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Continuing Education News
May 2023
Webside Chat with State Librarian Jennie Stapp
Next Webside Chat is May 12, 2023, at Noon
Stay up-to-date with topics and information about the legislative session, MSL Commission activities, and more!
MSL Certification – Check Your Expiration Date or Start a Track!
This year has marked a great response from directors, trustees, and staff that continuing education is valued and MSL Certification can be a tangible way to recognize effort to grow as professionals. So far this year, 54 individuals have completed MSL Certification Tracks: 25 Administration, 23 Staff, and 6 Trustees.
Directors: Is 2023 your year to renew your certification? Please login to ASPeN to check your CE record, claim credits, and stay on track to complete certification. Reach out to Colet Bartow or your consultant if you have any questions.
Trustees and Staff: If you haven’t participated in the voluntary certification tracks, 2023 could be your year to get started. There are helpful guides on certification in our Knowledge Base articles.
Visit the MSL Certification webpage for more information about requirements.
MLA Conference-goers: Claim Your Credits in ASPeN
It isn’t too late to claim continuing education credits for the sessions you attended in Billings at the annual Montana Library Association Conference.
Login to ASPeN, go to the Continuing Education control panel, and choose your sessions from the dropdown list. They are listed by date, conference name, and then session title.
MSL Learn Webinar series!
Join us on the second and last Tuesday of each month for timely topics and the wildly popular “Tiny Tech Trainings!”
May 9 – Basic Training for Trustees with Pam Henley
May 30 – Tiny Tech Training: Running Reports in Overdrive Marketplace and Recommending a Title for Purchase in MontanaLibrary2Go with Bobbi DeMontigny
Each 30-minute session will start at 10:00 a.m. Recordings will be available in the MSL YouTube channel.
Visit the ASPeN event calendar to see the lineup of topics and speakers! Registration is open for all sessions.
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Here are two webinars I attended recently that you may find helpful.
Libraries, like all organizations, need to plan for both anticipated and unexpected staff transitions. This webinar introduces practical approaches to preserve organizational knowledge, clarify processes for current staff and trustees, and ease the learning curve for new employees. With higher turnover rates and the ever-changing nature of our work in libraries, procedures and policies should be updated and adapted proactively, instead of reactively, to ensure that work is accomplished by well-prepared staff, ready to meet changing community and organizational needs. From payroll to password management, and from job evaluations to janitorial, the various facets and functions of the library can be clarified to better support all staff transitions. Learn how both short- and long-term transitions can be navigated effectively and purposefully with a “transition readiness checklist,” moving both library staff and trustees toward a shared understanding of roles and expectations across the organization.
Presented by: Bonnie McKewon, Northwest District Consultant, State Library of Iowa
Part of the Library 2.0 Service, Safety, and Security Series with Dr. Steve Albrecht
This 60-minute training webinar was presented by Library 2.0 and hosted by trainer, author, and library service, safety, and security expert, Dr. Steve Albrecht. The recording will be available on the Library 2.0 site on May 1. It is a free offering, but you need to create a login to the Library 2.0 site if you don’t already have one.
Serious or fatal violence inside libraries is both extremely rare and highly catastrophic. On April 18, 2023, a man went into a library and Tulsa, OK, and shot and killed a man sitting at a table. He left and shot and killed another man at a nearby convenience store. He was arrested by Tulsa Police. His motive or relationship with the victims is unknown. In February 2020, a mentally ill man stabbed the female security guard to death at the Finkelstein Library in Spring Valley, NY. And in the most serious incident of violence at a library, a 16-year-old male shot and killed two female library employees and wounded four others, including a ten-year-old boy, at a branch in Clovis, NM in 2017.
We cannot predict horrific violence. There is no accurate "profile" that will tell us what someone under stress will do. But we can continue to be vigilant, as library employees and library leaders, by looking at problematic behaviors and warning signs for people who enter our libraries to cause harm. This webinar is about helping all library employees interpret pre-attack behaviors; respond safely in a potentially life-threatening situation; evacuate patrons and staff; understand and support the police response with information to 9-1-1; and cope with and survive the psychological aftermath of a traumatic event.
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Repeating this from last month - 2 courses are now available in our MSL Learn Trustees Essentials Series!
Trustee Essentials: Responsibilities This course was designed by the Montana State Library Consultants for public library trustees and directors. This is the first self-paced course in the "Trustee Essentials" series. Estimated course length is 1 hour and 1 CE credit in Library Administration.
Participants will
- Gain knowledge of the defined roles of trustees' and how those roles support the functions of a public library.
- Gain knowledge of the Montana Code Annotated that relate to the support and management of public libraries.
The early reviews are very positive. One trustee said "Excellent resources here for trustees! Thank you for creating it!"
Trustee Essentials: Understanding Local Government and Its Relationship to the Library
Most public libraries in Montana are connected to a city or county. Even independent library districts created under Montana Code Annotated Title 22, Chapter 1, Part 7 must work with the county for levying the money needed to fund the library and for election of board members.
While Montana law has given most public library boards a fair amount of authority, the governance structure of the library and the form of local government influences how that authority works. It’s important to understand the structure of your city or county’s local government. Knowing who does what and what laws they must follow helps you get your work done while building strong, positive relationships with your local government officials.
Estimated course length is 1 hour and 1 CE credit in Library Administration.
Participants will
- Learn about different forms of local government and about how the form of government impacts the library
- Learn about the work of key local government officials and how the library interacts with those officials
- Be able to better understand some of the sources of tension between local government and library boards and why they exist
- Learn about techniques for managing areas of tension
MSL Learn – Login and Profile Instructions – watch this short video to get started with MSL Learn Online courses.
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Have you heard about the Grow with Google or LinkedIn Learning programs?
Grow with Google offers a variety of career certificates that you can earn through self-paced courses. Add to your technical skills, project management, or explore their other certificate programs.
LinkedIn Learning has a huge variety of courses, some with certificates and credentials. Some of the courses are free, some have costs associated, but all are online and self-paced.
If you want to advance in your current job or maybe consider moving up into leadership positions, this type of continuing education could help you along the way.
Visit with your supervisor or director to make a plan for how this type of learning can help you meet continuing education goals or even contribute to MSL certification tracks.
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Access All MSL Newsletters
Don't miss out on the MLN Newsletter and other informational messages! The MSL Newsletter webpage has an RSS feed so you can catch up and stay in-the-know.
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Questions? Please contact
Colet Bartow, MSL Continuing Education Coordinator, 406-444-3365
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