Illinois School Library Workers Symposium 2026

Curious about Canva but not sure where to start? This session is designed for school librarians looking to create eye-catching displays, newsletters, book lists, and event flyers without needing a design background. In this intro session, we'll cover the Canva workspace, finding and customizing templates, working with text and images, and exporting designs for print and digital use, as well as some of my favorite tools and time-saving tips. 

We genrefied more than 11,000 picture books in under three months...and you can too! Join the St. Charles Public Library as we share how we transformed our picture book collection through subject genrefication. We'll cover the good, the bad, and everything in-between, from initial planning and category decisions to the processes that helped us complete this project in such a short time. We'll also discuss what happened after the labels were applied and the shelves were shifted, including patron feedback and lessons we learned. Whether you're just exploring the idea of genrefying a collection or ready to start a project of your own, you'll leave with strategies, helpful tips, and everything else you need to begin your own genrefication project.

Discover how Google Gemini can serve as a powerful co-pilot for your everyday library operations. In this hands-on workshop, we will demystify generative AI and cover the art of effective prompting for common library tasks, including how Gemini leverages live search grounding to provide verified citations and real-time facts. We will explore how Gemini is embedded directly across the Google ecosystem, step through creating Custom Gems (personalized AI assistants) to automate your most repetitive workflows, and look at Google NotebookLM to convert text into grounded study aids and podcast-style Audio Overviews. Participants will leave with ready-to-use prompt templates, a custom Gem built during the session, and practical strategies to save time and work more intentionally.