Library Worklife

Volume 3, No. 2 • February 2006

Certification

Seven Courses Approved for Public Library Administrator Certification Program

Chicago—The American Library Association-Allied Professional Association Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA) Certification Review Committee has approved seven courses in its first provider application review during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

The approved courses cover all four core standards as well as two of the five electives. The standards and providers for core standards are:

Budget and Finance, taught by William Sannwald, sponsored by ALA’s Library Administrators and Management Association (LAMA);
Management of Technology, taught by Diana Bitting, sponsored by PALINET (Philadelphia, PA);
Organization and Personnel Administration, taught by Julie Todaro, sponsored by LAMA;
Organization and Personnel Administration, taught by Mary Wilkins Jordan, sponsored by the North Suburban Library System (Wheeling, IL);
Planning and Management of Buildings, taught by Sannwald, sponsored by LAMA;

Providers for elective standards are:

Marketing, taught by Alexis Sarkisian, sponsored by LAMA; and
Politics and Networking, taught by Jordan, sponsored by the North Suburban Library System.

The approved providers are the first to take advantage of the opportunity to offer courses that will help CPLA candidates complete seven of the nine standards determined by the sponsoring divisions as essential for public library management success. Courses will be offered through a variety of means-online, at conferences and on campuses nationwide. Additional information will be added to the CPLA Web site before the spring review in April.

The committee encourages those providers who would like to be considered for approval in the upcoming spring review to visit www.ala-apa.org/certification/cplaproviders.html. The first program applicants will also be reviewed in April. The deadline is March 31, 2006.

CPLA is a voluntary post-MLS certification program for public librarians with three years or more of supervisory experience who will be receive certification designed to enable public library administrators to: further professional education and development; m ove to a higher level of practical professional experience; improve career opportunities; demonstrate to colleagues, trustees, boards of directors, patrons and the wider information community that the certified person has acquired a nationally and professionally recognized body of knowledge and expertise in public library administration; and improve the quality of library service through the provision of practical knowledge and skills essential to successful library management.

ALA’s Public Library Association, Library Administration and Management Association, and the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies developed the CPLA standards and jointly sponsor the program. The ALA-APA administers the program.

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