Library Worklife

Volume 2, No. 9 • September 2005

Certification

Certification for Public Librarians will begin in 2006

At the Annual Conference, the ALA-APA Council approved the guidelines for all certification programs that will be administered by ALA-APA. The first program will be the Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA). This long-awaited program will be launched in 2006, but the Certification Review Committee is alerting potential providers that they should look for a Request for Proposals and additional details in September on the ALA-APA Web site. Providers will offer courses covering one or more of the nine CPLA standards, along with an evaluation component, to participants. Please feel free to pass on this information to appropriate parties.

Press Release

Chicago (August 2005) – The American Library Association – Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) will be launching a certification program for public librarians in 2006. ALA-APA is currently seeking educators to provide courses for candidates to fulfill for the Certified Public Library Administrator (CPLA) designation. This certification is the first of its kind to be offered in the United States, a course and evaluation-based national, portable program specifically for public librarians who have had at least three years of supervisory experience. The program incorporates nine standards that will allow candidates to demonstrate mastery of the breadth of skills necessary for library and human resource management.

A Request for Proposals will be available in September 2005 from the ALA-APA Web site. Potential providers may be American Library Associations Divisions, library schools, independent consultants, vendors, regional library systems, etc. The RFP will be asking for continuing education program providers who offer courses with an evaluative-based component related specifically to the administration of public libraries of all sizes. These courses, workshops, or institutes may be delivered in a variety of methods, such as face-to-face or online. The CPLA Certification Review Committee will approve successful provider applications.

Jointly, the Public Library Association (PLA), Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), and the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) developed the nine comprehensive competencies that define the skill sets necessary for a post-MLS management-focused curriculum. The goal is to further the development of librarians in management as well as those who aspire to hold administrative positions. The standards upon which courses should focus are:

Budget and Finance

Management of Technology

Organization and Personnel Administration

Facility Management and Maintenance

Current Issues

Marketing

Fundraising/Grantsmanship

Politics and Networking

Serving Diverse Populations

If you would like to participate in this innovative educational opportunity for librarians, please contact the ALA-APA Office at 312-280-2424 or jgrady@ala-apa.org.

Certification Manual on ALA-APA Web site

Has your division or committee been thinking about launching a certification program? If so, the steps for going from an idea to an actual program are found in the ALA-APA Certification Manual. The manual will also be helpful to librarians who want to participate in the Certified Public Library Administrator Program.

The manual, in several PDF documents, details the process of getting certification program approved by a division and ALA-APA Board of Directors, the responsibilities of the Certification Review Committee for each program, approvals, and the role of ALA-APA in administering the program.

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