There are now 108 certified trustees in the Kansas Library Trustee Certification Program! On March 4, 2009, four members of the Iola Public Library Board received their initial certification. The certified trustees are Roger Fogleman, Gale Ludlum,Tom Strickler and Joan Willis. Our congratulations to the trustees and to their director, Roger Carswell, who has always been an active supporter of the Kansas Certification Programs.
Iola Public Library
Most of the certified Kansas trustees have gained their core skill credits for certification by attending the Statewide Trustee Training available twice a year through the ELMeR video network or through board tutorials taught at their board meetings. 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.
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 for by the State Library of Kansas and is offered free of charge to Kansas library workers and trustees who are registered WebJunction Kansas members.
WebJunction courses that are particularly useful for meeting trustee core skill requirements are:
Basic Budgeting
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
Become an Effective Trustee
Core Skill One – Working with the Administration
Core Skill Two – Developing an Effective Board
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Discovering What Your Customers Want
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Initiating and Planning a Project
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Interviewing and Hiring Practices
Core Skill One – Working with the Administration
Library Privacy and Confidentiality
Core Skill Four – Assessing and Adopting Policy
Managing Difficult Patrons with Confidence!
Core Skill Four – Assessing and Adopting Policy
Rural Library Sustainability
Core Skill Five – Strategic Planning
Understanding Budgets
Core Skill Three – Developing Effective Support
Instructions for creating an account are included in the member center at the following URL:
http://ks.webjunction.org/memberguides/articles/content/2827630#create_account
It is important that people who already have an account with WebJunction NOT try to create a new one if they can’t remember their login information. Send email to Cindi Hickey at chickey@kslib.info if you need help with the password or userid.
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.
You can find complete enrollment instructions (in PDF format) online in our WebJunction Kansas Guide: Enrolling in WebJunction Courses.
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.
- Need help? Contact Cindi Hickey, or WebJunction Support.
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.
The State Library staff have been delighted with the progress of this program. It clearly reflects the commitment of both trustees and their librarians.