This will be an opportunity for new committee chairs and/or vice chairs to feel comfortable with the expectations of the role. We will go over templates for agendas, minutes, midyear reports, annual reports, and rolling calendars for continuity when committee leadership changes. As a group we will determine how committees can best work together to serve membership through planning and collaboration of ideas. Please reach out to Brandy Brady ([email protected]) to request other topics that would be beneficial to new leaders of committees.
The rising cost of academic resources continues to be a defining challenge for many students pursuing higher education. Open Educational Resources (OER) offer one potential solution to reducing these barriers by providing affordable and accessible learning materials. This working group aims to better understand the current state of OER initiatives across MOBIUS higher education institutions. To support this effort, a survey was distributed to librarians across the consortium to gather information about institutional participation in OER initiatives. Survey responses identified several common barriers to OER adoption, including limited funding, lack of time, and insufficient awareness or training.
The goal of this working group is to collect and analyze data regarding OER efforts in order to better understand the needs of MOBIUS members. Based on these findings, the group will explore ways MOBIUS can provide meaningful support through OER services, resources, and professional development opportunities. During this session, we will share the results of the initial survey and facilitate an open discussion with attendees about their experiences, perspectives, and recommendations regarding OER.
East Central College Library hosts Game Nights for students twice a semester. Starting with a handful of classic board games in 2017, it is now a collection of over 100 games. A variety of card, table, and board games for solo players to groups of ten and more. At this session you will learn about our events, assessments, funding, and growth in this overview. We will tell you about the audience, how advertised, space set up, timing, snacks, and themes. Review our assessment results and reactions of over 200 surveys conducted since 2017 and include some funding sources and best buy suggestions. Talk about the changes that have been made over the years and our plans for next Academic Year’s events. BONUS ! We will share how we box, label, count, barcode, catalog, and more!
In our annual brainstorm/planning meeting we checked our notes for any major commemoration dates and said, “oh yeah! The Declaration of Independence turns 250 in 2026!” Polling the group for ideas yielded mostly that we wanted to think about some more. We picked a month during the year for a book display we called “Happy Birthday America!” Additionally we wrote, “ and something else—TBD.” After lots of healthy dialogue and finding some inspiration in one of our databases, our “TBD” became a film project with 60+ readers volunteering to read the words of the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Come hear the story of our very own bold experiment. Were people excited? Yes! Were people concerned? Also yes! Did we all immediately agree what this project should look like? Not a chance!
Presenters will discuss the digitization process of items in their collections that may ultimately be placed in their online digital libraries/repositories. Details may include equipment, server space for storage, file formats, back-up files, copyright considerations, editing software, content management systems, etc. The purpose is to help others get started or needing tips/advice.
This interactive session addresses the growing challenge of student distraction in college classrooms by equipping educators with strategies to increase engagement and assessment through tools such as Canva Whiteboard, Slido, Padlet, Blooket, and Pear Deck. Additional resources, such as Nearpod, InsertLearning, Formative, Classkick, and Genially, will be introduced. This workshop will feature a mix of engaging technology demonstrations, live learning activities, and a group collaboration activity where participants will integrate the technological tools into real micro-lesson teaching scenarios, equipping them to engage disengaged students, assess students’ learning, and reinforce the importance of creating student-centered lesson plans in the digital age.
The MOBIUS Consortium’s Cataloging Committee has implemented a peer mentoring network to facilitate collegial support in the cataloger role. The project is in its first phase, and the committee is preparing to evaluate and expand the project. This presentation describes implementation of the project, its current progress, future development, and ways the project could be adapted for use in other professional areas.
Library and information services professionals work in an industry that offers a tremendous volume of conferences, webinars, and professional service opportunities. However, navigating these environments to expand your professional network can sometimes feel daunting, complicated, or time consuming for both new and experienced professionals. Join members of the MOBIUS Professional Development and Training Committee Brandy Brady (Board Representative) and Robert Powers (Chair) for an interactive introduction to networking, honing your elevator speech, and the chance to speed-network with session attendees. Get on your feet and network!
Academic libraries continue to expand their digital ecosystems to support multimodal learning, faculty instruction, and evolving student research needs. This session highlights what’s new with Libby and Kanopy, focusing on discovery improvements, workflow efficiencies, and a growing integration ecosystem connecting ebooks, audiobooks, streaming media, and library discovery layers. We'll share a recap of recent platform updates, including Libby’s improved search, expanded filtering options for finding new titles faster, and ongoing integration developments between Libby, Kanopy, and the Vega platforms. These updates support more efficient discovery and help your library connect students and faculty to relevant resources.
Participants will see how AI can help students navigate databases, understand scholarly language, generate research starting points, and build confidence through live demonstrations that pair AI tools with high‑quality library resources. The session also highlights library services, workshops, and collaborative opportunities that support AI‑assisted research and the development of critical information literacy.
Discover how to plan events that promote mental well-being and offer participants a creative outlet for stress relief. Mental health concerns among college students are increasing. With libraries serving as one of the few welcoming third spaces on campus, offering activities that promote well-being and help relieve stress can provide meaningful support for students. Mizzou Libraries have always placed an emphasis on outreach events, but it was sporadic and not strategic. In 2024, an outreach and engagement committee was formed to help coordinate outreach efforts where outreach is everyone's responsibility. Since its inception, the outreach and engagement committee has planned several successful--and unsuccessful-events that have given committee members the opportunity to contribute to student success and belonging. The events have become increasingly popular, with many students attending regularly and bringing friends. Participants also build meaningful connections with librarians, archivists, and library staff, which can help reduce library anxiety. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Design and implement low‑barrier library programs that promote mental well‑being through creative, stress relief-focused activities. Position the library as a welcoming third space that fosters student belonging and emotional safety on campus. Apply a strategic, committee‑based approach to outreach and engagement, shifting from sporadic programming to coordinated, sustainable efforts. Assess outreach initiatives and use both successful and unsuccessful events to inform continuous improvement and future planning. Use informal engagement opportunities to reduce library anxiety and build positive, approachable relationships between students and library staff.
At our small college, freshman seminar is a mandatory requirement for first year students. Often, we received invitations to ‘teach about the library’ to students who had been on campus for 3 weeks. The traditional lessons we taught resulted in low engagement and very little information retention. We also often were asked to teach the same concepts in other first year classes. To combat this, we created a seminar specific first year escape room that familiarized them with the library services and spaces. As a result, librarians have seen more engaged library usage throughout students’ first year.
Artificial intelligence is transforming how researchers discover scholarly literature, often bypassing traditional library linking systems and creating new challenges for accessing full text. This session explores gaps between library subscriptions and actual access, the limitations of link resolvers, and how emerging tools—especially AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Consensus—are changing discovery workflows while often failing to connect users to full text. It also examines strategies for embedding library access into these environments and addresses the growing issue of AI-generated or inaccurate citations, highlighting the evolving role of librarians in supporting access and information integrity.
Are you hesitant to use generative AI because it hallucinates, fabricates citations, and gets things confidently wrong? That hesitation is justified—and shared by many information professionals. However, not all uses of generative AI carry the same level of risk, and some can meaningfully support day-to-day repository work when guided by professional judgment. This presentation will highlight several real-world examples of generative AI use in the day-to-day work of a digital repository librarian, including analyzing digital collections, gathering and comparing information, and creating and debugging Python automation scripts. The focus will be on how these tools were used critically and transparently, with librarians remaining firmly in control of decision-making. The session will also engage with broader ethical questions and environmental considerations surrounding generative AI. Rather than advocating for adoption, this presentation creates space for reflection, discussion, and shared learning about how—and whether—generative AI can be used responsibly in professional practice.
Game Nights, Wellness Weeks, Book Clubs, Craft Nights…It seems like every conference is filled with activity and programming ideas for getting students' attention and keeping them in the library. Everyone loves student engagement, but most of us don’t have a dedicated librarian to plan and run these programs. As a Research and Instruction Librarian who does programming “in my spare time”, I had to develop methods to build a consistent roster of activities without burning out. In this session, I will share some strategies that I have used to maximize student engagement when I have minimal time to spare.
MOBIUS is one of largest organizations using FOLIO and, as such, should have a significant voice in the product's development. In the FOLIO community, communication and collaboration are key. That means that MOBIUS as a whole needs to increase our community recognition and involvement. More voices in the community, more votes on development projects, means more of a say the the direction FOLIO moves. In this session, Vivian talks about how we go about doing that. We'll discuss special interest groups (SIGs), where most of the conversations take place about how FOLIO works, and about how we want it to work. We'll talk about development teams, so when someone refers to "Folijet" or "Volaris", you'll know what - and who - they're talking about. And we'll talk about key community figures, and how you can become one. And we might get a bit of Gen Alpha slang, just for the fun of it.
Library licensing can feel opaque and intimidating—but it doesn’t have to be. This interactive session equips librarians with practical skills and confidence to navigate, negotiate, and evaluate license agreements more effectively. Participants will explore core negotiation principles, learn to interpret common legal and library-specific terms, and discuss emerging issues shaping today’s landscape, including ADA Title II compliance and the growing impact of AI in vendor agreements. The session also highlights tools and resources that support informed decision-making and collaboration. To reinforce learning, attendees will engage in a brief, guided redlining activity that provides hands-on experience reviewing and revising license language. Participants will leave with actionable strategies, clearer understanding of key terms, and greater confidence advocating for their library’s needs.
This presentation will recount my own personal journey as someone who is tasked with library programming but is also susceptible to "doomerism" thought. But more so, it will focus on what there is to learn and gain from what I at first considered “failed” programs. This presentation will recount a few specific events, what I consider to be their shortcomings, but also important lessons I took away from them including ways to measure success beyond numbers, the importance of gathering data and how to use it, and how partnering with other departments and organizations expands our audience and lightens our workload. While it is easy to focus on what goes wrong, it is important to focus on our serendipitous successes.
Libraries and tutoring centers often support the same students—but rarely in the same space. This session shares how a partnership at Emporia State University brought these services together through high-impact events like the Long Night Against Procrastination and embedded finals support. By combining research help, tutoring, and engaging programming, this model increased student participation and strengthened academic support. Attendees will gain practical ideas for creating their own collaborative, student-centered initiatives.
Arts & Humanities Librarian, Saint Louis University
I recently joined SLU in 2026. Prior to that, I was a FYE Librarian at Emporia State University, where I also received my MLS. I was born and raised in KCMO, and an alum of SLU as well!
How do you know what you have in your collection? What about what you think you have, but don’t? Inventory management in FOLIO is a choose-your-own-adventure project right now, and this is an opportunity to share your own solutions.
