Professional Development and Continuing Education

Our mission is to promote learning for all library staff by providing an open online learning community. Our vision is to be the place where the library profession gathers to build the knowledge, skills and support we need to power relevant, vibrant libraries.

Developed by staff of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, this free, online program provides basic library knowledge and skills for staff members who have no formal education in library science. These courses are organized into 3 key topical areas, Collection Development, Technical Services, and Public Services.

Sharpen your professional skills by taking Infopeople training! Infopeople training is open to all members of the library community - academic, public, school, and special.

Access ALA’s wide range of library-related online learning–covering fundamentals, advances, trends, and hot topics at ALA Online Learning. Organized by ALA Section/Unit.

Upcoming webinars and online courses from ALA.

Amigos Library Services is a member-led and member-focused cooperative whose mission is to promote resource sharing and to obtain innovative services more affordably through collaboration. As members, we work together to enhance our roles as education and information providers to library users. Membership in Amigos strengthens us as leaders in our communities.

Libraries and Museums, Library Organizations, National and State Library Associations from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean consistently engage The People~Connect Institute for everything from Management and Human Resource Consulting and Coaching, to Webinars and Presentations including one and two day training sessions and keynotes. Andrew Sanderbeck is the creator of highly acclaimed Leadership Institute and Customer Service Experience programs for museums and public and academic libraries.

Library Juice Academy offers a range of online professional development workshops for librarians and other library staff, focusing on practical topics to build new skills. These workshops earn Continuing Education Units, and are intended as professional development activities. Workshops are taught asynchronously, so you can participate as your own schedule allows

The i.School Open Classes program at San José State University (SJSU) School of Information (iSchool) offers continuing education and professional development opportunities for future and current information professionals. The exclusively online Open Classes program is open to everyone with a bachelor's degree or higher. Individuals can enroll in master's-level courses on a space-available basis and earn college credit.

CCM provides no-cost training for member municipalities. Elected and appointed officials and municipal staff at every level utilize CCM Municipal Training to stay abreast of innovations, issues, and requirements affecting their job performance and service to local residents and businesses.

Workshops and seminars have included such subjects as land preservation and neighborhood revitalization; grant writing, nuts and bolts of being a supervisor, school-municipal cooperation, and new legislation. CCM Municipal Training programs provide practical information at the cutting edge of municipal management and intergovernmental relations.

CCM also offers training in numerous core areas of local government administration and operations.

ALA-accredited master’s programs can be found at colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. These programs offer degrees with names such as Master of Library Science (MLS), Master of Arts, Master of Librarianship, Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS), and Master of Science.

The i.School Open Classes program at San José State University (SJSU) School of Information (iSchool) offers continuing education and professional development opportunities for future and current information professionals. The exclusively online Open Classes program is open to everyone with a bachelor's degree or higher. Individuals can enroll in master's-level courses on a space-available basis and earn college credit.

SLIS offers a variety of workshops each term of interest to professionals in the library and information professions. Current and past workshop topics include taxonomies and controlled vocabularies, open access publications, business research, ILL, booktalkers, global arts bookmaking, book appraisal, Japanese anime and manga, library architecture, EAD, and many others. Continuing education programs are open both to practicing librarians/information professionals and current GSLIS students who wish to earn professional credits while they update skills and knowledge. Current Simmons GSLIS students and Simmons GSLIS alumni qualify for special discounted rates on continuing education programs.

Updated! This 30 credit program is designed to prepare individuals for employment as library technical assistants as well as to improve the knowledge and skills of those already working in public, academic and special libraries.

EdX offers interactive online classes and MOOCs from the world’s best universities,including MITx, HarvardX, BerkeleyX, UTx and many other universities. Topics include business, computer science, economics, finance, electronics, engineering, food and nutrition, history, humanities, law, literature, math, medicine, music, philosophy, science, statistics, and more. EdX is a non-profit online initiative created by founding partners Harvard and MIT.

Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, partnering with top universities and organizations to offer courses for anyone to take, for free.

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