Curious about the Co-Op? Want to know what it’s like? Did you know you can create your own local Co-Op? Join us for a Learning Lab where will be joined by Caitlin Kenney of the Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC) who will share her experience running 2 local Co-Ops and Virginia Cole and Leah Dodd, from Cornell University as they share what it's like being a member library.  They will discuss the ins and out of being in a local Co-Op from staffing them, running reports, and of course quality control. Following their presentations, we will have Springys on hand to show some of the behind-the-scenes and answer questions.

Caitlin Kenney is the Engagement and Education Services Coordinator at the Western New York Library Resources Council, where she plans professional development programming, manages the Ask Us 24/7 Virtual Reference Service. She has worked the reference desk in both academic and public libraries for almost eight years.

Leah Dodd is the Research Lead Librarian in Research & Learning Services at Olin Library and leads a Virtual Reference Response Team to coordinate and grow chat services at Cornell University Library.  She has experience in special, public, and academic libraries.  Her chat shift is the highlight of her workday.

Virginia Cole is the Archaeology, Classics, History, and Medieval Studies Librarian at Olin Library, Cornell’s humanities and social sciences librarian. She has been involved with chat since its launch at Cornell in 2000 and the Ask Us 24/7 cooperative since 2007.