Back In Circulation 2026

The Council Bluffs Public Library has been circulating seeds since March of 2022. Attendees of this program will learn from our trial and error over the last few years, and how the Circulation team has developed a process in which the seed library is now a thriving resource for other aspects of library service & education. Several areas that we will touch on that have made this collection a success: circulation processes & statistics, utilizing volunteers, and integration into education & programming. The seed library has been a great opportunity to connect with new volunteers, and they’ve become an integral part of our seed collection processing. Through partnerships with local organizations and programming staff from other departments, we’ve worked to develop routine programming, annual seed swaps, and attendance at local outreach events. Additionally, routine marketing has included regularly posted gardening & seed tips. Working with our cataloging department, we’ve made tweaks to more quickly catalog seeds and reduce costs. We’ll share how these partnerships across the community and the library have helped us in reaching our original purpose in creating the seed library: to create an educational, accessible and affordable seed collection.

As information professionals, our work often necessitates engaging with large bodies of knowledge. Without proper documentation, however, such knowledge can easily become lost due to staffing and organizational changes. This prompts a question: how do you build a system that encourages proper documentation of procedures, responds to the needs of stakeholders, and is capable of surviving institutional change?

In this presentation on project and change management, we will discuss the process of building a wiki-based system of documentation and knowledge-sharing for the newly-formed Access Services department in the UW-Madison Libraries. We will specifically discuss our use of templates, audience-driven taxonomy, maintenance schedules, and best practice codification, and how a careful approach has allowed us to transfer over a decade’s worth of both written and verbal knowledge into a new system for staff ranging from part-time student workers to full-time subject matter experts. We will also discuss the institutional conversations that this transition has prompted, as well as the hidden benefits of the new system.

Our approach is tool-agnostic and designed to be adapted to one’s institution, making it easy for other workplaces to modify and use it. By sharing our experiences we hope to inspire attendees to consider wiki-based information storage models, as well as to aid them in such transitions by sharing both our lessons learned as well as our ongoing successes.

Gather to hear about the collaborative development of a unique classification system designed specifically for the Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums (TLAM) collection at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s CDIS Commons Library. The project centers Indigenous knowledge systems, emphasizing the relationships and community that the collection represents. The TLAM Program Director, Cassy Leeport and TLAM graduate Anastasia Hanson will reflect on the process to reimagine, seek feedback from Tribal Partners, and finally to implement the collection.
Participants armed with this knowledge will be led through a short guided activity of sorting materials into new ways of categorization, to get our minds moving and exploring new approaches. Presenters will share how integral this approach is important to providing access that reflects the community. Considering what harms and biases might be embedded in the current systems. What local updates can you make to reduce harm and improve the patron experience? Finally, presenters will review some strategies to advocate for and incorporate these practices into decision making and reflection on processes in access services.

Implementing the right technology can make circulation services more efficient by reducing workload, improving workflows, and minimizing reliance on paper reports. This session will highlight how St. Charles Public Library has integrated new tools to streamline processes and support circulation staff in their daily tasks.

Key Topics:
-MobileStaff App for Modern Registration & Holds Management
Enabling faster, more flexible library card registration and more efficient management of pick lists.
-RFID Second‑Scan Processing with staffCirc Trak Shelf Manager
Improving check‑in accuracy, supporting efficient shelf management, simplifying inventory workflows, and reducing repetitive staff tasks.
-Digital Reporting & Paperless Workflows
Implementing digital reporting solutions to eliminate paper‑based processes.
-SharePoint for Centralized Communication & Workflow Management
Using SharePoint to centralize documentation, track processes, support reporting, and improve staff communication and collaboration.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, attendees will:

1. Identify ways technology can improve circulation workflows

1. Learn best practices for implementing new tools and training staff

1. Explore strategies to reduce repetitive tasks and move to digital processes

Meet me in the library at midnight- I’ll bring the Ghost Hunting Kit! At Michigan Technological University, the JR Van Pelt and Opie library has been experimenting with packing items from its Library of Things into adventure kits and hosting field trips. We found students loved the idea of our Library of Things, but some of the more fun items were often underutilized and overlooked in favor of the more practical calculators, laptops, and cables we lend. Located in the incredibly scenic upper peninsula of Michigan, we saw items such as our GoPros, DSLR cameras, and timers as tools that could do more than just support class projects; these could encourage campus community members to explore our unique area, engage prospective students, and showcase new items.

Join us for a conversation about the logistics of planning field trips, assembling and lending kits on the go with Alma, cultivating partners, and measuring success. We’ll weave in interactive, round-table style brainstorming and conversation on how you can replicate and adapt this at your institution, so that you can leave with a plan!

A misshelved book. LIS migration with no record cleanup. Incorrect call number labels. These are stacks crimes that Tisch Library has faced for years. No inventory of the stacks has ever been completed at Tisch, but one department is determined to close the case file and resolve these mysteries. Using modern API integrations with Alma, our forensic investigators (student workers) systematically examine our crime scene. As they scan items, they are alerted to inconsistencies between Alma and what they see.  These investigators pull the items and bring these “clues” to the detectives (Access Staff) who further investigate in Alma what the problems are, resolving what we can, and passing through the Chain of Custody (i.e. technical services work orders) things we cannot.  Resolving a variety of "crimes" that have plagued our stacks for years, come hear about the significant progress made in ensuring our shelves and catalog match for the first time in Tisch history. At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to outline the basic components for starting an inventory project. Participants will be able to compare their current inventory processes and identify areas for improvement.

Our presentation details a novel approach to inventory through our ILS' weeding workflows. The workflow functions as a figurative 'lens' through which our holdings are assessed for item and bibliographic-level cataloguing errors or inconsistencies; the proliferation of these for some 16 years prior being a major pain point in the transition to a new ILS. As opposed to typical "snapshot" models of inventory, our method manifests a recombinant teleological and modular process; reporting and data accrual are now continual versus periodic in output, and there is no need for closure. While the procedure is tied to a specific ILS, we believe the broader philosophy and underlying concepts will be applicable to most other library systems.