Time to Think about Your Professional Development

Autumn will soon arrive. The beginning of fall usually indicates the start of classes across the nation. As library workers, you are often engaged in teaching new concepts. The information your students/patrons glen from your instruction can help with a lifetime of research and academic success. As you work with students, faculty and other library patrons, you should also consider your own professional development. The world is constantly changing. Technologies and best practices are evolving and progressing, making continual learning more important than ever. Professional development becomes critical for the success of those with whom you serve in the library ─not to mention your own success in achieving your career goals. It does not matter where you are in your career journey or how brilliant you may be; taking advantage of professional development opportunities helps ensure continued growth and improvement of skills, knowledge, and emotional intelligence over the entirety of your career.

Now may be an excellent time to consider taking a course. Perhaps you think you are too busy to take a course right now. But there will always be reasons not to take the time to learn something new. Why not make your own professional development (or that of your staff) a priority? You, your students, your library, and the community you serve will all be beneficiaries of your time and efforts. 

Listed below are several sessions that will be offered this fall by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR). All courses are online, asynchronous sessions with a duration of six (6) weeks. Perhaps one will pique your interest. Also, review ecourses offered by other ALA groups in ALA’s eLearning catalog.

Library Marketing; Course Dates: 8/26/24 – 10/7/24;  Register

Participants will learn how to:

• Describe methods of community study and analysis in order to design an effective marketing plan.
• Describe a range of methods for marketing new and existing services and products to better inform the community of library offerings.
• Write a marketing plan for their library or specific functional area with measurable objectives based on customer needs.

For more information, visit the course webpage. 

Current Issues;  Course Dates: 9/9/24 – 10/21/24;  Register

Participants will learn how to:

• Identify major current issues in public library management.
• Identify general political, economic, social and legal trends related to the issues in their public library management context.
• Analyze an issue in depth, incorporating information gleaned from a range of relevant sources. 
• Document how the issue could impact strategic planning, services, policies, resource allocation, or collection management as applicable.
• Develop and defend recommendations for how the issue might be addressed and resolved in order to match both the particular library and its community context. 

For more information, visit the course webpage.

Fundraising/Grantsmanship; Course Dates: 9/16/24 – 10/28/24;  Register

Participants will learn how to:

• Identify public and private funders for library facilities, services and grants.
• Analyze resources, programs, publications, and trends regarding available external funding.
• Produce a brief proposal for grant/fundraising support of a service activity.
• Identify the major elements of any grant application and be able to understand how those elements are interconnected.
• Produce a needs statement to support a desired potential grant support activity.
• Identify who in the participant’s community are potential stakeholders in any fundraising or grant activity.
• Analyze how various fundraising and grant opportunities can be interrelated to produce overall results.

For more information, visit the course webpage.

Organization & Personnel Management;  Course Dates: 10/15/24 – 11/25/24;  Register

Participants will learn how to:

• Write effective personnel policies.
• List the key legal issues involved in hiring and managing staff.
• Describe the benefits and steps in conducting a staff (case) study.
• Practice basic conflict resolution skills.
• Write a staff development and training plan that includes an introduction of technology, innovative programs, or services.

For more information, visit the course webpage.

Management of Tech; Course Dates: 10/28/24 – 12/9/24;  Register

Participants will learn to:

• Develop a basic understanding of the concepts and terminologies and their rapidly changing nature.
• Develop an awareness of the appropriate hardware and software applications to achieve library objectives.
• Develop an understanding of how to evaluate electronic products and services to make cost-effective selection and implementation decisions.
• Develop knowledge of policies related to technology and its use in libraries.
• Develop basic skills to address changes in technology including design, hiring and training, costs, and ongoing maintenance.
• Develop an awareness of possible regional, consortia, or resources/funding that could be leveraged in collaboration.
• Incorporate expectation of regular review of privacy issues, Intellectual Freedom, including CIPA and laws, as they relate to information access through technology.

For more information, visit the course webpage.

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