Meservey, Iowa, is a tiny, rural town of just 240 people. We have a church, a bar, a post office … and my little library. There isn’t much to do in town as far as entertainment goes, so the library tends to serve as a community hub — we are one of the only local sources of free events and programming.
Planning public programs is a skill that’s more and more important to library work, and we wanted to know: is that reflected in the curriculum? As part of our comprehensive review of the library programming landscape, we explored requirements in library degree programs across the US.
“My event planning, volunteering for 16 years doing cultural events for my school district, and my theater/musician training helped a lot.”
“These are basic life skills learned by parents (e.g. doing homework in grade school, planning a birthday party, etc.).”
“Working in a very high-scale restaurant as a server and working in a public museum on the visitor services side of things helped me gain skills in good customer services and event planning.”
You’ve spent months planning and putting in the hard work to ensure you’re delivering a quality program for your community. Don’t stop there! Adding a few steps to your to-do list will increase your program's reach and impact.
During this two-year (2017-18) professional development project, library professionals will have access to free training in community leadership techniques like coalition-building and dialogue facilitation. Offerings will include free web-based and in-person workshops specially designed for three library types:
This introductory webinar will provide an overview of LTC: Models for Change. Participants will:
ALA's Public Programs Office invites libraries to apply for the Great Stories Club, a reading and discussion program for underserved teens featuring books under the theme “Nature vs. Nurture: Origins of Teen Violence and Suicide.” The project is supported with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
