DIY: Encouraging sustainability through shared resources

Karen Gutierrez
Laura Bachor
Rhiana Compton\

In fall 2024, the Department of Environmental Services reached out to see if we would partner with them to encourage sustainability through shared resources. In an effort to encourage waste reduction, we spent the next few months researching items to add to our DIY collection. And cataloging went down the rabbit hole of best practices for processing and packaging. The new items began circulating on Earth Day. 

Making it work (or not!): Learnings from Grant Project Fails & Unexpected Successes

Kaitlin Holt
Christine Szeluga
Jen Hoyer

So, you’ve received the opportunity to apply for grant funding to support a [project, space, event, piece of equipment, acquisition, etc.] you didn’t know you needed nor frankly wanted. But, money is money and it’s worth it, right? WRONG! In this presentation, we’ll share lessons we’ve learned from impactful funding and grants gone wrong. Takeaways will include reflections on who to include in the grant writing process; questions to ask before saying “yes” to funding; opportunities for working sustainability into short-term grants, and more. Attendees will leave this session with new frameworks for thinking about how a grant can best serve them and their institution, and when it’s okay to just say “no.”

STEAM Dreams: Building a Makerspace Without a Map

Devon Allan
Rachel Talbert
Kyle Ramsey

How do you build a STEAM Makerspace in a public library using leftover equipment, no clear roadmap, and a lot of improvisation? At the Communipaw Branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library, we started with a random assortment of equipment and big ideas. Some of those tools, like a CNC milling machine, quickly raised red flags when a patron suggested using it to mill metal gun parts. Through plenty of trial and error, we transformed that messy beginning into a thriving community STEAM hub. Today we offer a recording studio, podcasting equipment, 3D printers, sewing machines, Cricut machines, heat presses, and hands-on kits for youth coding and creative exploration. With no initial policies or procedures, we had to build everything from scratch while keeping access free and community-focused. This session explores our missteps, unexpected wins, and what it takes to create a Makerspace, especially when nothing goes as planned…

Information Devolution: How Cellphones, Social Media, and AI Shape Politics and Us

Jack Brewster

Jack Brewster, CEO of Newsreel, an app designed to make news accessible for young people and the digitally exhausted, explores how the internet and social media are reshaping the way we interact and consume news, and the profound impact this has on our politics. Jack delves into the latest research on how social media, AI, and the internet are changing the way we think—or at the very least, act—and how they amplify the spread of misinformation while bringing out the worst versions of ourselves.

From Lesson Plan to Listen Now: Co-Creating a Podcast with Queens Teens

J. Faye Yuan
Rebecca Seidel
John Jenkins

What happens when your carefully crafted podcast workshop turns into something completely unexpected? In this panel, three collaborators share how a teen-centered audio storytelling series evolved from a structured lesson plan into a co-created, fully produced podcast episode. Spoiler: nothing went according to plan.

We Just Thought It Sounded Cool: Exhibiting WPA Art from QPL’s Archives

Sarah Healy
Isa Dorvillier

Early this spring, we presented the exhibition The Work of Art: WPA Prints from the QPL Archives, a show of New Deal fine art prints in the Library’s collection. Although we are both YA staff, we discovered a mutual appreciation for the Archives’ collection and decided to ask if we could exhibit the prints at our branch, simply because we thought they were cool and deserved to be seen by the larger public. The exhibition was a reminder that there is a precedent for radically funding the arts in this country, and we have physical evidence of that support right here in our library.  In this presentation, we will discuss the history of WPA art as it relates to public libraries, highlight the way libraries can play a role in supporting working artists, and share the process of getting the show off the ground.

How Allies Can Champion Queer Inclusion in Library Spaces and Programming

Lawrence Fiorelli
Julie Zimmerman
Leta Cunningham

“Queer and allied librarians will speak about how to offer programming that centers and affirms queer patrons, in particular how to do this as a cisgender/heterosexual ally. We will offer specific examples of programs we have done and how to approach them as an ally. We will offer concrete advice on safety, best practices for creating a welcoming environment, and how to get your coworkers on board. We will speak from experience on what has worked, and what hasn’t!

Lesbian Library Day!

Allison Nellis
Amber Flannery Field
Rachel Crook

Spearheaded by Amber Flannery Field, the first Lesbian Library Day occurred in the Summer of 2025 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. Lesbian Library Day was created in response to the decreasing sapphic third spaces and a need to connect book lovers throughout the community. Learn more about Lesbian Library Day and how you can bring it to your branch!

Period Supplies? Oh my!

Rakiesha Kearns-White
Shamima Sharmin

Discuss how, we, a team of 3 librarians built a library-systemwide menstrual advocacy initiative from the ground up and continue develop further skills to navigate the barriers of assisting 61 branches with differing community and cultural needs as we assist them in their menstrual advocacy goals. Our menstrual advocacy initiative included managing teen internships, order processing, and ensuring that the staff who were appointed as mentors under the initiative were equipped with the proper materials to take on the position as a “CARE (Cycle Alliance in every REgion) manager” for their branches. We will also explore the challenges we faced as project managers, from the initial recruitment of CARE managers to adequately maintaining the budget.  

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Speaker Name
Speaker Name

Session Description Mass incarceration has burned down communities in America. The Ready Access team has created a two-fold website and community of practice for those who are ready to provide services to this largely underserved population. The presentation will touch on the importance of the movement, how to join the community of practice and showcase the two-fold website.

Against the Ether: The Fight to Archive Animation

Mekleit Dix
Jasmine Cordero

In the wake of the Warner Discovery Merger and other media mergers, the licenses to many graphic narratives, animated television shows, films,  etc. are no longer legally or digitally accessible. This panel seeks to employ a historical framework to discuss the current legacy of archival work within the animation field and how enthusiasts, archivists, and industry workers collaborate and ideate on preserving elements of animation record/history from the last 50+ years.