Change is Coming: MT Library Certification Program Update

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Change is Coming MT Library Certification
Program Update

• Darlene Staffeldt, Sue Jackson, Tracy Cook, Anne
  Kish, Liz Babbitt, Honore Bray, and Jean Nielsen

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AGENDA

• Purpose and goals
• Process for recommendations
• Recommendations from Focus Group
• MSLs role in helping librarians and staff
• Input from MT librarians, library support staff,
  and trustees
• Brainstorming

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Focus Group Members

• Liz Babbitt MSU Libraries
• Honore Bray Missoula Public Library
• Mary Anne George UM Helena COT
• Holly Harper Jefferson County Libraries
• Cherie Heser Rosebud County Library
• Anne Kish UM - Western

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Focus Group Members (cont.)

• Alice Meister Bozeman Public Library
• Kathy Mora Great Falls Public Library
• Jean Nielsen Miles City Public Library
• Sami Pierson Lincoln County Public Library
• Anita Scheetz Ft. Peck Community College

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Goals for the Update

• Promote continuing education and its impact for
  quality library services
• Bring the Montana Library Certification Program
  into line with more recent competencies and
  certification programs such as Western Council
  and ALA

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Goals for the Update (cont).

• Improve recognition for librarians who
  participate and libraries that encourage staff to
  continue learning. Do this by
• improving how we recognize certified librarians
  make it a bigger deal than it is
• differentiating between minimum and extraordinary
  number of credits
• making the MLCP certificate a real tool for
  library leaders for hiring and promoting

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Goals for the Update (cont.)

• Develop a track for Library Directors that
• requires continuing education for all library
  directors (MLIS, too)
• is more meaningful for what they need to know
• Develop a voluntary track for trustees and/or
  library boards
• Clarify ambiguous sections of the program.

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Definitions

• CE or Continuing Education the classes you
  take. Everyone in this audience is taking part
  in CE
• Certification taking a series of courses (CE)
  in order to obtain a certificate

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Categories Competencies

• Certification is based on competencies that
  Western Council and ALA recommended for
  librarians
• The training categories for certification attempt
  to address these competencies.

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Process for Forming Recommendations

• Formation of volunteer focus group
• Study of other states, regional, and national
  certification programs
• Worked through a list of questions and engaged in
  a day long discussion about certification
• Formed recommendations for update
• Developed survey and considered other ways to get
  input from Montana library personnel

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Recommendations from Focus Group

• 3 Tracks
• Library Administrators Track (required for all
  public library directors)
• Voluntary Library Staff Track
• Voluntary Library Trustee Track
• No longer have levels based on education

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First Time Enrollees

• Library Administrators Track (required for all
  public library directors)
• 60 credits in 3 years
• 25 credits in Library Administration, 10 credits
  in Library Services to the Public, Collection
  Management Technical Services, and Technology
  balance of credits can be in any category

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First Time Enrollees

• Library Staff Track
• 60 credits in 3 years
• 10 credits in Library Administration, Library
  Services to the Public, Collection Management and
  Technical Services, and Technology balance can
  be earned in any of the 4 categories

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Renewals

• Library Administrator Track (required for all
  public library directors)
• 45 credits in 3 years
• 20 credits in Library Administration 5 credits
  in other 3 categories balance of credits in any
  category

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Renewals

• Library Staff Track
• 45 credits in 3 years
• 10 credits in each of the 4 categories balance
  of credits can be earned in any category

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College Degrees and Classes

• Degrees in Library Science (includes MLS, MLIS,
  etc.) awarded within 3 years equals certificate
• Older degrees equals taking required number of
  courses.
• College classes can be used towards certification.

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Specializations

• No levels based on education
• Instead
• For initial certificate a specialization requires
  25 credits in a particular category
• For renewal a specialization requires 20 credits
  in a particular category

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Library Trustee Track

• Voluntary
• Proposal is 15 CE credits earned in 3 years

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How will this work? -Enrollment

• Enrolled in 2006 you will meet the requirements
  of the current program and receive a certificate
  from the current program
• 2007-2009
• Apply by 12/31/09, meet current requirements,
  receive current certificate
• Dont apply by 12/31/09, meet update
  requirements, receive certificate from updated
  program

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How will this work? -Renewal

• The deadline for renewals of current certificates
  is 5 years after issuance. If your current
  certificate was
• issued in 2005, the renewal deadline is December
  31, 2010
• issued in 2006, the renewal deadline is December
  31, 2011
• issued in 2007, the renewal deadline is December
  31, 2012

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How will this work? -Renewals

• If your certificate was
• issued in 2008, the renewal deadline is December
  31, 2013
• issued in 2009, the renewal deadline is December
  31, 2014
• All credits for the renewal must be earned within
  a 5-year period prior to the deadline date.

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What happens next?

• Continue collecting input and answering questions
• Analyze and use survey to prepare final
  recommendations
• Present input and recommendations to the State
  Library Commission for review and discussion
• Commission takes final action on recommendations
• Updated program begins January 2010

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Survey FAQs

• Please fill out the survey. It is linked from
  the MSL For Librarians page.
• http//msl.mt.gov/For_Librarians/default.asp
• Please check out the FAQs at
• http//msl.mt.gov/For_Librarians/default.asp

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Lets Keep Talking

• What forum is best for continuing the
  discussion?
• Wired-MT?
• FAQs?
• Blog?
• Wiki?
• Other?

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How will MSL help?

• Promote CE and certification
• Encourage management to support and provide
  incentives
• Raises, Bonus, Gift, Promotion, Other?
• Provide/approve quality CE F2F and online
• Offer CE often and statewide

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How will MSL help? (cont)

• Recommending no certification fee
• Developing online enrollment and application
  forms
• Online Manual

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Recognition Celebrate Successes

• Notification will be sent to
• Library Management
• Library Boards
• Local government officials
• Press Release

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Time for us to listen

• What questions/comments do you have?

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Brainstorming

• How would you like to be recognized for earning a
  certificate?
• How can MSL make the paperwork and/or process of
  being certified easier?
• What can MSL do to help?

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Final Thoughts and Questions?

• THANKS FOR YOUR TIME TODAY