Continuing Education for Public Librarian Certification
Introduction | Providers and Opportunities | Topics | Continuing Education RecordFAQ: professional development requirements for public librarians in New York State |
The New York State Board of Regents revised Commissioner's Regulation § 90.7 regarding certification of public librarians. Public librarian professional certificates issued as of January 1, 2010, and thereafter shall only remain valid when 60 hours of professional development are completed every five-year period. Such periods will be defined as every five years from the initial certificate date. A wide range of options for professional development is available. Approved programs from accepted providers include formal classes or courses, workshops, seminars, lectures, institutes, webinars, e-courses, library conference programs, or other relevant programs. As stipulated in Commissioner's Regulation § 90.7(c)(1), curriculum from "any other institution or provider as pre-approved by the employing library, employing library system or the State Education Department" can fulfill the professional development requirement. Additionally, these 60 hours may include up to 12 hours accomplished through:
These activities must be documented by a letter of completion authorizing this qualifying credit. Professional development topics offered by libraries, library systems, library associations, and other course providers have been identified below to help guide librarians to acceptable courses and activities. Certificates or transcripts showing successful completion of courses are acceptable forms of documentation, as are letters from a supervisor indicating completion of a program or project. Disclaimer: The providers and course opportunities sections in these pages are not inclusive, and there may be other topics relevant to individual libraries and situations. Contact your public library system or the New York State Library for further information. |
Potential Providers and Course Opportunities
Continuing Education Providers
The New York State Library developed a listing of continuing education providers in the field of library and information science. While this listing offers guidance on the types of training currently available from these sources, it is not inclusive. Current offerings pertaining to continuing education and library careers may be found at local library systems and library associations.
- Library Associations and Organizations
- Reference and Research Library Resources Systems
- Public Library Systems
- School Library Systems
- Additional links to sources of continuing education and training for library staff
Library Associations and Organizations
- New York State Library
- Periodically, the State Library offers training on a variety of topics such as Public Library Construction. More information on these programs may be found on the web site.
- Talking Book and Braille Library
- New Netherland Institute
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- WebJunction
- Association of College and Research Libraries
- New York Library Association (NYLA)
- American Library Association
- ALA offers a number of specialized "Institutes." Diversity is one such program that can be found on the ALA Human Resource Development and Recruitment pages.
- Examples of self-paced courses from RUSA, the Reference and User Services Association within ALA, include such topics as Business Reference 101, Readers' Advisory 101, Marketing Basics and the Reference Interview.
- Public Library Association
More information on available programs may be found on the ALA web site.
- ALA offers a number of specialized "Institutes." Diversity
- Chapters of the Special Libraries Association
Professional Development Topics for Public Librarians
These topics are among suggested training opportunities offered by many providers.
| Administration Adult Services Archives and Special Collections Automation Awareness & Advocacy Budget/Finance Cataloging & Bibliographic Control Children’s Services Collection Development & Management Copyright Conservation/Preservation Construction Customer Service Digital Libraries Digitization |
Diversity Training Early Literacy Education Grantwriting/Project Management Human Resources/Personnel Management Information Commons Intellectual Freedom/Censorship Leadership Library Design Literacy Management & Supervision Marketing/Branding Mentoring Outreach |
Planning and Evaluation Program Planning Project Management Public Relations Reader Advisory Records Management Reference/Virtual Reference Services Resource Sharing Social Networking & Collaboration Special Client Populations Subject Specialization Technology Trustee/Council Training Working with Older Adults Young Adult & Youth Services |
Continuing Education Record
The form below may be used to document your continuing education activities. Please do not submit this form to the New York State Education Department unless requested to do so.
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[71k] (revised 4/14)Disclaimer: The providers and course opportunities sections in these pages are not inclusive, and there may be other topics relevant to individual libraries and situations. Contact your public library system or the New York State Library for further information. |