Ignite Talk

Find the best library staff: turning recruitment and hiring upside down.

We return from NextLibrary full of new ideas.  But we look around and don’t always find the staff to execute those dreams.

This Ignite will question how we recruit and hire and will give you new ideas to try out as soon as you return.  Be ready for some radical thinking!

Hosts

Maxine Bleiweis and Sari Feldman

Maxine Bleiweis was the fearless executive director of the Westport Library (CT).  Since 2015, she has been speaking, coaching, and helping libraries all over have the courage to do great things.  She authored the book, Helping Business, on economic development and libraries.  She was Connecticut’s Librarian of the Year and also received the Charles Robinson Award for Innovative Leadership from the American Library Association.

Sari Feldman was the executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library (Ohio) until her retirement in 2019.  She was the President of the American Library Association, 2015-2016 and President of the Public Library Association, 2009-2010.  She current serves on the boards of OverDrive and RBmedia, is a senior fellow for the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy and writes a library column for Publishers Weekly. She consults speaks nationally and internationally on a variety of library and literacy topics.