State By State
2025 CE Forum
Providence, RI
August 18-20, 2025
Alabama
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Main point of contact for public library staff to ask questions
Alaska
Our building is named after Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff, a Russian Orthodox priest who was the first curator of the Territorial Museum and the
first Territorial Librarian. We joke more people know the building as the State Libraries, Archives, and Museums (SLAM) than APK.
A Little Trivia
We offered our first virtual workshop focusing on our Online With Libraries (OWL) program. This was thanks to our Technology Consultant (Stacy Tomaszewski) who now creates owls to use in all her trainings.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Kate Enge–Grants and Continuing Education Coordinator
kate.enge@alaska.gov
Arizona
Arizona’s Sonoran Desert is the only place on earth where the saguaro cactus grows naturally.
A Little Trivia
We held our Leadership Institute in March. Our facilitator, Andrew Sanderbeck, did an amazing job. We had 25 attendees from school, public, and special libraries for 3 days of learning and networking.
Also, we are still here which seems like that best thing that has happened this year.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Arkansas
The original Cheese Dip Festival happened in Arkansas in 1935.
Arkansas is a leading U.S. producer of bauxite (used to make aluminum) and bromine, which is flame retardant.
The Paris of Arkansas has a replica Eiffel Tower statue display as a tourist attraction.
The Mockingbird is our state bird, and happens to also be the name of our shared services catalog.
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Janine Jamison-Miller
Coordinator of Training & Development
501-682-5291
California
California State Library has in its collection the mustache of 19th century criminal bandido Tiburcio Vásquez (1854 to 1874).
A Little Trivia
California Libraries Learn (CALL) has been highlighting California library workers expertise through our CALL for Presentations. Workers suggest peer-created training and professional development with the goal to spread innovation, creativity, and knowledge. A recording of the presentation is made for our self-paced platform to provide maximum benefit for the State. One great example was the presentation ¡Canta Conmigo! : Ten New Songs for Bilingual Storytime (presented by Sheridan Cazarez) which was attended by over 100 participants and later shared nationwide through People Connect Institute (PCI).
The Best Thing We Did This Year:
Contact:
Lisa Barnhart - CALL Project Manager
lbarnhart@cla-net.org
Colorado
On November 6, 1861 the first Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Colorado passed legislation establishing a Territorial Library and Cabinet and declaring the Territorial Superintendent of Common Schools, Ex-Officio Librarian.
When Colorado achieved statehood, the Territorial Library and Cabinet became the State Library.
A Little Trivia
In 2025, we still focused on library staff mental health.
We hired Beth Wahler to offer Trauma-Informed Library Management, a session on boundary setting, and a powerful session on how to debrief staff after an incident.
We also hired Pollock Peacebuilding for sessions on conflict resolution and de-escalation.
And, we continued the popular Mental Health & Wellness Panels.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Christine Kreger
Professional Development Consultant
kreger_c@cde.state.co.us
Connecticut
The Connecticut Royal Charter of 1662, a key document in Connecticut's history, recently underwent a six-month conservation effort before its return to the CT State Library Museum of CT History. If you don’t know the legend of the charter being hidden in an oak tree to safeguard it, read the fascinating tale here. Many artifacts in CT are made from the wood of that Charter Oak including the frame the Charter is in.
A Little Trivia
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Delaware
The Delaware Division of Library staff currently do not have offices due to construction in our building.
A Little Trivia
School libraries joining the Delaware Libraries Consortium!
Ada Leigh Soles Memorial Professional Librarian and Archivist Scholarship
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:�Jaclyn Hale�jaclyn.hale@lib.de.us
Florida
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Georgia
Georgia Public Library Service
georgialibraries.org
Mythbusters, Fun facts & Silly Georgia laws
In September 2024, GPLS launched the Palace Project, powered by Lyrasis, in 45 library systems. This provides patrons with streamlined access to ebooks and audiobooks from Libby, eRead Kids, cloudLibrary, Biblioboard, and Blackstone Unlimited via the Palace Project app. Benefits include easier patron access, increased digital content for libraries, and enhanced inclusivity/accessibility for smartphone/device users.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Gina Martin, MLIS
Director of Continuing Education and Training
Georgia Public Library Service
gmartin@georgialibraries.org
(470) 620-5131
Libraries improve lives and transform communities.
Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi's first public library began with the Honolulu Library and Reading Room Association, founded with the the financial support and personal book collections of King Kalākaua
and other Hawaiian royalty in 1879.
A Little Trivia
Rebranding!
44% increase in Summer Reading Challenge registration!
Staff Days - 4 back to back days across 4 islands with all library staff!
eNewsletters at all branches!
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact
Danielle Todd
Staff Development Coordinator
808-831-6878
danielle.todd@librarieshawaii.org
Idaho
A Little Trivia
Teen Convening: Youth Voice, Choice & Leadership!�A 2-day event hosted by YS Consultant Jennifer Redford focused on teen services
Creative Aging Grant & Trainings!
Managed by Adult Services Consultant Deana Brown, this program grew from 3 participating libraries to 14 this year
Facilities Improvement Grants!
Awarded $3.4 million in 2023-2025 to 15 libraries for expansions, remodels, & construction projects
AAPI Youth Literature Workshop!
Virtual training on APALA’s Evaluation Rubric for Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Youth Literature
The Best Things We Did This Year
Contact:
Annie Gaines
CE Consultant
annie.gaines@libraries.idaho.gov
🚢
Although Idaho is landlocked, it has a seaport! The port in Lewiston, Idaho is the farthest inland port connected to the Pacific Ocean.
Idaho and India are the only places in the world with star garnets, which are garnets that have a multi-rayed light reflection on their surface.
At 7,900 ft, Hells Canyon is the deepest river-carved gorge in North America, deeper than the Grand Canyon!
State horse: Appaloosa
State bird: Mountain Bluebird
State fruit: Huckleberry
State fish: Cutthroat trout
Illinois
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Indiana
�Wabash, Indiana is the home of the oldest animal species in North America. The American Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) fossil records indicate they have existed for over 300 million years. This puts its origins before dinosaurs!
Paddlefish are also known for their caviar. Yes…caviar in Indiana. I like to think of them as the “Hoosier Caviar of the Wabash.”
A Little Trivia
Indiana State Library’s Bicentennial
In celebration we’ve hosted a bicentennial reception, architecture and ghost tours, trivia programs, escape rooms, a publication, and more!
�Difference Is You Conference (DIY) We are excited to honor and provide continuing education for support staff in our Indiana public libraries! This will be held, September 19.
�Professional Development�This year we have hosted (or plan to host) 36 in-person trainings, 41 webinars, and 4 trainings on a state/national level (3 in-person and one virtual). Our department has also visited 107 public library directors!
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Iowa
Des Moines boasts the only five-domed capitol in the US
(apart from the national capitol)
A Little Trivia
Migrated 3,500 users and 400 courses to a new Learning Management System
The Best Things We Did This Year
Contact:
Samantha Bouwers
Consultant for Continuing Education
Samantha.Bouwers@iowa.gov
In July, over 25,000 people biked over 400 miles on RAGBRAI (“Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa”)
Launched a new “Trauma-Informed Library Services” endorsement
Hosted 57 webinars & 41 in-person events with a total of 3,100 attendees
Migrated to new accessible website, complaint with state-wide branding efforts
Kansas
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Kentucky
The oldest distillery in Kentucky is Buffalo Trace, which has run continuously since opening in 1775. This includes staying open through prohibition. #medicinalwhiskey
You cannot serve as governor of Kentucky if you have ever participated in a duel with deadly weapons (it’s in the official oath of office!).
We believe! Kentucky has several Bigfoot Research Organizations that investigate sightings and encounters, and a Kentucky Bigfoot Festival held annually in the Red River Gorge.
A Little Trivia
Offered our bi-annual Public Library Institute, a year-long set of virtual and in-person courses that introduce new, non-degreed library workers to the library world and earns them the equivalent of one college course for continued education. This year we served 38 new public librarians across the state.
Rebranding! We created a new strategic plan, complete with a new logo, to be unveiled later on.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Alicia McGrath
CE Section Supervisor
Tricia MacCallum
Training Specialist
Sarah Patterson
CE Section Consultant
Louisiana
Louisiana produces between 120 and 150 million pounds of crawfish a year. Roughly 110 of those pounds are eaten by Louisianians and visitors to the state. My favorite crawfish dish is the crawfish mimi mac bread bowl served at Festival International, one of our nearly 400 festivals!
A Little Trivia
-This year we have hosted (or plan to host) 54 webinars, 13 in-person workshops, and 6 different Library Support Staff Certification courses. Nearly all of our presentations are done by State Library staff, with a few exceptions for vendors and guest presenters!
- We launched “Check
Out Louisiana” and
have partnered State
Parks and Museums
with public libraries
across the state to offer � passes at no charge!
-It’s our birthday! This
year marks the 100th
year of service from
the State Library of
Louisiana!
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Brittany Whitfield
(She/ Her/ Hers)
Library Consultant
State Library of Louisiana
Office: (225) 342-4940
bwhitfield@library.la.gov
701 N. Fourth St.
Baton Rouge, La. 70802
Maine
The Phantom of the Library
Our biggest CE event:
Maine Reading Round Up
One Day
Over 350 youth services librarians
Energy = !
I’m Not One to Brag, BUUUUUUUUUUUUT
Contact:
Jared Leadbetter
Library Consultant
jared.leadbetter@maine.gov
Rajani LaRocca
Beth Crist
The RRU Team
Maryland
Maryland State Library Agency is a relatively new independent government agency. We were established in 2017. Before this, we were the Division of Library Services in the Maryland State Department of Education.
A Little Trivia
We held the EA Summit, which focused on serving Emerging Adults (ages 18-29). Watch this brief video to learn more. The event site has the schedule and list of speakers.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Massachusetts
Massachusetts is home to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. With its 45 letters and 14 syllables, this lake has the longest name of any geographic feature in the U.S..
The first known game of volleyball was played by members of the Holyoke YMCA in 1895.
In 1994, after two years of intense lobbying (by a 5th grade class), the cranberry was adopted as the state berry.
A Little Trivia
We launched our learning management system for asynchronous courses: https://learn.masslibsystem.org/
We began offering over-the-phone interpretation services for all public libraries in the state through Language Line Solutions.
We offered training mini-grants for library staff to take courses through ALA, LJA, LJ, language learning courses, certificate programs through MindEdge Learning, and conference scholarships.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Terry McQuown
Consulting & Training Services Director
Massachusetts Library System
terry@masslibsystem.org
Michigan
A Little Trivia
Cohorts -
Celebrating 20 years of shared statewide ILL services
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact: Andrea Vernola
Continuing Education Coordinator
Library of Michigan
VernolaA@michigan.gov
Minnesota
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Mississippi
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Missouri
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Montana
A Little Trivia
Adding new courses to MSL Learn, our Moodle LMS. Guest access is available if you would like to take a peek.
Our YouTube Channel holds a wealth of webinars and other recordings.
The Best Thing(s) We Did This Year
Contact:
Colet Bartow
CE Coordinator
406-444-3365
colet.bartow@mt.gov
Montana actor Cary Cooper turned down the role of Rhett Butler for Gone with the Wind.
Nebraska
A Little Trivia
“I probably shouldn’t brag, but…”
Contact:
Holli Duggan
CE Coordinator
holli.duggan@nebraska.gov
Nevada
A Little Trivia
Directors’ Toolkit
A comprehensive resource designed specifically for library directors across the state is nearly finished and set to launch this Fall.
Adventure Backpacks
This project provided 173 nature-themed backpacks to public libraries statewide, each packed with books, activities, and resources to inspire families and children to get outside and explore Nevada!
Niche Academy�We have nearly completed a relaunch of our Niche learning platform featuring curated content and all new categories tutorials and learning pathways.
The Best Things We Did This Year
Contact:
Holly Kuhlmann
Library Planning and Development Manager
hkuhlmann@admin.nv.gov
The state capitol of Nevada, Carson City (and the Nevada State Library) is located 90 miles further west than
Los Angeles, California!
Nevada is home to
Great Basin Bristlecone Pines, some of the oldest living trees on Earth, many of them well
over 4,000+ years old.
Area 51, located along the Extraterrestrial Highway in southern Nevada, is a highly classified U.S. Air Force
facility rumored to be the
site of secret UFO research
and alien technology experiments.
New Hampshire
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
New Jersey
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
New Mexico
A Little Trivia
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Ada Negraru
Continuing Education Coordinator
ada.negraru@dca.nm.gov
Julia Brown Asplund (1875-1958) became New Mexico’s first state librarian in 1929. She was also one of the leaders of New Mexico’s suffragist movement.
A typical New Mexican dish is served with either red or green chile sauce. If you want both, you can ask for “Christmas.”
New York
The NY State Library owns the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, written 100 days before the version signed into law. It was purchased from abolitionist Gerri Smith in 1865, who had won it in a fundraising lottery.
A Little Trivia
Room for Everyone: A Library Accessibility Day of Learning (and yearlong initiative). In-person panel discussion and focused sessions on a wide range of accessibility issues, including neurodiversity, inclusive language, blindness and low vision, deafness, deafblindness, and hearing loss.
Runner Up:
Programs and resource sharing with the NY Immigration Coalition
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Tor Loney
Continuing Education Coordinator
tor.loney@nysed.gov
North Carolina
The signature soda of North Carolina is Cheerwine, a cherry flavored soft drink created in 1917. It’s known as the “nectar of North Carolina”. (Oh, and Pepsi was made in NC, too)
A Little Trivia
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Lauren Clossey
Continuing Education Consultant
lauren.clossey@dncr.nc.gov
North Dakota
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Ohio
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library:
The State Library of Ohio is in the former Jeffrey Mining Machinery building which built cole cutters and underground coal locomotives. In the 1940s it built radar equipment for detecting German bombers.
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Oklahoma
Our State Archives department has digitized several records relating to the Osage Murders from the Killers of the Flower Moon book and movie. The author of the book, David Grann, used some documents from our archives in his research.
A Little Trivia
AI in Libraries
Michael Hanegan
Dianne Connery
RA for All series
Becky Spratford
Public Library Academy Certification Workshop Pilot
Offers in person certification classes in two accelerated 2-day workshops. Host library organizes a networking dinner on the first evening.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Paige Harkins
Professional Development Officer
paige.harkins@libraries.ok.gov
Oregon
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Pennsylvania
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Rhode Island
Little Compton, RI is the home of the gravesite of the first born to colonists in New England.
The Mercy Brown vampire incident occurred in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. It is one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform rituals to banish an undead manifestation. The incident was part of the wider New England vampire panic.
Providence is home to the biennial Necronomicon, international conference of Weird fiction, art and academia owing to the city’s connection to spooky writer H.P. Lovecraft
Spooky Rhode Island
�Collaborations with New England States for children/teen services and Northeast States for Climate Adaptation
School Libraries as Media Literacy Leaders: Project Look Sharp
RI passed The Freedom to Read Act!
The Best Things We �Did This Year
Contact:
Nicolette Baffoni
Library Development Manager
nicolette.baffoni@olis.ri.gov
South Carolina
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
South Dakota
These are actual campaigns that have aired in our state:
“Meth: We’re On It”
“SD is Better than Mars”
“Don’t Jerk & Drive”
The fastest temperature change ever recorded occurred in Spearfish, South Dakota, on January 22, 1943. In just two minutes, the temperature rose from -4°F to 45°F, a 49°F increase.
A Little Trivia
Stayed open! (seriously)
Kept offering CE through the chaos!
With the reorganization of roles, we are now working on offering new and fresh CE opportunities:
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Scottie Bruch
SDSL Training Coordinator
scottie.bruch@state.sd.us
Tennessee
The official drink of this whiskey loving state is milk!
A Little Trivia
AI Days
A microlearning exercise that introduced staff to one AI site every day in February
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Lauri Thompson
CE Coordinator
615-809-5840 (c)
Lauri.Thompson@tnsos.gov
Texas
TSLAC’s archives house the suit worn by Texas Governor John B. Connally who was injured by gunfire in Dallas on November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated
A Little Trivia
Held a series of two-day, in-person workshops all around Texas on developing circulation policies for directors and de-escalation skills for frontline staff
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Sarah Karnes
Director, Library Development and Networking Division
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
512-463-5456 | www.tsl.texas.gov
Utah
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Rachel Lenahan
Training Coordinator & Consultant
rlenahan@utah.gov
Utah State Library is a Multi Service Center for over 20 states under the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. This allows us to offer resources and ILL services for all NLS mass-produced braille books, audio books and magazines. Multi State Center staff also receive, store, shelve, duplicate, manage, distribute, & repair those materials.
Vermont
A Little Trivia
In 1968, Vermont was the first of four states to ban billboards, alongside Maine, Hawaii, and Alaska.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY_anmMQTZU
The Best Things We Did This Year
Contact: Joy Worland
Consultant for Continuing Education and Small and Rural Libraries
Virginia
The world's oldest ham is displayed at the Isle of Wight County Museum in Smithfield, Virginia. The ham, over 120 years old, was cured in 1902.
Demonstrated the value of training provided to Virginia library staff by quantifying library staff use of the LVA Niche Academy.
Figuring an average cost of $50 for an individual to attend a library training, and using enrollment data, we calculate that over the 4-year course of our Niche subscription, we have provided the equivalent of $2,610,950 worth of staff training in the Commonwealth. With a a return on investment of $13 for every $1 spent.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Cindy S. Church
Barry Trott
Washington
A Little Trivia
The world’s largest freezer is located in Richland, WA: 2800 Polar Way is a refrigerated storage facility that is capable of storing 350 million pounds of frozen food!
From far away, it looks like a gigantic marshmallow, with an area of 505,139 square feet.
Piloted the “Teen Internship Program.” Five public libraries were chosen out of 12 applicants for a $5000.00 grant to hire a teen intern to work at the library over a three month period (summer), and complete a hands-on learning project. When federal funding was cancelled for WA in April, the libraries worked to either pay for the project themselves, or secure other sponsorship funding. The funding was eventually reinstated, but the libraries resilience and creativity was very impressive! Kudos to Sara White, WSL’s Youth Services Coordinator for her passion for and work on this project!
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact: Brianna Hoffman
brianna.hoffman@sos.wa.gov
West Virginia
One unusual, fun, or strange piece of info about your State Library
A Little Trivia
One important, can’t-miss-it service or program your State Library offers
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Wisconsin
Marathon County, WI, produces nearly all of the ginseng grown in the U.S. (Check out Craig Thompson’s new graphic memoir, Ginseng Roots)
Although the American badger (Taxidea taxus) lives in Wisconsin, we are known as “the Badger State” for the nickname given to lead miners in the early 1800s.
Mercer, WI, was home to the first wearable Smokey Bear costume. The costume head is �on display at the �Mercer Public Library.
A Little Trivia
Our Public Library System CE consultants are knocking it out of the park with the Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference, HR for Library Leaders, Tech Days, Trustee Training Week, and more.
The Wisconsin Bureau of Libraries has released a revised edition of Public Library Space Needs: a Planning Outline. We are also embarking on a revision to Wisconsin’s Public Library Standards.
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Contact:
Teresa Schmidt
Public Library Administration Consultant
Wisconsin DPI Bureau of Libraries
Wyoming
Wyoming only has 2 escalators in the whole state, both located in Casper!
A Little Trivia
The Best Thing We Did This Year
Paige Bredenkamp
eresources & school library consultant
Wyoming State Library
The Jackalope, first discovered in Douglas, Wyoming, is the state’s legendary cryptid!
Thanks Continuing Education Staff!