2025 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference: Grow With Your Library

Sponsored by OverDrive

Presented by Regan Gunningham

The Saskatchewan Electronic Resources Partnership (SERP) program, formerly the Multitype Database Licensing Program, was established in 1998 to support equity of access to online library resources for Saskatchewan residents but even pillars of the Saskatchewan library community can begin to crumble. This long-running database licensing program has undergone a five-year revitalization process to shore up its foundation. The process impacted program funding, governance, decision-making and training.

This session is ideal for current SERP program partners who want to learn more about the revitalization and how it affects their library. Not a SERP partner yet? Attend the session to learn more about the program and connect with Provincial Library and Literacy Office staff.

Presented by Phaedra Hitchings

Presenter will focus around a central question of “what makes a ‘good reader’?” and explore ways of identifying this (spoiler: it doesn’t have to be reading lots of (tough) books, or even any books.

Presented by Alanna Carlson

Implement trauma-informed strategies to create a supportive and resilient work environment with improved job satisfaction and service delivery.
 

Presented by Marika Hunter & Alan Kilpatrick

Libraries are fundamental for incarcerated individuals. Literacy activities and reading materials positively affect their lives and experiences and serve an essential role in reintegration, providing a connection to and mirror of the outside world, and preparing individuals for release.

Unfortunately, incarcerated individuals in Saskatchewan are an underserved segment of our province's population who do not have adequate access to library services. Many prisons lack formal libraries and recreational, cultural, and educational reading materials.

The Saskatchewan Library Association (SLA) established a Prison Library Sub-Committee (PLSC) in 2021 to address the deficit of reading materials available to incarcerated youths and adults in Saskatchewan's correctional facilities. For over two years, the PLSC has been providing books to Regina’s incarcerated population at Regina Correctional Centre, White Birch Remand, and Paul Dojack Youth Centre. However, more still needs to be done. How can you and your library help? Take advantage of this must-see session to learn about how you can get involved.

Presented by Jessica Dinan

Are you curious about the differences between graphic novels, comics, and manga? Are you seeing an increase in the popularity of your graphic novel collections? Would you like to feel more knowledgeable on how to grow and promote these collections? Do you secretly (or not so secretly) question whether reading graphic novels is even "real reading"? Join Jessica for a crash course in graphic novel collections and come away with helpful collection development and merchandising tips, and graphic novel advocacy resources.

Sponsored by Southeast Regional Library & Wheatland Regional Library 

Presented by Morgan Kelly & Mariam Salvador

In 2024, Wheatland Regional Library and Southeast Regional Library joined the Neighborhood Forest program, a non-profit organization that distributes free trees to children across North America for Earth Day. Typically a program hosted in schools, Neighborhood Forest has expanded significantly to libraries, and was brought to x number of communities in Saskatchewan in April 2024 and 2025.

What do tree saplings have to do with increased engagement in public libraries? Be-leaf it or not, more than you might think! This session will cover the process of registering families for trees, coordinating deliveries, and unexpected impacts of the program on our libraries, communities, and the Neighborhood Forest organization.

Presented by Samara Jackson & Wendy Sinclair

Introducing the Cree Language Kits available at the public libraries of Saskatchewan. These kits are available to be borrowed from your public library and include many books and tools to build a strong Cree vocabulary! We have kits in three dialects of Cree including Plains Cree (Y-dialect), Woodland Cree (TH-dialect) and Swampy Cree (N-dialect). In each of these kits are books varying on different topics grouped by language keepers in collaboration with the Regina Public Library. These kits are designed to help libraries create programming around Cree languages, or for individual learners to build their language skills. Learn more about these kits, what is available in the kits and how you can get your hands on them yourself!

Presented by Alan Kilpatrick & Ken Fox

Saskatchewan residents can now register for free online access to premium legal eBooks and databases through the Law Society of Saskatchewan's new "Premium Legal Resources" program! These premium resources will help members of the public gain a basic understanding of the law and learn about their legal rights and responsibilities. They may also enable members of the public to identify the range of legal options available within the legal system and potential next steps.

The Law Society of Saskatchewan (via its Legal Resources library) connects members of the public with legal information resources through its physical courthouse libraries and online resources. Our team strives to provide the greatest possible public access to our digital resources in response to the needs demonstrated in the 2021 Legal Needs Assessment for Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, providing public access to online legal resources is challenging, as commercial vendors have restrictive licensing terms, making access difficult. As collection shifts away from print legal resources to commercial online legal resources, public access to online legal resources is increasingly threatened.

Over the past five years, our team has worked with Canada's commercial legal information vendors to develop a solution and agree on a framework to provide reasonable public access to their resources in a way that met our need to provide public access to resources and respected the vendors' needs to sell their products. In 2024, our team finalized this work and launched the Premium Legal Resources program, providing temporary free access to legal eBooks and databases. We hope this project represents an enduring way to connect members of the Saskatchewan public with legal information.

Alongside this project and in tandem, we built a new online portal on the Law Society website called For the Public: Get Legal Information, Resources, and Options for Assistance to help centralize free sources of legal information and assistance sources understandably. Saskatchewan's many sources of legal information and assistance can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the law and legal sector. This portal helps make it easier for members of the public to learn about the law, research the law, register for the premium legal resources we've just presented, find options for legal assistance, and obtain legal information.

Presented by Dr. Shela Hirani

Breastfeeding is an ideal nutrition for young children that has nutritional, developmental, psychological, environmental, and economic benefits. In the long term, breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of a child developing obesity, type 1 diabetes, asthma or severe lower respiratory disease and contributes to healthy neurological development. Compared with the use of breastmilk substitutes (formula milk), breastfeeding is the safest mode of infant feeding because breastmilk has several beneficial bioactive agents, is readily available at the right temperature, does not require supplies for its preparation, and has low chances of contamination.

Saskatchewan has shown the sharpest decline in maternal breastfeeding rates. Statistics depict that in Saskatchewan 94.9% of mothers initiate breastfeeding soon after childbirth but then 15% of mothers stop breastfeeding within a month, 22% of mothers stop breastfeeding between 1 and 6 months, and only 38.8% of mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies for at least 6 months. This indicates the importance of improving maternal and child healthcare in this province through informational and tangible support using non-traditional avenues, like public libraries.

Public libraries can play an essential role in promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding practices of mothers using the baby-friendly approach, offering need-based culturally appropriate innovative programs, and serving as a hub of informational support for all mothers. In this presentation, Dr. Shela Hirani will share a call to action and an insight into the ways public libraries can support the breastfeeding practices of mothers using innovative strategies and resources.

Presented by Lindsay Stokalko & Ann Liang

In this session Ann Liang and Lindsay Stokalko will review the community outreach strategies utilized, events hosted, and resulting educational materials created as tools to increase awareness and access of the Neil Richards Collection, housed at the University of Saskatchewan Archives and Special Collections. With a specific focus on Drag History and Wrestling History, they have partnered with individuals in the community to create informative and unique events that draw on the extensive archival collection.

Sponsored by Dr. John Archer Library & Archives, University of Regina 

Presented by Christena McKillop & Kathleen James

For many university students attending an institution for post-secondary education mostly experience formalized learning throughout their courses and program areas. The presenters will examine how opportunity for informal learning can exist in the current academic library environment that also enhances the student experience. This presentation will focus on specialized programming that two librarians created that carved out a space for informal learning and enhancing student experience. The presenters will also discuss informal learning strategies that can be applied in public and school libraries.

Presented by Lisa Worobec

We know libraries deliver crucial services for their communities. This session will review making the case for library staffing increases in a growing community, including the crucial role of formalized long-term planning, and working with your board to determine community growth needs.,

Growing your library is dependent on major funders, and in Ontario this is largely the municipality. Making the case for growth also means speaking to the municipality and their strategic priorities, and this session will also review the importance of being at the table. This session will also briefly review the Ontario library governance context, including provincial data sets and funding models.