The Practical Library Trainer

by Ruth C Carter, Bruce E Massis

Overview

Develop a library staff training program that really works!

To stay on top of the lightning-fast changes in the library field and provide your patrons with the best service possible, you need to establish and sustain an effective program for training your staff. The Practical Library Trainer examines the concept of the library as a learning place for patrons and staff, offering a comprehensive view of training from an administrator’s perspective. Bruce E. Massis, author of The Practical Library Manager (Haworth), addresses the essential issues of how to develop a strong program of continuous instruction, including customer service, reporting, recruitment, and retention of staff. The book focuses on the integration of staff training as a blended activity instead of an intervention, quelling the notion of training as an add-on to existing staff duties.

The current information-rich environment provides your patrons with an abundance of resources to choose from for their research needs. But they can’t do it alone-they need direction from a knowledgeable librarian who can recognize the pedigree, currency, and validity of licensed resources, particularly those available through electronic means. The Practical Library Trainer uses the goal of long-range customer service as a starting point, emphasizing the return on investment possibilities from blended training methods as a key to meeting your patrons’ high expectations of service. The book also provides examples from outside the library community to demonstrate the importance of training on a non-library setting and looks at future training issues.

The Practical Library Trainer examines:

• types of staff training (formal, informal, employer-provided, qualifying, skill improvement)
  
• strategies for recruiting and retaining a staff
  
• blended learning
  
• e-training
  
• in-house training
  
• how to use professional conferences as continuing education opportunities
  
• how to evaluate your training program
  
• a sample of an anywhere, anytime education and training program
  
• and much more!

The Practical Library Trainer is an important resource for making sure your patrons get the most from your libraryand your staff.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781136418273
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/12/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	140
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ruth C Carter

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
  
• Introduction
  
• Chapter 1. Preparing the Library for a Staff Training Program
  
• Types of Staff Training
  
• The Role of a Training Administrator (TA)
  
• Establishing a Funding Level
  
• Checklist for Sustainability of a Library Staff Training Program
  
• Chapter 2. Recruitment and Retention of Library Staff: Can These Issues Benefit from a Staff Training Program?
  
• Recruitment
  
• Retention
  
• Competency Development
  
• Chapter 3. Suggestions for a Comprehensive Training Program for Library Staff
  
• Components
  
• Budget Issues
  
• Program Evaluation
  
• Dissemination
  
• Sustainability
  
• Chapter 4. The Workplace As Learning Place
  
• Steps in Creating an Integrated Learning Environment
  
• Blended Learning to Keep the Staff Engaged
  
• What Are the Latest Trends?
  
• Chapter 5. Train the Trainer: The In-House Training Opportunity
  
• Training Programs
  
• Engaging the Learner
  
• Chapter 6. The Conference As a Continuing Education Opportunity
  
• Reasons to Attend a Conference or Seminar
  
• Planning for the Conference
  
• Selected Conferences
  
• Receiving Continuing Education Credit
  
• Chapter 7. The ROI Report and E-Training
  
• Measuring the Benefits of E-Training
  
• What is ROI?
  
• Two Suggested Examples of the ROI Formula
  
• Practical Elements for Calculating ROI
  
• Chapter 8. Is the Library Continuing Education Program Working? Evaluating the Training Program
  
• Why a Questionnaire?
  
• ASTD Evaluation Tools
  
• Failures of Evaluation
  
• Key Questions to Ask
  
• Chapter 9. Library Training: A Future Perspective
  
• Overcoming Resistance to Training
  
• Elements in Planning the Library for the Future
  
• Retaining the Library Staff for the Future
  
• The Future of Training Library Staff
  
• Chapter 10. Delivering Blended Learning to Library Staff in Southeast Florida: A Case Study
  
• Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN)
  
• A Scalable Program
  
• Why Blended Learning?
  
• Web-Based Learning
  
• Instructor-Led E-Learning
  
• Teleconferences
  
• Compressed Video
  
• Streaming Media
  
• Classroom-Based Technology-Assisted Formats
  
• The Future of Technology-Based Training
  
• Appendix A. ROI Courses Offered at U.S. Business Schools
  
• Appendix B. Train-the-Trainer Degrees, Certificates, Workshops, and Courses
  
• Appendix C. Staff Training Outcomes Survey Questionnaire
  
• Template 1
  
• Template 2
  
• Appendix D. A Sample User Survey for Online Learning
  
• Appendix E. A Sample Needs Assessment Survey for Blended Learning
  
• Notes
  
• Selected Training Bibliographies
  
• Leadership Development
  
• Training Budgets
  
• Value of Training
  
• Linking Training to Your Library’s Mission and Vision
  
• Starting a Training Program
  
• ROI
  
• Additional Selected Bibliography on ROI
  
• Recruitment and Retention Issues
  
• Train the Trainer
  
• Selected Annotated Bibliography of Donald L. Kirkpatrick’s Published Works
  
• Index
  
• Reference Notes Included

What People are Saying About This

Cheryl Bryan

Bruce Massis presents A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW of the current state of training in the library field, and then goes on to provide a vision of the workplace as learning place that will support the profession through the accelerating currents of change and our current recruitment and retention crisis. A GUIDE AND WORKBOOK FOR THE INSTITUTION THAT SEEKS TO PROVIDE A SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR ITS EMPLOYEES.—Assistant Administrator for Consulting and Continuing Education, Southeastern Massachusetts Library System

Lynne Marie Rudasill

AN EXCELLENT TOOL for developing and executing a program for library staff development. Whether the topic is the development of goals and objectives for the training program, blended learning for staff development, budgeting, or program evaluation, the author provides the reader with specific suggestions, templates, and tools to facilitate programming for professional and para-professional staff members. His concept of training as a blended activity as opposed to an intervention provides the administrator or trainer with the ability to improve the delivery of service in a more seamless manner than ever before.—Associate Professor of Library Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Editorial Reviews

4 Stars! from Doody

Reviewer: Bruce A. Johnston, MLS (Duquesne University)
Description: This book provides a practical framework for planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating contemporary staff training and development programs in libraries. Emphasis is placed on programs incorporating ROI (Return on Investment) measurements, e-learning, and blended learning styles.
Purpose: The author examines library staff training issues and processes relating to customer service, staff recruitment/retention, and integration of training activities into existing routines and duties. Effective training programs, both "library-specific" as well as general, take on added significance in today's heavily information-driven environment of increasingly rapid technological developments in all areas of the library (from reference and research functions to user interactions to technical services). The author provides a comprehensive analysis of a variety of staff training approaches as well as a case study.
Audience: With librarians and library administrators as the primary audience, the book succeeds in addressing many of the unique training and staff development parameters for library personnel. The author not only has been active in the library profession for more than twenty years, but also has served in numerous official capacities in professional associations including the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).
Features: Salient features of this book include a discussion of the components of successful staff training and development programs, the role of conferences and seminars in the training process, and the importance of blended learning processes. Measurement of Return on Investment (ROI) and discussion of evaluation methodologies comprise several important chapters. A case study of blended learning applications developed and implemented at the Southeast Florida Library Information Network provides a useful conclusion to the book's analysis. Several appendices, including a detailed Staff Training Outcomes Survey Questionnaire, as well as an extensive corporate training and library-specific bibliography complete this book with practical additional resources.
Assessment: Against the backdrop of continual innovation in the development of library programs, services, and technology, this book successfully addresses the need for comprehensive discussion and analysis in libraries designing and implementing meaningful learning and training opportunities for staff. Resources from diverse training and staff development environments are gathered together, providing library managers and administrators with practical and useful guidelines for planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating their staff training initiatives.

Doody's Review Service