Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Session 6: Breakouts
2:30-3:20 PM
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Session 6: Breakouts
2:30-3:20 PM
Embedded Files
Thank you for attending the 2026 CLA Conference. A Post Conference Email will be sent out after May 4th.
Session 6: Breakouts
2:30-3:20 PM
Mystic Ballroom AD
Mystic Ballroom AD
Navigating Rough Waters: Managing through a Natural Disaster
Navigating Rough Waters: Managing through a Natural Disaster
Presenter: Heather Szaley Aronson, Southbury Public Library
Sharing what I learned from catastrophic flooding that can be applied to any disaster, big or small.
Sponsor: CLA Member
Mystic Ballroom BE
Mystic Ballroom BE
Touchy Subjects: Navigating Sensitive Topics in
America 250 | CT Programming
Touchy Subjects: Navigating Sensitive Topics in
America 250 | CT Programming
Presenters: Margaret Khan, Booth & Dimock Memorial Library; Kristin Robinson, The Impact Story; and Cyndi Tolosa, CT Humanities
When discussing the 250th, difficult-to-navigate topics are often brought to the forefront. How can we engage with audiences without alienating them? This session equips library professionals with strategies to foster conversation around potentially sensitive topics. Explore tested techniques for reframing discussions, encouraging engagement, and creating space for meaningful, courageous dialogue.
Sponsor: CLA Member
Mystic Ballroom CF
Mystic Ballroom CF
Little Yappers: Storytime Help with a Speech Therapist
Little Yappers: Storytime Help with a Speech Therapist
Presenters: Janet Daddario, Rehabilitation Associates of CT, B23 Program and Andrea O'Shea, Prospect Public Library
Early Literacy and Speech Development go together like peanut butter and jelly. Now let's convey that to the parents and caregivers in our storytime! Hear from Andrea O'Shea, children's librarian, and Janet D'Addario, Birth to Three Speech Therapist from Rehab Associates of Connecticut to see how you can add speech enrichment to your storytime and create little yappers in your library.
Sponsor: CLA Member
Conference Room 1
Conference Room 1
Archiving Violence: A Cross-Institutional Study of Metadata, Memory, and State Narratives
Archiving Violence: A Cross-Institutional Study of Metadata, Memory, and State Narratives
Presenters: Marisa Lenti, Southern Connecticut State University and Saira Soroya (Ph. D), Southern Connecticut State University
This presentation explores how library metadata functions as a powerful instrument in shaping collective memory. By tracing patterns of recognition, preservation, distortion, and erasure in catalogues, it reveals how institutions construct national narratives of genocide and conflict—and how subtle cataloguing choices can determine what societies remember, reinterpret, or forget.
Sponsor: CLA Technical Services Section
Conference Room 2
Conference Room 2
Librarians & Prevention Work: The Public Library as a Protective Factor
Librarians & Prevention Work: The Public Library as a Protective Factor
Presenters: Madison Baranoski, Coventry Youth Services and Kayla Chamberlain, Booth & Dimock Memorial Library
The work that Libraries already do for our communities has a natural, but often inadvertent positive side effect: being a protective factor for our community, especially for youth. In this session, learn what it means to be a protective factor, as well how to bring intentionality to that inherent role through our spaces, collections, programming, and community collaborations.
Sponsor: CLA Public Libraries Section
Conference Room 3
Conference Room 3
A Pokémon Professor's Guide to Programming and Materials
A Pokémon Professor's Guide to Programming and Materials
Presenter: Kelly Moore, Brainerd Memorial Library
Want to run successful Pokémon programming but don't know how? Learn how to plan and find themed activities and programs, source cards and prizes, keep your library's Pokémon Trainers engaged, and more from a real life Pokémon Professor, no matter your knowledge of the franchise.
Sponsor: CLA Member
Conference Room 5
Conference Room 5
D&D Without a Budget: When the Only Thing Running the Show is the People
D&D Without a Budget: When the Only Thing Running the Show is the People
Presenter: Evelyn Benvie
Do you dream of launching a thriving and popular D&D program at your library? Do you have patrons asking you to run sessions? Do you have exactly zero dollars to do so? This session might not solve all your problems, but it will give you ideas, tips, and tricks for running D&D … for FREE!
Sponsor: CLA Member
Conference Room 6
Conference Room 6
Independent Reading with Dignity: Demonstrating Dementia-Accessible Books in Library Settings
Independent Reading with Dignity: Demonstrating Dementia-Accessible Books in Library Settings
Presenter: Susan Ostrowski, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, Reading2Connect ®
Older adults living with dementia can engage independently when books are intentionally designed for accessibility while grounded in real adult literature.
In this demonstration session, attendees will examine Reading2Connect® materials and video examples showing how formatting, pacing, and environment enable self-directed reading, peer leadership, and social connection—without heavy staff facilitation.
Ideal for librarians, outreach coordinators, and Memory Café facilitators.
Vendor Demo
Conference Room 7
Conference Room 7
Live from Llano, Leila Green Little!
Live from Llano, Leila Green Little!
Presenters: Leila Green Little; Jocelyn Kennedy, Executive Director, Farmington Libraries; and Sam Lee, Wallingford Public Library
Leila Green Little, library patron turned intellectual freedom fighter shares her story about Llano, TX. More than just a parent, reader and citizen, she's become one of the faces in the fight for democracy. Jocelyn Kennedy, Executive Director of Farmington Libraries, with her abundant legal expertise will provide context through this story and probe Leila to learn about her iron core.
Sponsor: CLA Intellectual Freedom Committee
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