United for Libraries offers first-ever chance to livestream Institute during Midwinter Meeting; registration open

EXTON, Pennsylvania — The United for Libraries Institute: Friends, Foundations, and Trustees event will be livestreamed Saturday, January 25 during the 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting. In-person event registration begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern; livestreaming will be 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Registration to join the livestream is free.

Library Trustees, Friends groups, Foundations, and library staff are invited to join via YouTube for this first-ever free afternoon of learning opportunities. The United for Libraries Institute is a unique chance for board members to participate in national training on advocacy, fundraising, recruiting younger generations, and more.

New York Times bestselling author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin (The Four Tendencies, “Happier with Gretchen Rubin”) will deliver the keynote address. Deborah Doyle, vice chair of Sonoma County (California) Library Commission, president of California Public Library Advocates, and United for Libraries Legislative Committee chair, will moderate.

The Institute will also feature sessions with expert speakers. The panelists will include:

• The E’s of Libraries with Alan Fishel, Partner, Arent Fox; Board Member, United for Libraries
• Fundraising: The More it Changes, The More it Stays the Same with Libby Post, President/CEO, Communication Services and United for Libraries board member
• Recruiting Advocates of All Ages: Engaging Millennial Members on Boards, Friends Groups, and Foundations with Lina Bertinelli of Enoch Pratt Free Library/Maryland State Library Resource Center and Tess Wilson of National Network of Libraries of Medicine – Middle Atlantic Region
• Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia Take it to City Hall with Linda L. Colwell-Smith, President, Friends of Torresdale Library; Betty Beaufort, Friends of Queen Memorial Library; Erica Zurer, Friends of the Ramonita G. de Rodriguez Library; and Yvette Robinson, Friends of Overbrook Park Library
   

The Institute will be held in the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Montgomery Auditorium at the Parkway Central location.

Visit www.ala.org/united/2020 to register for the livestream. Download the agenda for the Institute at www.ala.org/united/events_conferences/institute.

For information about registering for Midwinter, visit www.alamidwinter.org. To register to attend the Institute in person, visit www.ala.org/united/events_conferences/institute. For more information on other United for Libraries events at the ALA Midwinter Meeting, visit www.ala.org/united/events_conferences/midwinter.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. To join, please visit www.ala.org/united or call (800) 545-2433, ext. 2161.