Staff Development Day Recap

Staff members from all 34 Fulton County Library System branches gathered together on Monday, October 13 for our annual Staff Development Day, which features focused training on skills at all levels in both educational and fun ways. The day is centered around a theme, with speakers, instructors and classes supporting each year’s theme. 

The theme for the 2025 SDD was “Future Ready Libraries: Shaping Tomorrow’s Libraries Today.” Our keynote speaker was Matt Britton, author of the book Generation AI: Why Generation Alpha and the Age of AI Will Change Everything. He spoke about the rapid evolution of AI and how this growing technology will alter the way that businesses and organizations operate. All staff persons received a free copy of Matt’s book and had the opportunity to have it signed by him. The day also featured an appearance by former CNN journalist Mayra Cuevas (My Abuela Is A Bruja), whose talk “Empowering Kids and Teens Through Story” reinforced the importance of literacy in these two age groups. 

In addition to hands-on sessions like CPR training and an HR bootcamp, we also had sessions led by Professor Joe Arana; Atlanta Public Schools Director of Library Media Services Jennifer Winston-Saunders; Fulton County Senior Training Officer Jeffrey Dinkins; FulcoLibrary’s Social Services Coordinator Jovita Fenwick; representatives from Microsoft; and more.There were opportunities for a little fun as well, like the Project: Runway-style competition for creating effective displays, a “speed dating” session where staff could learn tips for planning successful programs, and a library-themed Jeopardy! game. 

Staff Development Day 2025 was made possible by the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Foundation, the SDD Planning Committee, and many volunteers! Thanks to everyone who helped make the day such a success!