The State Library staff has been delighted with the success of the Kansas Library Trustee Certification Program. 430 Kansas trustees have completed the requirements for trustee certification since John Flower became the first certified trustee in April of 2008. The partnership among the State Library, the Kansas Library Trustee Association, and the regional library systems has been both productive and satisfying. We look forward to continuing to work with the program.
Four Grainfield trustees celebrate their certification
The State Library staff members have decided to make one change in the program in 2011. We will continue to help trustees participate in the certification program, but we are eliminating the re-certification requirement. Kansas has over 2500 public library trustees and there are a large number of new trustees each year. It was decided that the certification program should put its major effort toward helping Kansas trustees have productive first terms.
That does NOT mean that the relationship between a Kansas trustee and the Kansas library community will end with certification. The State Library and the KLTA Board are making plans to offer training for all Kansas trustees that will supplement the materials that are presently available on the core skills for certification.
If there is one idea that we would choose to leave with all certified trustees, it is that State Library staff, regional system staff, and the members of the KLTA Board are very eager to help Kansas library boards when they encounter a question or a problem. “Don’t work alone” is excellent advice for both library administrators and library boards.
The Kansas Library Trustee Certification Program is available at:
http://www.skyways.org/KSL/development/trusteecertification.pdf
If there are any questions or concerns, please call Shannon Roy at 785-296-2148 or email shanroy@kslib.info.