Libraries as Mighty Catalysts for Community Resilience

How do libraries serve as catalysts for community resilience? Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) Co-Founder and Board President Rebekkah Smith Aldrich will explore what resilience means in this context, tap the findings from national research on the topic, and discuss how libraries can work to identify potential hazards and threats to our communities as well as how we can establish adaptation, mitigation, and recovery plans.

Elevating lessons from SLI's award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program, she will share real-life examples of projects, programs, and partnerships from libraries across the country that illustrate the unique ability for libraries to knit a tighter community fabric and foster deeper social cohesion – making the library and the community more resilient together.

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich is the Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Library System in New York and an internationally recognized leader in library sustainability and community resilience.
As co-founder and board president of the award-winning Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI), she co-created the acclaimed Sustainable Library Certification Program, guiding libraries worldwide to adopt environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically resilient practices. A leader within the American Library Association (ALA), Aldrich previously co-chaired the ALA Special Task Force on Sustainability, was the inaugural chair of the ALA Council Committee on Sustainability, served on the Center for the Future of Libraries advisory board, and served on the first board of the ALA Sustainability Round Table. Most recently, Aldrich was the principal author of the National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries, a joint project of the SLI and ALA. Named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker, Aldrich authors that publication’s "Sustainability" column, has published multiple books for ALA Editions as well as the handbooks for library directors and trustees in New York State, and serves as an adjunct professor at Long Island University's Palmer School of Library & Information Science.

Find out why the University of Liverpool got on board with Personalized Patron Portal. How did they set it up and why did they do things the way they did? Are they happy or are they having regrets? Learn all of this and more in this engaging presentation!

🛠️ Springy Tools Covered: Personalized Patron Portal

Joe Hilton is a member of the University of Liverpool Libraries, Museums & Galleries Systems team. He's been with the University for over 25 years, starting out as a temporary part-time book shelver and slowly moving through many other roles before finding his way into the Systems team. The team is responsible for a myriad of systems covering software and hardware in the Libraries, museums and galleries. Joe somehow – by chance or organically – became the main point of contact for all of the library's Springshare tools.

In this session, you will learn how Case, through using a combination of LibCal and LibWizard, streamlined their internal processes for assigning Kelvin Smith Library's limited graduate study carrels. What was once a congestion-prone process with "students arriving simultaneously and roaming the floors with clipboards” has evolved into a continuously improving, coordinated workflow. This continues to preserve student choice while reducing inefficiencies and administrative strain. 

🛠️ Springy Tools Covered: LibCal & LibWizard

Liz Bober serves as the Head of Assessment and User Experience at Kelvin Smith Library, a role she has held for over 11 years. She leads library-wide research and analytical initiatives, empowering teams with the data needed to continuously elevate service quality and user satisfaction. Liz is deeply committed to leveraging user insights to drive meaningful, strategic changes.  

Angela Sloan is an Administrative Assistant at Kelvin Smith Library, where she provides high-level administrative and operational support to library leadership. Her focus is executive and project support. Angela also has extensive experience in customer service, event coordination, office administration, and cross-departmental collaboration. 

What does it look like when a library fully leans into a consulting partnership year after year? In this session, Shawna Thorup shares six years of transformative work between NorthWest Arkansas Community College and Springshare Consulting. Along the way, her team tackled two complete website redesigns with one launching just months ago, two Bootstrap 5 migrations, an A-Z List look and feel overhaul, a subject guides reorganization, and a search bar addition.

Most notably, they were the first customer for Springshare's ADA Title II accessibility audit service in 2025. But this talk isn’t just a highlight reel. Shawna will also share how honest, collaborative conversations with Springshare actually made the partnership stronger. Whether you’re considering your first consulting engagement or looking to deepen an existing relationship, you’ll leave with practical insights and real examples of how to get extraordinary results from Springshare Consulting.

🛠️ Springy Service Covered: Consulting Services

Shawna Thorup serves as Dean of Library and Academic Support Services at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Her professional interests include web accessibility, user experience, generative AI, and strategic innovation in higher education. Over the past six years, she has led numerous projects in partnership with Springshare Consulting, including website redesigns, accessibility initiatives, and user experience improvements. She is passionate about helping libraries leverage technology and collaboration to better serve their communities.

Have you heard the news about SirsiDynix's exciting partnership with Springshare, a leading cloud software vendor for libraries? Join Eric Keith to see how Springshare and SirsiDynix can help your library find new ways to curate resources, share knowledge, and engage patrons.

Northeast State Community College started its subscription to Incident & Issue Tracking in August 2026. They implemented it as a way of internally tracking issues such as IT problems, maintenance requests, broken links, and more. They wanted a centralized means of reporting and tracking what was happening in the library and what was being done about it. Before implementation, nobody knew if an issue had been reported or who had reported what, much less if anything had been done about it. Even if they knew it had been reported, there was no method of tracking what had been done about it, and communication channels broke down regularly regarding these issues.

This presentation will touch on how the library set up the tool for their use case and how they are using it today. We will look at how things have improved now that they have an easy way of tracking what is going on and a workflow for dealing with incidents and issues that arise.

🛠️ Springy Tools Covered: Incident & Issue Tracking

Amy Lippo has been a librarian for 21 years, 13 at Northeast State Community College, and 8 in public libraries, where she was a branch manager and assistant director of a county system. She received her MSIS from UT Knoxville, an MAT from ETSU, a BS in Genetics from Iowa State, and an AA from Cottey College. Before becoming a librarian, she put in time teaching math and science to middle school students and worked in healthcare and banking. Her hobbies include SCUBA diving, knitting, and baking yummy goodies. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, Beau, and two canine fur babies, Holly and Cooper. Amy loves all things Springshare and secretly harbors a fantasy of becoming a Springy one day!

Tune in for a quick overview of LibSites to learn how libraries can create their own dynamic, accessible website – zero coding skills required!

The website experience at Southern Connecticut State University’s Buley Library had become outdated, with confusing navigation and a complicated home page, which necessitated a change. Using LibSites, Buley Library completely redesigned the website experience for users, with design principles focused on simplicity, readability, and accessibility. Learn about the process, design choices, and implementation plan, and how they used LibWizard to create a user feedback survey.

🛠️ Springy Tools Covered: LibSites & LibWizard

Parker Fruehan (he/him) has been the Systems Librarian at Southern Connecticut State University since 2017 where he oversees all aspects of library technology and web presence, including the LibApps suite. He is active in the campus community, and is the advisor to the student radio station, WSIN. Parker has experience in public and academic libraries, and an MLIS from Florida State University. He enjoys spending time with his family and volunteering in the community for the American Red Cross.

When Title II requirements, Bootstrap 5 changes, new colleagues, changing roles, and a LibGuides standards initiative converged, the University of Arkansas library saw an opportunity to do more than refresh individual guides. Through cross-departmental collaboration, they developed shared LibGuides standards, accessibility-focused training, onboarding support, and sustainable workflows for guide creation and maintenance. This session will highlight how they turned new energy and timely challenges into practical changes that support both guide authors and end users. Attendees will leave with ideas for building local LibGuides standards, supporting colleagues through change, and making guide maintenance more consistent, accessible, and manageable.

🛠️ Springy Tools Covered: LibGuides

Autumn Roberts is the Systems and Discovery Librarian at the University of Arkansas, where she manages and improves the technologies that connect users with library collections and services. Her work focuses on the library systems that help users discover and access library resources. She is passionate about creating thoughtful, user-centered library experiences.

Anna Clymer is the Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian at the University of Arkansas, where she supports students and faculty through research, instruction, and outreach. She is actively involved in reference services and works to improve how libraries deliver and assess research support. Her work focuses on creating consistent, reusable, accessible, and user-centered library services.

Though "chatbot" brings to mind ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or other LLMs, the Marshall B. Ketchum library team created an interactive, adaptable chat feature that assists patrons 24/7 – all without using AI. Instead, using LibAnswers, the Automated Library Assistant directs patrons throughout the library's LibApps ecosystem to maximize existing resources. This presentation will show how to identify use cases, find gaps in service, and highlight your strongest resources by creating an automated flow of questions and answers customized to your library's needs.

🛠️ Springy Tools Covered: LibAnswers

Amelia Barbee works at Marshall B. Ketchum University as an Assistant Librarian. Amelia is passionate about digital resources, creative uses of emerging technologies, and supporting students and educators in a rapidly changing academic landscape.