Upcoming Opportunities
These opportunities are available for free unless otherwise noted. Descriptions are provided by host organizations.
Awards and Scholarships
Open
The Texas Library Association (TLA) offers awards and scholarships honoring excellence in and contributions to the library profession. In addition, TLA offers stipends to help defray the costs of attending Annual Conference and membership, and many TLA units also offer awards and scholarships. Apply to help your work get recognized! For more information, visit the association’s awards, scholarships, and stipends webpage.
Whole-Person Leadership: A Strategic Framework for Team Clarity, Engagement, and Performance
October 14, 2025 | 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Today’s evolving workplace demands more than productivity. It requires leadership that’s human, aligned, and sustainable. In this session, leadership strategist Kris Cala introduces the C.O.M.P.A.S.S. Framework, a whole-person leadership model designed to help HR leaders and managers reduce confusion, elevate engagement, and create culture-forward strategy.
In this webinar, participants will learn how to:
- Identify early signs of misalignment and energy leaks within team dynamics
- Use the C.O.M.P.A.S.S. Framework to realign communication, accountability, and performance
- Apply whole-person leadership practices that support clarity, trust, and motivation
- Implement a practical tool to enhance alignment during team check-ins or planning sessions
This training is ideal for HR professionals, people managers, learning and development leaders, and organizational decision-makers navigating retention challenges, rising stress, and fast-moving change. For more information, visit the webinar homepage.
Walmart Spark Good Local Grants
October 15, 2025
Each year, Walmart U.S. stores, Sam’s Clubs, and Distribution Centers award local cash grants ranging from $250 to $5,000.Local grants are designed to support local organizations that meet the unique needs of the communities where we operate, build pride among all associates, and deepen relationships with our customers. For more information, visit the grants webpage.
Children’s Book Project Grants
October 15, 2025
The Pilcrow Foundation, a national non-profit public charity, provides a 2-to-1 match to rural public libraries that receive a grant through its Children’s Book Project and contribute $200-$400 through local sponsors for the purchase of up to $1,200 worth (at retail value) of new, quality, hardcover children’s books. They provide a list of over 500 hardcover children’s books from which grant recipients can select books best suited for their community. The book list includes award-winning and star-reviewed titles from educational and literary organizations. For more information, visit the program website.
Booked & Buzzy
October 16, 2025 | 11:30 am – 12:00 p.m. (Central)
Hachette and Union Square & Co. invite you to their inaugural Booked & Buzzy virtual event. They know there is a lot going on, your schedule is booked, your life is busy, so they’ve crafted a short and sweet program to slot into a lunch break. 30 minutes, two authors, one Book Buzz. Although this is held via Teams, you do not need Teams in order to participate. For more information, visit the event website.
NextGen Virtual Summit
October 22, 2025
The NextGen Summit inspires government innovation and provides training and leadership opportunities for public servants. Since 2010, the FREE two-day summit has inspired over 5,000 federal, state and local government employees to become the leaders government needs. 2025 will be the 16th year GovLoop has hosted the NextGen Government Training Summit. They are excited to offer two dates for the virtual summit this year; both dates will be free to all attendees. For more information, visit the conference website.
Call for Proposals
October 22, 2025
At the end of each year, the Rural Library eSummit brings together more than 500 rural library practitioners and friends from across rural America to celebrate their role in building strong communities. At the eSummit, practitioners learn more about using cradle-to-career strategies to address educational and health disparities as well as having the chance to access resources needed to do this work. During the eSummit, incentives will be shared, and networking opportunities will abound!
The Rural Library Network eSummit will showcase the power of rural libraries to lead movements, activate partnerships, strengthen systems, and serve as “bright spots” across the country. Thus, they invite breakout session proposals that highlight real-world strategies, bold ideas, and replicable (scalable) models. Whether you are leading change in a single community or building statewide momentum, they want to hear from you. For more information, visit the event website.
E-Read Texas: An Overview
October 22, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. (Central)
Did you know the Texas State Library and Archives Commission has a free e-book and audiobook program for eligible public libraries? E-Read Texas is a program offered by the Texas State Library to bring e-books and audiobooks to small and medium-sized community libraries in all parts of the state. The collection includes nearly 19,000 titles, comprised of adult fiction, popular nonfiction, and young adult titles. This webinar will give you an overview of the E-Read Texas program and the Boundless mobile app and will explain how you can sign up for the program.
Annual Report, Part 1 – Pulling It All Together
October 28, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. (Central)
Join the TSLAC accreditation team for an insightful webinar that will provide context and meaning to this fundamental report. We’ll discuss question definitions and where to find resources for necessary information as well as answer any questions. Since parts of this report require research, preparing near the end of the library’s fiscal year can reduce stress during the reporting window that begins in January. This webinar may be valuable to you whether you are new to this report or need a refresher on all that it entails. For more information, visit the Upcoming Webinars page.
Day of Dialogue
October 23, 2025 | 9:00 am – 6:00 pm (Eastern)
Join Library Journal on October 23 for their Library Journal Day of Dialog virtual event! Spanning a variety of genres, this day-long program will offer an in-depth look at the biggest forthcoming books for fall 2025 and winter 2026. You’ll hear directly from top authors as they discuss their new titles, inspiration, process, and more. Also make sure to visit the booths in the virtual exhibit hall to download free resources and chat with representatives. For more information, visit the event website.
Library Con Live
November 6, 2025 | 10:00 am – 5:30 pm (Eastern)
Join Library Journal and School Library Journal for the ninth annual LibraryCon Live! — a day-long celebration of fandom, spotlighting genre fiction for adults and teens with panels devoted to comics and graphic novels, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and more. Plus, network online while exploring the virtual exhibit hall, where you can chat with publishing reps and download free resources. Whether you’re a public or school librarian, an educator, or a superfan, don’t miss this chance to meet with some of your favorite creators. For more information, visit the event webpage.
Certified Entrepreneurship Librarian Rural Libraries Scholarship
November 15, 2025
Registration is currently open for Libraries as Launchpads Certification One – Entrepreneurship Librarian Certification Program. The program is offering 3 free seats to small and rural libraries based on identified needed and ability to fully commit. In addition to the scholarship application, participants also need to fill out the registration form for the program. On the question regarding payment, mark that you’re applying for the Rural Libraries Scholarship. For more information, visit the scholarship webpage.
Ongoing Tools
These tools are available for free unless otherwise noted. Descriptions are provided by host organizations.
The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources (podcast)
Steve Thomas, host of Circulating Ideas, chats with Dr. Steve Albrecht, author of The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources: Keeping It Real, Legal, and Ethical, about the importance of library leaders learning about human resources, handling performance reviews, onboarding, and why civility is the key to a healthy and effective workplace culture. For more information, visit the podcast website.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division (CAOD)
The FCC’s CAOD provides free, ready-to-use consumer guides for your library—available in print, multiple languages, and accessible formats. Staff are also available for virtual meetings to walk you through available resources. Explore guides on the Consumer Guides page, connect via the division homepage, or email Outreach@fcc.gov.
The Art of Smarter Delegation (article)
Are You Doing Delegation Right? Delegation can seem like an extra step, and you may wonder, “Is it worth it when I can just do it myself?” Here’s why delegating wisely will help you work more efficiently and develop your staff’s skillsets. For more information, visit the GovLoop blog.
Library Reads
LibraryReads is the monthly nationwide “staff picks” list, showcasing the top ten upcoming books that librarians across the country can’t wait to recommend. From debuts to bestsellers, these titles reflect the collective excitement of public library staff and serve as a trusted resource for readers looking for their next great read. For more information, visit the program website.
Disaster Preparedness Forum 2025
This free virtual forum on disaster planning and preparedness occurs in September and features expert speakers presenting on data tools and resources, disaster planning communication, and institutional preparedness. Disasters may include weather events, pandemic, violence (mass shooter, violent protests), accidents (train derailment, building collapse, etc.), earthquake, explosion or any other event that may be sudden, unexpected and poses dangers to life and property. To view recordings of the 2025 sessions, visit the event’s YouTube playlist.
Library Leadership Essentials
Strengthen your leadership skills and connect with peers through our Partner Library Librarianship Networks’ Library Leadership Essentials. This seroes pf trainings offers practical tools, shared insights, and supportive networking to help you grow as a leader and guide your library into the future. For mor information, visit the organization’s YouTue channel.
Building Drama-Resilience: Evidence-Based Methods for Engaging Conflict with Compassionate Accountability (webinar)
Drama is the mismanagement of conflict and diverts energy precious away from connection and results. Conflict itself, however, isn’t the problem. Conflict, when managed properly, can provide considerable energy for positive outcomes. Drama Resilience is a person’s capacity to use conflict in productive vs. destructive ways, and can be reliably measured. This session will apply new research on how Compassionate Accountability can help leaders build their drama-resilience by applying an evidence-based method for engaging conflict in a way that affirms the value, capability, and responsibility of all parties involved. Leave with new insight for quantifying and developing drama-resilience, and a template for turning conflict into new opportunities for trust, innovation, and impact. For more information, visit the webinar homepage.
TSLAC Genealogy Resources
National Family History Month is celebrated every October, inviting Americans to research their heritage and connect with their past. This year, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) invites Texans to dig deeper into their family history with a variety of free resources!
TSLAC’s Genealogy Resources website (www.tsl.texas.gov/familyhistory) was recently updated and provides a useful summary of available library and archives materials from its extensive collections that may be of interest to family history researchers.
Print Catalog
Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) offers a robust catalog of free health and human services materials. Topics span child and maternal health, immunizations, acquired brain injury, wellness programs, and more. Many items are available in PDF format for immediate printing, and physical copies may be requested through the catalog system. This is a valuable resource for stocking health-related handouts, public education flyers, or community wellness materials at little to no cost. For mor information, visit the online catalog.
Grant Development Center (GDC)
The Grant Development Center (GDC) is a hub for grants education, funding opportunity tracking, and proposal support aimed at nonprofits, academic institutions, libraries, and government entities across Texas. GDC publishes bi-monthly email updates that include health-sector funding leads, training events, and grants-writing tips. Its website also features a “Grant Writing 101” section, a searchable directory of funding resources (public and private), and a glossary of common grantsmanship terms. For exploring community partnerships or seeking external support for health programming, the GDC is a practical resource to monitor and engage. For more information, visit the GDC website.
Building Community Relationships for Better Library Services (webinar)
Many libraries are increasingly focused on planning library services collaboratively with their communities. Connected Learning, Participatory Design, and Community Led-Libraries are becoming standard practice, but to successfully embark on that work, the first (and ongoing!) thing library staff need to do is build robust and meaningful connections within their communities. In this session, we explore strategies for finding community partners and building relationships with them with the goal of truly working in collaboration with people they serve. We discuss strategies for small rural libraries up through large urban systems. You’ll hear from library staff who have successfully started doing this work in their own communities with partners who serve all ages. You’ll also learn about the importance of this work and why it needs to be supported by administrators and supervisors. For more information, visit the webinar homepage.
Need more support?
Resource Archive
Wish you had access to a repository of all the tools that are featured in the monthly Library Management Updates? Check out our Resource Archive for more information.
Continuing Education
In addition, be sure to peruse our continuing education offerings. Our resources are constantly updated, so check back often.
Questions?
For more information, visit our management services page or contact Christina Taylor at ctaylor@tsl.texas.gov.
