Library Worklife

Volume 4, No. 3 • March 2007

Certification

CPLA Approves Candidates and Online Courses

The Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA) Certification Review Committee (CRC) approved 28 candidates and eight more program courses at the 2007 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. The Public Library Association (PLA) will manage the new courses. The next deadline is March 16, 2007.

The Certified Public Library Administrator program is a voluntary post-MLS certification program for public librarians with three years or more of supervisory experience and ALA-accredited master’s degrees in library and information studies.

The program now has 67 candidates from 30 states. There are 31 courses on nine different management topics provided by associations, library schools and ALA divisions, offered online, face-to-face, and at ALA conferences. Courses may also be taken by individuals who are not part of the CPLA program—http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cplacourses.html.

CPLA invites you to apply to become a candidate or a course provider. The next deadline for provider and candidate reviews is March 16, 2007. The application for participants may be found on the CPLA Web site: http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cpla.html. The RFP for providers is here: http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cplaproviders.html.

If you have questions, please call the ALA-APA Office at 800-545-2433, x2424. ALA-APA: the Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees is a service organization to the American Library Association and the library community. It has two missions: providing certification in specializations of librarianship and advocacy for salary improvement efforts.

Certification Program for Library Practitioners

On February 23, the Western Council of State Libraries (WCSL), a professional association of 22 state libraries, announced the start of its Library Practitioner Certification program. The certificate provides recognition for library directors and managers who do not hold a master's degree in library science. WCSL accepts candidates from all 50 states.

Developed with support from an Institute of Museum and Library (IMLS) grant in response to calls for improved training opportunities, the Western Council identified a set of competencies that define the skills and knowledge needed for success as a library practitioner. The Certification program is based on these competencies. Library practitioners completing 240 contact hours of training in competency areas and with 2000 hours of library experience will be awarded Western Council certification.

“Developing a certification program for this level of library worker represents an important step in Western Council’s efforts to advance the improvement of library services in communities not yet able to support a professional librarian,” said Jan Walsh, President of Western Council and Washington State Librarian. “By offering standardized certification to library practitioners, Western Council provides employers with a benchmark for selecting highly qualified individuals, while offering individuals a recognized, portable credential that enables them to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. Western Council hopes that applicants look at this certificate as the first step in library science education.”

To insure the quality of courses for applicants, Western Council will require that applicants select from courses offered by Western Council Approved Providers. Institutions and individuals can become Approved Providers by completing an application and submitting a fee based on the type of institution. Upon certification, Approved Providers will be entitled to use an official certification logo as an indication of their status and will be listed in the directory maintained by Western Council.

For complete information about the program, including how to be certified and how to become an Approved Provider, go to http://certificate.westernco.org.

We would love to have your feedback on these articles!