April 2026 Newsletter
Spring is in full swing, bringing fresh opportunities to learn, connect, and make an impact across the OhioNet community. Whether you’re exploring new ways to save on resources or looking to strengthen your skills, this season offers something meaningful for everyone.
Director’s Desk: Libraries as Community Hubs
I have always valued the sense of community that emerges whenever library folks gather. Whether it was working as a library student employee in college, engaging with professional library associations throughout my career, or visiting my local public library to check out materials and attend events…community and connection has been a running theme. Read my full reflection in this month’s Director’s Desk blog.
Member Spotlight: Creating Community and Belonging in the Barnesville Exempted Village School District Library
This month we are inspired by Lisa Gallagher, teacher librarian at Barnesville Exempted Village School District. By connecting with students, Lisa has created a vibrant and inclusive community in her library via a variety of engaging clubs. The club activities not only provide enrichment, they also cultivate community and belonging, letting all students know that the library is a place for everyone.
Read the full Member Spotlight on our blog.
Featured Event
OhioNet is hosting its annual in-person Conversations Worth Having session on May 13, 2026, at the OhioNet office in Westerville, Ohio. Conversations shape our libraries, teams, and communities and influence our well-being, relationships, and future possibilities. Yet communication remains one of the top challenges for organizations, teams and relationships — especially when frustration or conflict arises.
This can show up in libraries as:
- Negative attitudes, cliques, and gossip; a culture of “me”
- Employee disengagement
- Dysfunctional teams, boards or committees
- Inability to give and receive feedback
Learn more about this in-person event here.
OhioNet’s Managed Proxy Service
Library systems administration and support is a long-standing pillar of OhioNet’s service portfolio. With our proxy service, we offer a fully managed approach – a feature that is appreciated by the 80 member libraries who participate in this service. Under that arrangement, we manage all aspects of deploying, configuring, and maintaining each member’s proxy server. We work with staff to create custom configurations tailored to each institution’s needs, as well as providing timely support in navigating access issues and making configuration changes. Learn more about this service and the staff who support the work.
Call for Proposals: Ohio Library Employees Institute (OLEI)
OhioNet invites proposals from our members to present at the upcoming Ohio Library Employees Institute (OLEI) on August 11-12, 2026. This two-day in-person event, hosted at OhioNet in Westerville, is a reimagination of the Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (OLSSI). OLEI will honor OLSSI’s original mission of creating a space for library employees to experience professional growth, social networking, and community building. Proposals are due May 19, 2026. Learn more about the event and find instructions to submit a proposal here.
WhoFi Core Suite Offer
We are pleased to announce an extension of our partnership with WhoFi to provide the Core Suite to Ohio public libraries. This resource includes the following functionalities:
- Community Calendar
- Question Sets Spaces
- Community Calendar
This bundle is available to all OhioNet members, who will receive a 10% discount off list price for the Core Suite. For more information on this offer, click here.
PebbleGo Discounts Available
PebbleGo is a K–5+ digital learning platform that gives educators the resources to help every student grow their literacy skills while building essential science and social studies knowledge. PebbleGo supports pre-readers, English Language Learners, and striving readers with built-in scaffolds and multimodal supports, such as videos, read-aloud audio, and creation tools. OhioNet works with Capstone to provide a variety of their products including PebbleGo, PebbleGo Bronze, PebbleGo Silver, PebbleGo Create, etc. Learn more here.
Announcements & Other News
- Please join us in extending a warm welcome to our newest OhioNet member Plain City Public Library!
- OhioNet is excited to announce a new partnership with Business Insider. Members will receive an introductory 20% discount off list price for Business Insider through June 30, 2026. For more information click here.
Member and Partner News
- Critical Hope & Self-Preservation in Contemporary Librarianship, a new course at the University of South Carolina School of Information Science, is now open for registration! Led by Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, MSLS, the six-week asynchronous course offers an introduction to the established Critical Hope framework and creates a community-of-practice pathway to reflective and intentional application in the Life-work of library students and practitioners. This course is open to LIS employees at all levels working in any library workplace. The course will run from June 22 – July 30, 2026. Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/merdhuvu
- REGISTRATION NOW OPEN – NOTSL will hold its Spring Meeting, “Connections That Matter: Exploring Library-Vendor Partnerships”, on Friday, May 1, 2026 at CCPL Parma-Snow Branch in Parma, OH. Visit NOTSL’s website or Eventbrite for full program information and to register.
- Have news to share with the OhioNet community? Email [email protected] to submit your newsworthy notes (maximum 100 words)!
