on February 19, 2021 by Christa Porter

Small libraries! Awesome ideas! FREE Online Conference!

There’s only one week until Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021!

Check out the full schedule and register to join us next Friday, February 26.

Sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission and the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL), this free one-day online conference is aimed at librarians from small libraries; the smaller the better! Each of our speakers is from a small library serving fewer than 10,000 people. This event is a great opportunity to learn about the innovative things your colleagues are doing in their small libraries.

Everyone is welcome to register and attend, regardless of how big or small your library. But, if your library serves a few hundred to a few thousand people, this is the day for you!

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2021 Schedule Now Available

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Christa Porter

The full schedule for the 10th annual Big Talk From Small Libraries online conference is now available!

You will find all the details on the Schedule page.

Information about our presenters is available on the Speakers page.

If you haven’t registered yet, now is the time to jump over to the Registration page and sign up!

You are welcome to watch as an individual or to host a group viewing of the conference. If several staff members from the same library want to attend, you can just register for one seat and have staff members view/listen together via one workstation.

You can also host a viewing party this same way and invite staff from other libraries. For any group viewings, if you know who will be there, you can list your Additional Attendees on your one registration or you can send us a list after the event.

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Call for Speakers Deadline Extended

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Christa Porter

The Call for Speakers for Big Talk From Small Libraries has been extended to January 15.

This free one-day online conference is aimed at librarians from small libraries; the smaller the better! We are looking for speakers from small libraries or speakers who directly work with small libraries. Small libraries of all types – public, academic, school, museum, special, etc. – are encouraged to submit a proposal. We’re looking for seven 50-minute presentations and four 10-minute “lightning round” presentations.

Big Talk From Small Libraries 2021 will be held on Friday, February 26, 2021 between 8:45 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (CT) via the GoToWebinar online meeting service.

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Follow BTSL on Twitter

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Christa Porter

To commemorate the 10th annual Big Talk From Small Libraries online conference, we’re finally on Twitter!

Follow us @BTSLibraries!

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