Pay No Attention to That Librarian Behind the Curtain!
by Dora Davis, WHSLA Professional Development Chair
While doing my usual crawl of regional offerings (just call me the Nancy Drew of Professional Development), I stumbled upon a gem: Region 7 is hosting a webinar on “Hospital Librarians Going Virtual.”
Most of us have already made the leap into virtual spaces—hello juggling all the things with only your keyboard and mouse—but aren’t you curious to see how others have navigated this transition? From creative outreach strategies to tech hacks that actually work, I’m curious to hear what’s worked (and what we wish we had never attempted).
When I first transitioned to virtual services, it felt a little like the Wizard of Oz moment—“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” Suddenly, all the behind-the-scenes magic we used to do in person had to happen online. The curtain was pulled back, and our patrons could see the gears turning live via Teams (or Zoom or Webex or….): the tech troubleshooting, the resource wrangling, the creative pivots, that time someone banged on my door and my camera fell off so all anyone could see was the dirty ceiling in my office. My first virtual education session was nerve-wracking—I worried no one would show up, and then 42 people logged in! Talk about deer-in-the-headlights dodging oncoming traffic. But that was my aha moment: Going virtual wasn’t just a workaround; it was an opportunity to reach more people than ever before.
The best part? This webinar is free. No budget approvals, no expense reports—just pure professional development goodness at the click of a button.
If you’ve ever wondered:
- How do other hospital librarians keep that personal touch online?
- What tools are making their lives easier?
- Who’s figured out the secret to making virtual orientations actually fun?
- How many of us are sporting “the best pair of socks you’ve ever worn” behind that curtain?
Then this webinar might be worth your time. Go ahead and take a peek because although there’s no place like home, sometimes a visit to someone else's home gives you that idea you didn’t know you needed.
Register here: Hospital Librarians Going Virtual
In the meantime, watch out for flying monkeys!
Dora 
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