Conference Overview

Conference Objectives

1. To collaborate with school and community about the Common Core State Standards & AASL Library Standards & DOE Standards, with emphasis in improving Reading Literacy

2. To build library skills and professional development for librarians and other library personnel

3. To provide library programs to improve student information literacy skills

Presentation Guidelines

  • Be an active, attentive listener.
  • Set to silence all technology. Use for emergencies.
  • Be open to new ideas, other viewpoints.
  • Avoid sidebar conversations.
  • Treat everything you hear as an opportunity to learn and grow.


  • "While you are here, you have the right and opportunity to be heard.”
  • “Your individual needs and desires are important here.”
  • “You will help to determine what happens at this conference.”
  • “What happens here will be kept confidential. You can feel safe here.”
  • “At this conference, you can create, together with others, opportunities to learn and to share.”
  • Source: http://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2010/08/how-to-improve-your-conference-with-explicit-ground-rules/


  • Everyone participate, no one dominate
  • Success depends on participation – share ideas, ask questions, draw others out
  • Listen to understand
  • Use I statements
  • One speaker at a time
  • Seek unity (not separation)
  • Disagree without being disagreeable
  • Share your unique perspective
  • Share your experience (not others)
  • Critique ideas, not people
  • Listen from the “We” but speak from the “I”
  • Respect each others’ thinking and value their contributions
  • Listen for understanding – inquire (ask) before you advocate (persuade)
  • Manage group work
  • Show up and CHOOSE to be present
  • Staying on schedule is everyone’s responsibility; honor time limits
  • State your “headline” first, then the supporting information as necessary
  • Allow every voice to be heard
  • Ask “what’s possible?” not “what’s wrong”? Keep asking
  • Participate 100%
  • Seek common ground and understanding (not problems and conflict)
  • “Yes…and” thinking (not, “Yes…but”)
  • Listen for the future to emerge
  • Have fun!
  • Source: http://getthepicture.ca/a-list-of-ground-rules-for-effective-meetings/

Three Questions ~ all answers are correct

“How did I get here?”

“What do I want to have happen?”

“What expertise or experience do I have that others here might find useful?”

Source: http://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2014/12/two-powerful-ways-to-open-a-conference/

Source: http://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/promo/2011/06/participation-techniques-you-can-use-in-conference-sessions/