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SWON Libraries
 

By Anne K. Abate, Executive Director, SWON

SWON Libraries serves the seventeen counties in the southwest corner of the State of Ohio.  In addition to its almost 80 contributing members of all types of libraries (academic, public, school, and special), SWON Libraries also communicates with libraries of all types in its region on a regular basis. 

SWON Libraries offers a full line of programming to professional and support staff of libraries and is continually searching for ways to help additional library staff.  Many of the SWON Libraries programs are now available in online formats.  SWON Libraries prides itself on only providing QUALITY online training in short time segments that are convenient and will not put you to sleep!  Recently, in partnership with one of the school libraries in the region, SWON Libraries hosted an online discussion on the Future of the School Library.  In addition to librarians, there were teachers, community members, and STUDENTS in attendance.  Watch the SWON Libraries calendar for other exciting events.

SWON Libraries offers quite a broad variety of workshops and learning opportunities for the region including face-to-face and online workshops and moderated online chat sessions. SWON Libraries hosts more than 25 Interest Groups that meet at least semi-annually or quarterly throughout the year. The Summer Reading workshops held this spring were well received throughout the region. 

In addition to the programs on the schedule that are planned by the staff, SWON Libraries also partners with several members, nonprofit organizations in the area, and CE providers in other parts of the country to provide additional continuing education opportunities to library staff in this region and the State of Ohio.

SWON Libraries provides general technology assistance to the libraries in its region. In addition, SWON Libraries has been providing support and networking throughout the region for those libraries that are eligible for the Gates Opportunity Online grants.  The number of requests for assistance doubled in the most recent quarter.  SWON Libraries has spearheaded the research for the Technology Assistance Grant that is discovering the technology needs of libraries throughout the State of Ohio.

This Spring, the Strategic Planning Committee of the SWON Libraries Executive Board is starting their work. We are all excited to find out all of the new things that we will be able to explore in the future.