Early May saw Softlink Information Centres Customer Services Manager, Maida Rubin, deliver another of her highly regarded free, face-to-face Liberty training sessions.

Held in Boston, and kindly hosted by Sullivan and Worcester, the training day was well received by all who attended.

While Liberty provides endless possibilities for library staff, the theme of the Boston training was back to basics. All of us, understandably, focus on the shiny and fantastic new stuff. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But we sometimes forget how essential the basics are!

This time, nine Liberty users from a diverse range of libraries took advantage of the training day. The bonus was an overview of all the shiny new things in the latest release.

Chris Laut at Liberty Mutual appreciated getting a detailed agenda well before the training. He noted that Maida is so familiar with Liberty “that she is able to bounce around depending on the whims of attendees.” He was particularly happy with the updates on new features included in the latest Liberty v5 release.

Eva Rachmani from Sullivan & Worcester found the training very interesting, commenting that she “liked Liberty because it makes it easy for users to find multiple records and have an overall view of other library items.”

Ginger Barna from Ropes & Gray has only been using Liberty for a short time. The back to basics theme of the training was ideal. She found Maida to be “very approachable and offered a good overview.”

Training days also provide Liberty users with the opportunity to collaborate with library staff from other sectors. Seeing the unique ways other attendees use Liberty to achieve their goals, can be lightbulb moments. Combined with the advantage of being able to make use of Maida’s formidable knowledge, it is a great way to spend a day!

Maida is always delighted at how enthusiastically librarians take advantage of training opportunities. Maida and Softlink Information Centres thank our generous host Sullivan and Worcester, and everyone who attended, for their generous contribution to the training day.