Category Archives: webinars

Register now for Hands Up!: Live ASL Practice for Library Staff and get 20% off!

American Sign Language, eCourses and Webinars, Professional Development, Resources for Teachers and Librarians, Upcoming events, webinars
Hands Up!: Live ASL Practice for Library Staff | Interactive webinar series presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | Hands Up! Live ASL Practice for Library Staff (Beginner) Wednesdays, September 9 to October 14, 2026. 12-1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10-11 AM Mountain/9-10 AM Pacific | Intermediate: Wednesdays, October 21 to November 25, 2026, 12-1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10-11 AM Mountain/9-10 AM Pacific | StoriesByHand.com/webinars | Words appear over a drawing of upraised hands in bright pastel colors against a white background.

Get 20% off either series with coupon code AUTUMN

Hands Up: Live ASL Practice for Library Staff (Beginner)

Wednesdays, September 9 to October 14, 2026. 12-1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10-11 AM Mountain/9-10 AM Pacific

Online sessions via Zoom (6 weeks, 1 hour per week). Includes recording access for all sessions through November 15, 2026.

Learn how to improve your service to deaf patrons in this interactive series. We’ll cover basic information about American Sign Language and Deaf Culture, as well as specific vocabulary for the library setting. Each session will build on those before it to reinforce your knowledge and expand your ability to communicate with members of the Deaf community, and you’ll get plenty of interactive signing practice! Certificate of completion available with successful completion of post-test.

  • Individual: 270.00 (includes live webinar and recording access for 30 days after the live series ends)
  • Group rates available for groups of 10 or more. Contact info@storiesbyhand.com for more information.
Register now for Beginner series

Hands Up: Live ASL Practice for Library Staff (Intermediate)

Wednesdays, October 21 to November 25, 2026, 12-1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10-11 AM Mountain/9-10 AM Pacific

Online sessions via Zoom (6 weeks, 1 hour per week). Includes recording access for all sessions through December 26, 2026.

Build your American Sign Language skills for library settings in this interactive series. This series is appropriate for those who have taken Hands Up!: Live ASL Practice for Library Staff (Beginner), or the ASL for Library Staff eCourses through the American Library Association, or anyone who already knows some library vocabulary in ASL and wishes to polish their skills. Join us to reinforce your library signing skills and increase your confidence in your ability to communicate with members of the Deaf community. Certificate of completion available with successful completion of post-test.

  • Individual: 270.00 (includes live webinar and recording access for 30 days after the live series ends)
  • Group rates available for groups of 10 or more. Contact info@storiesbyhand.com for more information.
Register now for Intermediate series

See all upcoming webinars.

Meet the Teaching Artist

Interviews, On Writing, picture books, Professional Development, Upcoming events, webinars

I recently did an interview with WritingWorkshops.com, where I talked about some of my favorite writing resources, the best writing advice I ever got, and what picture book writers can expect from my upcoming online Picture Book Revision workshop.

A photo of a white woman with brown hair and glasses appears surrounded by the text: Meet the Teaching Artist with Kathy MacMillan, teaching Picture Book Revision. Writing Workshops.

Meet the Teaching Artist: Picture Book Revision with Kathy MacMillan

Picture Book Revision Workshop (3-week online workshop)

 

Webinar Recordings Available for Purchase

American Sign Language, Critiques, eCourses and Webinars, On Publishing, On Writing, Professional Development, Resources for Teachers and Librarians, webinars

Learn on your own schedule with these recorded webinars, available now!

You will receive recording access information by email within 24 hours of order. You will have access to the recording for 30 days.

For Writers

Text reads: So You Want to Publish a Book | A Webinar for Writers (On demand) | Presented by Kathy MacMillan, KathyMacMillan.com. A photo of a smiling white women with glasses and shoulder length brown hair appears next to the text. Images of an open notebook and someone writing on a laptop are in the background.Sale! $35.00  $20.00

You’ve got the idea, you’ve got the drive, and you’ve got the willingness to work to get your book in print. But where do you start? Kathy MacMillan, Compton Crook Award finalist and author of more than two dozen traditionally published fiction and nonfiction books for children, breaks down the bewildering world of publishing, from writing and revision to submission and publication and the realities of life after publication.

 

Storybuilding | An Online Workshop for Writers with Compton Crook Award Finalist Kathy MacMillan. Words appear against a green painted background next to a photo of a smiling white woman with glasses and shoulder length brown hair, surrounded by her book covers: The Runaway Shirt (picture book), Nita’s First Signs and Nita’s Day (board books), She Spoke (children’s nonfiction), Sword and Verse and Dagger and Coin (young adult fiction).

Sale! $35.00  $20.00

No matter your genre, a rich palette of details brings the world of your story to life. Compton Crook Award Finalist and author of fiction and nonfiction for children, teens, and adults Kathy MacMillan shows how to focus on the specifics you need at each stage of the writing process to build your characters’ world without ever losing sight of the story at its heart.

 

Manuscript critiques and coaching calls also available!

 

For Librarians and Educators

Learn basic American Sign Language vocabulary and how to use it in storytime with these lively sessions that teach themed vocabulary while demonstrating storytime activities and best practices for signing with young children. Each webinar focuses on a vocabulary theme and follows a demo storytime with language and culture notes to help you present American Sign Language to hearing audiences in context. $35.00 per recording.

Colorful handprints line the top and bottom of the graphic. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Autumn Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com    Colorful handprints line the top of the graphic. Under that is a photo of a White woman with light brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Winter Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com    Colorful handprints line the top of the graphic. Under that is a photo of a White woman with light brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Spring Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com    Colorful handprints line the top of the graphic. Under that is a photo of a White woman with light brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Summer Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com

One-on-one coaching calls also available.

 

Upcoming live webinars open for registration.

Little Hands Signing Professional Development on demand

American Sign Language, eCourses and Webinars, Professional Development, webinars

A little boy with olive skin and dark hair and eyes begins to sign PLEASE in American Sign Language. Text appears in white against a blue background and says: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Series Season Pass. 6 webinars presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. January - June 2022. Includes live webinars and recording access through 8/31/21. StoriesByHand.com/webinars

Little Hands Signing Professional Development Series Season Pass

Add some American Sign Language to your storytime toolbox! Learn how to incorporate ASL into storytime songs, rhymes, and stories in a respectful and effective way.

Your Season Pass registration includes on-demand recording access to all 6 webinars through August 31, 2022!

  • Winter Signs
  • Lovey Dovey Signs
  • Spring Signs
  • Weather Signs
  • Ocean Signs (Summer Reading Special)
  • Summer Signs

Register now for the Little Hands Signing Professional Development Series Season Pass

Or register for upcoming webinars here.