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Certified Public Library Administrator Program

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BUDGET AND FINANCE - core

Given the following resources are available to the candidate:

  • Library's vision, mission, and strategic plan.
  • Current operations and capital budgets.
  • The programs and services the library is expected to provide.
  • A history of past financial requirements.

The candidate is expected to:

  • Develop program budgets.
  • Conduct operational budgets.
  • Develop capital budgets.
  • Conduct cost/benefit analyses.
  • Work with accounting personnel.

The criteria to judge the adequacy of the performances are:

  • Budgets and cost/benefit reports comply with standard accounting principles.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the relationship between budgeting and overall planning for the organization's goals and objectives.
  2. Develop a program budget based on a line-item budget (convert a line-item budget to a program budget).
  3. Perform cost benefit analysis for specific library services.
  4. Develop performance measures and operations indicators for specific library functions.
  5. Identify and evaluate the feasibility of using various potential sources of funding for a major capital project.
  6. Present a program budget or a capital budget and financing plan to the library's governing authority or general government administrator.

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WHY? Gloria C-D is working with a committee that is "plugging the weaknesses in library school training, e.g. budgeting. I am also interested in what APA is doing, because I believe that public librarian training should be standardized in some way, and certification would no doubt do it."
 

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