iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Rocking ALA Executive Board meetings from the comfort of my couch. Sad health required me to be virtual but grateful to connect & collaborate with my incredible colleagues in this important #workingweekend toward a stronger future for our members & profession. #SaturdayLibrarian #ForOurLibraries

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It’s Taco 🌮 Day in the PR & Marketing Department! I’m bringing cookies that match my sweater. 🍪 🍂 🍁 #happymaking #librarylife #workculturematters

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Headed to #ARSL2026 to connect with amazing colleagues and present “Law for Librarians Presents Privacy, Patron Policies, and the Limited Public Forum” with Sarah, Summer and Tyler! Excited to see old friends, make new ones, and fill my mind with more wonderful things! #LibraryLife ✈️ 📚

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My last regular youth programming was about 15 years ago. I can hardly share how excited and honored I am to temporarily step into this program series for the Iowa City Public Library Childrens Department! Wish me well please! #LibraryLife ✍️ 🖼️ 💜 📚

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I'm doing a thing. Opening up my #thoughtbunnies substack for subscriptions with the plan to use any proceeds to publish my first book of poetry. #nervous #excited #amwriting thoughtbunnies.substack.com

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Turns out one of the perks of being an adult is after your leave the gym, you can have animal crackers for dinner and call it “recovery nutrition.” 🦁🐘🐒 I don’t make the rules, I just abide by them. #adulting #dinnertime

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This third #SundayLibrarian shift in a row is brought to you by copious amounts of coffee and much Back to School Joy! #LibraryLife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Its little tail swivels back and forth! Friends, I hope something small and unexpected brings you incalculable joy today too. #SundayMorning #LEGOlife #buttercow

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Thank you, Carter! I’m excited to assemble this #IowaStateFair exclusive LEGO Butter Cow!! Appreciate all my lovely friends who offered to grab one of these for me before they sold out! #HappyMaking #humbled #buttercow 🧱 🧈 🐄 🌽

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Thank you, Lone Tree Community School! The Iowa City Public Library and Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation loved welcoming your students Back-to-School and supporting their success with homework help and literacy resources! #BackToSchool #LibraryLife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

While I'll be unable to join my colleagues in Bengaluru, I am beyond humbled and honored to deliver the S. R. Ranganathan Memorial Lecture virtually to the 2026 International Conference on Knowledge Organization and Library Information this year! #ickolis2026

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Starting the week with an #IntellectualFreedom presentation with @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social and @libraryfutures.bsky.social LibraryFutures dropped a third scenario TODAY!!! Check out The Pickle of the Persistent Press Hound at: imagineif.libraryfutures.net

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Friends! *jumps up and down giddily* There are some many incredible local poets! I heard so much amazing art tonight and my heart is cracked open to the world in a new and exciting way tonight. Oh, and I read three poems and everyone was so welcoming and kind!! 🫰🫰🫰🫰🫰 #poetry #art #humbled

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Super jazzed to be trying this tonight. Not sure which of my poems to read yet but thinking 2-3 covering different topics and forms. #poetry #TheSpokenPint #amreading

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Des Moines/Iowa Friends! I work through the 10 days of the Iowa State Fair this year but am hoping one of you might grab a LEGO Butter Cow for me? It’s my mission to obtain one of these glorious exclusives! I’d be delighted to provide escrow/finder fees for anyone who could hook me up. 🧈 🧱 🐄 🌽

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Rocking a #nightbrarian shift on the Iowa City Public Library Help Desk with a shiny, new RFID pad! Let’s answer some questions, make some community connections, and check out some stories and knowledge! #LibraryLife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"People often ask me how we keep going. The truth? We don't stop needing encouragement when we become leaders." My #thoughtbunnies on The Cost of Caring: Why Leaders Burn Out and How We Stay Whole. thoughtbunnies.substack.com/p/the-cost-o... #leadership #selfcare

Six Practices for the People Who Care Too Much

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Meeting so very many amazing Illinois library workers from the Pinnacle Library Cooperative! #PinCon26 #LibraryLife #HappyMaking

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Hey Friends! The @sxsw.com EDU Panel Picker is up and I'm kindly asking folks to vote for my panel "Beyond the Scroll: Teaching News Literacy in the Content Age" You can learn more (AND VOTE) here: sxswedu.com/panelpicker/ #SXSWedu

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

One of my favorite things about working in a college town is the opportunities it affords me to listen and encourage and dispense hope on members of a new generation filling up with amazing community builders, literacy advocates, and library workers. #happymaking #mentorship #librarylife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Thank you, librarians and library workers, for the opportunity to represent your care, expertise and impact to the communities we serve as @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social president. It has been the privilege of a lifetime. #OurStoriesAreWorthSharing #FreePeopleReadFreely

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

It’s a beautiful day in the bookmobile, a beautiful day in the bookmobile, come on inside, there are stories to feel! It’s a beautiful day in the #bookmobile. 📚 🚍 💜 📚 🚍 💜 📚 🚍 💜

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Team Iowa City Public Library is training for our new ILS today! Learning so much and very excited about the features that will enhance patron service and automate circulation, communication, and reporting functions! I’m also really digging this Quote of the Day feature. 💜 📚

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Soliciting petitions and prayers for travel mercies. Wonderful opportunity to rest, reflect, and restore from a rewarding whirlwind of a trip to champion information science and libraries and to remember the power of connection and community building everywhere we go. #travel #LibraryLife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

What a true honor and delight it is to have contributed to the 11th Edition of the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social @oif.bsky.social Intellectual Freedom Manual. My copy has arrived and I can hardly wait to dive in and learn! #FreePeopleReadFreely #Freadom #IntellectualFreedom

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

I’m about a giddy as a goat that my post ALA networking/business cards have arrived and that there’s an actual thought bunny hiding in my jacket. #HappyMaking #ThoughtBunnies

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Thank you, Oklahoma Library Association! It’s been such a blessing and bringer of joy to learn and network together with your members at #OLA26! Oklahoma Libraries (their library workers and their communities) ROCK!

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Thank you @iowapublicradio.org for the opportunity to talk about the importance of local collaboration between Iowa’s city councils and community library trustees and how fundamental access is to parental choice in terms of reading and life long learning. #ialegis #librarylife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Thank you to the 200 library leaders at the Capitol today telling the stories about America’s libraries and to every amazing library worker supporting their communities today! #NLLD #ShowUpForPurLibraries

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Absolutely honored to visit the amazing Augustana College Library Team to celebrate their current exhibits, tour special collections, learn about their wonderful student-focused approaches, and review one of the most beautiful Zine collections I have ever encountered. #LibraryLife

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Grateful for the Association of Bookmobile & Outreach community for teaching me so much about the importance of library outreach and bookmobile services. Humbled to speak in defense of access, community building, and library partnerships. #ialegis

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Fact: Thousands of Iowan parents manage their child’s library accounts today. Fact: Minors have 4th Amendment Rights that librarians are responsible to honor by both Iowa Code & professional ethics. Fact: Compelling the government to monitor & report (regardless of the Iowan’s age) is not legal.

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you all know . . . 💜 how lovable and important your stories are 💗 how many opportunities await you at your local libraries 💘and how many amazing literary puns there are out there to share with the ones you love!

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Iowa’s libraries are guided by local boards and local voices making them strong & equipped to support unique community needs. If you believe communities should govern themselves, let your local Library Board of Trustees know about this bill and tell your state legislators to respect local control.

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Clearing the Hold Shelf before we open. It’s amazing that 721 items have been already reserved and processed for pick up for the week! Excited to connect folks with materials and information! #mondaymotivation

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Here are three #ialegis bills harmful to library communities to contact your local representatives about this week. #keeplibrarieslocal

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Excited to work in such a beautiful space with the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social Executive Board and staff over this chilly but very productive winter weekend in Chicago. #YouthMediaAwards #FreePeopleReadFreely

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Thank you, @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social Executive Director, Dan Montgomery, for addressing the Iowa City Public Library staff during our InService Day. Thank you for the inspiring conversation & reminder that we serve communities well by providing access to opportunity, literacy, and learning. 📚 💜

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Soliciting prayers and petitions for safe travels! Headed to the Guadalajara International Book Fair a little early in hopes of beating the winter weather. #travel #faith #grateful ✈️ ❄️ 📚

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Headed home from the @ncacensorship.bsky.social gala feeling inspired and resilient as well as encouraged by how many folks are engaged in ensuring #FreePeopleReadFreely. #hopeful #LibraryLife #travel

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Enjoyed the moon and some Minnie Riperton this morning as I walked and gathered some thought bunnies. #SundayMorning

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Enjoyed a lovely drive to Des Moines and headed to the Brooklyn Public Library to celebrate #IntellectualFreedom and #FreePeopleReadFreely during an evening with the great @georgetakei.bsky.social. Soliciting petitions and prayers for smooth and safe travels!! ☕️ 📚 Let’s do some good! #Freadom

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Headed to the Library of Congress for a terminology workshop this week! Not enough time for coffee but got some emails out. ☕️ 💻 Soliciting good thoughts, petitions, and prayers for travel mercies please. 💜 ✈️ #AlwaysLearning #Grateful #Blessed

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Passing a cozy afternoon in a comfy sweater, with a cup of coffee, and a stack of comics. #HappyMaking #AmReading

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Grateful for the fellowship with @raushenbush.bsky.social on State of Belief podcast to explore freedom, faith, libraries, and #LibraryCardSignUpMonth. 💜 religionnews.com/2025/09/13/l... #ShowUpForOurLibraries

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Absolutely loved connecting with neighbors and new friends tonight at Tiny Art Show through the North Liberty Library! Started with a miniature self portrait on a Post It note, but couldn’t figure out a good way to transfer it, so doodled a more simplistic self portrait instead. 🖼️ 🐿️ 🎨 📚

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Volunteering a bit this morning at the #NatBookFest between library visits and meetups. It’s amazing to connect with the amazing folks who love to read and gift time and energy into this incredible event. #ReadersAreLeaders

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Sam Helmick @samhelmick.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Catching up on some Harvard Business Review before my #SaturdayLibrarian shift. ☕️ 📚 #alwayslearning #saturdaymorning

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