From the Director's Desk

June 21, 2006

Beverly J. Obert, Executive Director

Continuing education (CE) is the process by which library staff continues to gain skills and knowledge in the field of librarianship. It is important for every staff member of a Rolling Prairie library to receive continuing education. This ongoing learning is so important to the continued quality of library service in member libraries that attendance at CE events is a requirement for membership in Rolling Prairie Library System.

Each year the RPLS staff develops a calendar of events to help the membership meet this CE requirement. The identified topics come from comments on evaluation forms from prior events, questions asked of the consulting staff and issues facing libraries. To learn about upcoming CE events you can look at the RPLS online calendar or watch for announcements in the Prairie News. Check out the calendar and sign up for an RPLS CE event through CLeO.

The week of June 11-16, I attended the Institute for School and Public Librarians at Bradley University. This is the twelfth year of the institute and the twelfth year I have assisted on the planning committee for the institute. The Bradley Institute, as it is often called, is a weeklong immersion into basic librarianship skills. The week before Bradley, the University of Illinois at Springfield hosted the Small Public Library Management Institute (SPLMI). This institute targets the library director of small to medium sized public libraries and immerses them in the management topics of policy development, budgeting, legal issues, etc. Both of these institutes are sponsored by the Illinois State Library and have trained hundreds of librarians with little or no professional background in how to be a public or school librarian. This year no RPLS librarians attended Bradley; however six RPLS librarians did attend SPLMI:

Attendance at professional library conferences is another way to increase your knowledge and skills. The 2006 Illinois Library Association conference is Oct. 3-6 at Navy Pier, Chicago. The theme this year is “Illinois Libraries: Generating Value in Dollars and Sense.” A second conference is the Illinois School Library Media Association conference. “Lasting Impressions: The Roles of Teacher Librarians” is the theme for the 2006 fall conference to be held at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, November 9-11. Finding information about the conferences is simply a matter of going to the ILA or ISLMA website. At conferences, fellow librarians talk about new services they provide and successful programs they have conducted. Exhibitors display new books, products, and technology. This is valuable information to bring back to your libraries.

One final way to learn about libraries is by taking formal library instruction from a community college or four year institution. RPLS has a relationship with the Library Technical Assistant (LTA) program at the College of DuPage. Information about the LTA program and other college courses is located on the RPLS Library Education page.

During the summer, think about the continuing education needs of your staff and of your own professional development. What skills does your staff need? How will you best help them to acquire those skills? What are the areas of your professional knowledge you wish to improve? Where and how will you gain this knowledge? Look ahead to the fall RPLS CE calendar, conference programs, etc., to identify the best avenue to increase library staff skills.