Program Type:
Virtual ConferenceProgram Description
Event Details
Multi-day Virtual Forum | March 4 and March 6, 2025
The Annual Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Virtual Forum is scheduled for March 4 & 6, 2025. We're excited to be in our 4th successful year of offering an economical, virtual venue to learn about reference and user services. This forum is open to ALL librarians and library workers. RUSA membership is not required.
The Forum Theme is: Meeting Users' Needs (EDIA)
Users with varying experiences and needs:
- Broad set of socio-demographic backgrounds
- Cultures
- Ages
- Sexualities
- Races
- Groups that have experienced historical/institutional inequities
- Neurodiversity
- Gender
- Disabilities
- Ethnicities
By acknowledging these, we can better provide for our patrons and our communities.
What do we know? How can this knowledge help us? Why is it valuable? How can building better services for one group benefit other groups? How are we bringing these groups to the conversation to help us build better practices? Why should we care?
Libraries serve changing and dynamic user groups that often have intersecting needs. By acknowledging these different user groups, we can better provide for our patrons and our library communities. Whether you are working with a neurodivergent student to find research for an assignment, or are interacting with a patron who is struggling to navigate technology, or you are aware that spaces in the library could be more welcoming to different groups of users - librarians work constantly to change or adapt to meet our patrons where they are. But we often do not always know how to serve these groups.
Hear presentations from our sections and interest groups that address how to meet a variety of users' needs, with a particular focus on meeting user needs under equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Session Titles:
- Evolving Library Services: A Holistic Approach to Patron Support and Well-being
- Genealogy Research for African Americans and Asian Americans: Tools and Strategies to Support Family History Researchers
- Partnering with Professors: Expanding one-off class instruction with custom course videos
- Informal Learning and Community Building through Library Outreach
- Helping Diver Users with Financial Literacy Resources
- and More!
This virtual event is for all types of library works in reference, user services, adult readers advisory and collection development as well as resource sharing, genealogy and archives, business reference and reference technology. The Virtual Forum is open to non RUSA and ALA members as well .
**NOTE**: Access information for this learning event will be sent to all registrants by American Library Association before the start of the event. In order to take this course/attend this webinar you will need to create (or use an existing) ALA account to proceed. It is free to create an account and you do not need to be an ALA member. If you do not wish to create an ALA account please cancel your registration.
CALL Training Partner for this Event: American Library Association
Additional Information
Enrollment Statement
I understand that a space will be reserved for me in this learning opportunity at a cost to CALL, and if I am unable to attend this learning opportunity, I will cancel my enrollment as soon as possible and before the start date.