Professional development designed around how library workers actually work and learn
Most continuing education happens to you — a webinar, a workshop, a speaker. Collaborative Inquiry Groups are different: small groups of library workers investigating a question that matters to their real work, together, over three months.
What we're researching
In fall 2025, library workers from across the northern region came together and brainstormed the questions that were vital to their work. We decided on the following four to investigate over the first half of 2026.
2025
What kinds of support can we organize regionally to help with disaster preparation and response?
A guide to monitoring regional risks and preparing for disasters that affect libraries and their communities.
Read findings → 2026
How do we evolve with and serve the communities in which we exist?
A regional directory for library, archive, and museum workers to share programs, partnerships, and expertise, culminating in a virtual meet-up to connect across organizations.
Read findings → 2026
What actions do we need to take to determine and achieve competitive benefits and wages for library staff?
A survey of wages and benefits across North Country library, archive, and museum workers and a toolkit for making the case for competitive compensation.
Read findings → 2026
In a landscape that includes AI, social media, misinformation, and values-driven media — how do we get people to trust us and use our expertise?
A guide to approaches and perspectives on the use of AI across academic, public, and museum library contexts.
Read findings → A communal approach
Each group follows the same basic structure, but what they investigate and create is entirely up to them.
Choose a Question
Groups form around questions proposed by NNLYN members that address challenges you're facing in your work.
Research Together
Each person investigates a piece of the question on their own, then brings what they found back to the group.
Make Something
Groups produce a shareable artifact (such as a LibGuide, a workshop, or a publication) that other libraries can put to use.
Supported by NNLYN
Amy Dickinson provides facilitation support for each group alongside a small research budget and meeting infrastructure (Google Drive and Zoom). Participation counts toward statewide continuing education credit.
Join the next cohort
Express interest and suggest ideas for the next round of Collaborative Inquiry, taking place in fall 2026.