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PDA Series: "Build Your Brary" Bootcamp Online

Build Your Brary Bootcamp

A Virtual Student Engagement Bootcamp for Every Library Setting

Overview

The librarians at Seminole State College Libraries are ready to shake up your library programming! Build Your Brary: Bootcamp is your all-access pass to a fun, creative, and idea-packed virtual experience! Inspired by the imaginative vibes of Lunchbrary and Nightbrary, this event will have you dreaming up fresh ways to connect with students—through games, art, music, and more.

You’ll leave with new ideas, new energy, and a program you can run with!

What to Expect

This event features four unique breakout sessions, a panel discussion, and a final “creation space” to help you bring your ideas to life.
You’ll attend every session, collaborate with peers, and leave with a fully formed program you can launch in your own library.

Schedule

1:00 p.m. — Nightbrary and Lunchbrary (Panel Session)

Start the day by meeting Jason Anfinsen and Nicole Sotak, creators of Lunchbrary and Nightbrary. In this 25-minute introduction, they’ll share the origin stories, student impact, and tips for bringing similar energy to your own library, followed by a quick Q&A.

Speakers: Jason Anfinsen & Nicole Sotak

1:30 p.m. — Play (Breakout Sessions)

Engage in specific play areas to inspire or enhance student engagement. Breakout sessions will highlight various areas of engagement at SSC and will run in two back-to-back offerings (20 minutes each with 5 minutes of Q&A).
You’ll rotate through each breakout to gain practical strategies, creative ideas, and firsthand examples that you can adapt for your own library.

Breakout Sessions Include:

Administrative Support – Morgan Tracy: Morgan will lead a discussion on the decisions that have been made at Seminole State to support the Nightbrary program, including those impacting budget, personnel, professional development, institutional research, and administrator buy-in.

Socials & Marketing Strategies – Andrea St. Onge: From posters that pop to social content that connects, this session is your playground for all things library marketing. We’ll explore the magic of crafting clever flyers, curating the perfect Instagram post, constructing creative displays and handing out high-impact swag that will turn curious students into loyal fans. Let’s make your library the most-talked about spot on campus!

Gaming – Ross P. Martin: Humans have played games for as long as recorded history has existed! While always an activity designed around fun, modern board games put more emphasis on strategy and critical thinking, making them ideal tools to connect the ideas we learn in class to tangible simulations. Come talk about how we present our gaming events at SSC - both in the library and online - and how they can be both engaging experiences and opportunities to apply skills in a low-stakes environment.

Social Crafts – Claire Miller: Stitching Circles, Paint-Ins, and Other Creative Projects at a -Brary: Creative arts and crafts offer unique ways of building community that support participants that other -Brary programs might not reach. Claire will talk about the Stitching Circles at -Brary events, as well as other types of creative arts and crafts that can attract participants while building community. From origami to rock painting to stitching in a variety of forms, we will explore how you don't need to be an expert to host crafting activities.

Build Your Brary – Jason Anfinsen & Nicole Sotak

2:30 p.m. — Build Your Brary in Action (Product Session)
All attendees meet back in the main room to share ideas and hopefully produce one event or program to engage students in their library.
Wrap things up by turning your inspiration into action. You’ll leave the Bootcamp with a ready-to-run program concept—refined, fun, and entirely yours.

Who Should Attend

Looking to energize your student programming? This event is open to all library staff ready to spark creativity and connection.

Presenter Bios

Jason Anfinsen

Jason Anfinsen serves as Associate Professor, Research & Instruction Librarian, at Seminole State College of Florida. Jason brings a decade of librarian experience to the classroom, including work at Broward College, Lynn University, Miami International University of Art & Design, and Florida State University. "Information Jason" has a background in broadcasting, radio, improv, theatre, music journalism, television news, and museum studies. He earned his MLIS and post-masters Specialist degree in Information, from the School of Information at Florida State.

Nicole Sotak

Nicole Sotak is an Associate Librarian (Research & Instruction) at Seminole State College of Florida Libraries, with over 20 years' experience in library, museum and educational institutions, in both public and private sectors. Nicole holds a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida, preceded by undergraduate studies in studio art, anthropology and art history at the University of Central Florida.

Morgan A.Tracy

Morgan A. Tracy has served in his current role of Director of Libraries at Seminole State College of Florida for the past eight years. Over his career he has worked in a variety of roles at academic, public, and special libraries. He is extremely excited about the Nightbrary initiative and its positive impact on student engagement, and would love to see it influence other college and university libraries across the nation!

Andrea St. Onge

Andrea St. Onge is new to library work but brings a lifetime of library love to her outreach position at Seminole State College of Florida Libraries. Her 20+ years' background experience, a mix of hospitality, higher education and entrepreneurship, gives Andrea an approach to programming and marketing that is uniquely creative, quirky and engaging. Driven by her love for books and students, Andrea will begin pursuing her MLIS degree this Summer.

Ross P. Martin

Ross Martin is a librarian at Seminole State College of Florida, working largely with online courses and OER initiatives around the college for the past 15 years. He's been a board gamer for the last couple decades and finds great joy in sharing the hobby with others. He helps to host weekly gaming events on campus and online, highlighting the ways strategy games teach and reinforce real-life concepts/skills. You should know that Ross will never ever turn down a game of Carcassonne if you'd like to play sometime!

Claire A. Miller

Claire A. Miller is a reference and instruction librarian at Seminole State College. She leads event programming on the Altamonte Campus and accidentally started the Stitching Circle events on three different campuses. She also hosts board game nights, and co-hosts Virtual Board Games with Ross Martin. When not in the library, she's an avid crafter, gamer, and bibliophile.