The majority of the certified Kansas trustees have gained their core skill credits for certification by attending the Statewide Trustee Training available through the ELMeR video network. The Statewide video training will be offered again in October 2009 and October 2010. Both training seasons will cover all five trustee core skills in two workshops and attendance at both will qualify a trustee for certification.
A number of trustees have received their certification through tutorials taught at their board meetings. A package of training materials designed for board tutorials may be found at:
http://ks.webjunction.org/friends-trustees/articles/content/3305840
However, there are other ways of gaining core skill credits.
Any working session attended at a system workshop or at a library conference will qualify for one or more trustee core skills, although they are sometimes core skills that the trustee already has. If there is any question about the core skills a conference or system session will gain, a query may be sent to Shannon Roy at shanroy@kslib.info.
A colorful and entertaining way to pick up trustee certification, although only a few trustees have done it this way, is to view the video series called Trustee Trouble. These were put out by the Wyoming State Library and are available at:
http://www.wyominglibraries.org/trusteetrouble.html
It does require a good Internet connection to view them without problems or delays, so it might be necessary to view them at the library.
Trustees are also qualified to enroll in the courses in WebJunction Kansas. The Learning Center has many online, self-paced courses to choose from. Access to these courses has been paid by the State Library of Kansas and is offered free of charge to Kansas library workers and trustees who are registered WebJunction Kansas (http://ks.webjunction.org) members.
WebJunction courses that are particularly useful for meeting trustee core skill requirements are:
Basic Budgeting
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
Become an Effective Trustee
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill One – Working with the Administration
Core Skill Two – Developing an Effective Board
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Discovering What Your Customers Want
SkillSoft
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Initiating and Planning a Project
SkillSoft
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Interviewing and Hiring Practices
SkillSoft
Core Skill One – Working with the Administration
Keep It Simple: Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Library
Library U
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
Keeping Your Library Looking Good
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Library Privacy and Confidentiality
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill Four – Assessing and Adopting Policy
Managing Difficult Patrons with Confidence!
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill Four – Assessing and Adopting Policy
Meetings for Results
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill One – Working with the Administration
Core Skill Two – Developing an Effective Board
Understanding Budgets
LE@D – University of North Texas
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
To enroll in a WebJunction Kansas Course:
1. Go to WebJunction Kansas at http://ks.webjunction.org.
2. Sign in or create a new account. Call Cindi Hickey at the State Library if you have any problems with userid or password.
3. Click on the Courses tab.
4. You should now be looking at the Course Catalog.
5. Before you start the enrollment process:
Read the course description to verify that it meets your needs; check the cost for the course to be sure it is $0.00. (If you don’t see zeroes, check to be sure you are in Kansas.) Once you have verified the course and the cost, click on the “Add to cart” button.
6. When you have finished “shopping” for courses, click on the “Go to cart” button. (Please enroll in only 2 courses at a time.)
7. In your shopping cart, check one more time to be sure the price for the course is $0.00. Please note: you will no longer see the sunflower. If you are ready to complete your enrollment, click on the “Proceed to Checkout” button. You do NOT need a course code.
8. Now you can complete your enrollment by clicking on the “Complete Order” button.
In order to provide learning opportunities for all of our WebJunction Kansas members, we ask that you follow these guidelines:
- Make sure you are signed into WebJunction and on the WebJunction Kansas website. If you don’t see the sunflower you aren’t in Kansas.
- Enroll in no more than 2 courses at any one time.
- Complete those courses before you enroll in additional courses.
- Read the course descriptions and expectations carefully before you click on “Add to cart.” Once you enroll in a course, you cannot withdraw.
To get you started, here are some reminders and tips:
- You must be a registered member. Visit “Create an Account” to register.
- You must be signed in. If you don’t see the sunflower above, click on “Kansas” in your affiliations list.
- Disable your pop-up blocking before you start the enrollment process.
- If you enroll in a LE@D class, a course username and password will be sent to you by LE@D. You should receive that password within 3 days. If you do not receive the password, please contact LE@D at lead@unt.edu.
Trustees or their director should record a completed WebJunction Kansas course and add it to the list of the completed core skill credits. When all five core skill credits have been gained, a request for certification should be sent to Shannon Roy at the State Library of Kansas. The State Library will record the certification date and send the certificate to the library director. Questions about the program may also be sent to Shannon Roy at 785/296-2148 or shanroy@kslib.info.
