Sonya Schryer Norris was a valued state library partner for over ten years. She managed the Ploud program in Michigan and trained library staff to operate their Ploud websites. In all, she trained over 300 staff at over 150 libraries – half of the small and rural libraries in Michigan’s lower peninsula and several in the upper peninsula.
Using our distributed content feature, the base template that she created for Michigan libraries using Ploud includes a centrally updated list of free, statewide, online courses provided by Michigan State University Extension. She also uses that feature to provide a COVID resources page, a robust list of virtual vacations, and specialty library resources for Michigan Ploud library users to provide to their communities.
At the pandemic’s start, she moved in-person Ploud training to a four-part online workshop. She time-stamped the workshop recordings alongside a list of course competencies. She also created more than 20 Ploud tutorials, many of which we later incorporated into the Enfold Knowledge Base Help Desk.
Sonya taught eAccessibility as a part of her website training. She also packaged those eAccessibility and EDI skills into five online modules for libraries. Those courses include over a thousand registered learners, including international learners. As a part of her workshops, Sonya included training on how to submit a technical help desk question.
Our help desk Manager stated the following:
“Sonya, I can’t tell you how much your libraries are ahead of any other state when it comes to putting time into their sites. I can see your training is paying off. When a ticket comes in, the first thing I do is see if it’s from a Michigan site because if it is, half the battle is won. Your people have a better understanding of Ploud and its terms.”
Kim Thiel, Enfold Help Desk
Plum Librarian LLC 