Library Worklife

Certification

Continuum of Library Education

Western Council of State Libraries, Inc.

By Catherine Helmick

In small, rural public libraries, the library director is usually not a person who moves into the community from somewhere else; in other words, she or he is not usually a library school graduate who moves into the community as a result of being hired as the public library director. The director of a small, rural library is most often an individual from the community who is connected to the community through personal history. And while we might assume that small-library directors will bring to their positions a love of reading and libraries, we know that they each may come from very different types of educational backgrounds and may or may not have ever worked in a public library.

In November 2002, a fast response survey that was presented to 50 state data coordinators asked the question "How many public libraries in your state are directed/managed by non-MLS individuals and what is the total number of public libraries in your state?"¹ The survey results revealed that in the 21 states of the Western Council region an average of 66% of the public libraries are managed by directors who do not hold a graduate level library degree.² The percentages for individual states range from a high of 92% of the public libraries to a low of 6%. One of the states with the lowest percentages provided this explanation of their situation: although a library system may be managed by an MLS librarian, most or all of the affiliate or branch libraries are managed by non-MLS-holding individuals. Considering this information, it appears that 66% is a conservative estimate of the number of public libraries being administered by a director who does not have formal library education.

State library agencies respond to this reality by providing continuing education and training to rural and underserved communities in their respective states-education and training that ranges from informal workshops to structured certification programs. A major aspect of state level training pursues a common, basic goal-to provide the skills necessary to operate a public library in rural and traditionally underserved communities. State library agencies are now seeking ways to cooperate to offer more training, to ensure consistent quality in training and to realize cost benefits by reducing unnecessary duplication of training effort.

Beginning in 1997 and continuing through 2003, groups of state library agency officers, deans of library schools, and continuing education librarians met to talk about professional recruitment, retention, diversity in the profession, and improved library services especially in rural, underserved and tribal areas. A major issue identified was management and direction of public libraries by people without formal library education and the related training issues that arise. As a result of this lengthy dialog, in the spring of 2003, the Western Council of State Libraries applied to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for grant funding to develop the Continuum of Library Education project. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, awarded a National Leadership Grant in Education and Training to the Western Council in August of 2003. Western Council also continues to provide funding for Continuum development. Several higher education institutions and other agencies have expressed their support by joining with the Western Council of State Libraries as partners in the Continuum project.³

Implementation of the Continuum of Library Education began formally in December 2003 with the affirmation of the Library Practitioner as the initial target audience. Library Practitioner has been defined as an individual who is a library director or manager who has no library science degree and requires additional formal library training to improve job performance and/or to achieve certification. Remember that an average of 66% of the library directors in the Western Council region would fit this Library Practitioner description.

Components of the Continuum of Library Education project under development include core competencies for Library Practitioners, education and training opportunities, and a process for certification of achievement for Library Practitioners that will be recognized throughout the 21-Western-state-region. A website is being developed that will facilitate communication about the project.

Using a region-wide approved list of Core Competencies for Library Practitioner, currently being drafted, the Continuum project expects to identify and/or generate classes that will provide the necessary knowledge and skill sets to support comfortable, competent performance as a library director or manager in a small, rural library setting. A web-based information center will make this information available to interested individuals. Ultimately, those Library Practitioners who complete all core competency classes/requirements will be eligible for certification as a Library Practitioner. It is anticipated that Library Practitioner Certification will be recognized by all states in the Western Council region and that this recognition will enhance the image of Library Practitioners in their communities.

Particular attention will be given to meeting the needs of rural students. Barriers to learning, such as the difficulty in leaving a one-or-several person library to attend training without closing the library to the public and the difficulties created by the huge distances between students and on-the-ground training, will be overcome to the greatest extent possible. The Continuum will help to generate a network of Library Practitioner students who will share knowledge and experiences and who will support each other.

It is hoped that facilitation of training and education experiences among Library Practitioners will not only support increased abilities and confidence on the job but will inspire and motivate individuals to seek out and to pursue further formal library education, through possible distance education programs or other opportunities available.

The Continuum of Library Education Project, according to the grant application, has three specific goals.⁴ The Western Council of State Libraries member libraries will collaborate to enhance learning opportunities for library practitioners. Library practitioners will be able to receive formal and informal library education leading to regionally-recognized certification and enhancing their ability to serve their communities. The Western Council of State Libraries will create an infrastructure to support multi-state recruitment/retention of library workers that is based on training efforts leading to a regional certification program that can be sustained at the conclusion of the grant project.

Overarching the specific goals of the Continuum of Library Education Project is the expectation that increased skills and knowledge will give Library Practitioners, those library workers who are directors and managers of small, rural public libraries, the confidence and capability to deliver consistently high quality library service to the library public regardless of where they live.

References

Percentage of Public Libraries with Non-MLS Directors-Western Council States. Survey conducted by Jan Elliott, State Data Coordinator, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, for the Western Council of State Libraries, Inc. 2002.
Western Council of State Libraries, Inc. member states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Partners are the graduate library and information science programs at the University of Arizona, San Jose State University (CA), Emporia State University (KS), Texas Woman's University, University of North Texas, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mesa Community College (AZ), and Maricopa Community College (AZ), and the Delaware Division of Libraries.
IMLS Grant; 2003 National Leadership Grant; Funding Category: Education and Training; Western Council Continuum of Library Education Project.

The Western Council of State Libraries, Inc. is an organization of the 21 Western state library agencies that work together to assist member states to improve library service by addressing issues of common concern. The Continuum of Library Education is a project of the Western Council of State Libraries that will develop a multi-state collaboration to provide a library education continuum to systematically and cooperatively address the universal need to educate and train library workers.

Catherine Helmick is Project Director for the Continuum of Library Education, a Western Council of State Libraries and IMLS funded grant project. She comes to the Continuum of Library Education project with a background of working as a manager and on public service desks in public libraries in both rural and urban settings in 5 Western states-Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. For more information, contact Catherine Helmick at (520) 747-3017, libraryeducation@cox.net