Staff Development
Our goal is to provide quality staff training and continuing education resources for every library staff member on the Eastern Shore. Below, you will find resources for professional development, and I encourage you to explore the websites, sign up for trainings, and ask questions. Please email Alicia Blake with any questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities
A list of opportunities from a wide array of resources is emailed to each county’s Staff Development Coordinator every Monday (unless otherwise noted). If you are not receiving this correspondence, please get in touch with your Staff Development Coordinator.
Don’t miss out on upcoming conferences, webinars, workshops, and other opportunities brought to you by organizations such as the Eastern Shore Regional Library, Maryland State Library, State Library Resource Center, American Library Association, Niche Academy, and more!
(Maryland Libraries Training) – Maryland State Library has purchased Niche Academy. A variety of courses are now available to staff in public, academic, and school libraries. Please use your library work address to self-register.
GALE Online Learning Portal – Some of Gale’s resources combined into one page: Gale Courses, Udemy, and Peterson’s Test and Career Prep. Accessible with your library card.
Subscription Services: Maryland State Library provides funding to make these available for free to library staff. Thousands of courses and materials are available 24/7; all you need to do is register using your work email address:
Thousands of courses, books, and articles on many business and technology-related topics – from customer service to cybersecurity. Available for anyone with a Maryland public library work email address. Click on the link and “Create an Account” to get started.
Library-related learning opportunities in various formats, including live and archived webinars, courses, and resource materials.
Library-Related Online Training Resources: Discover 16 organizations that provide library-focused training and learning resources. Many online resources are free or low-cost. Click here for a direct link to those sources.
By Topic: Discover a wide range of archived webinars from a variety of topics. Click here for a direct link to that site.
Online Training Databases & Websites to Know
This takes you directly to ALA eLearning to provide courses, webinars, and customized eLearning content for library and information workers. Self-register and log-in.
LibCal – Statewide Training Calendar: Register for upcoming webinars and training provided by state, regional, and local library organizations.
LibraryWorks: Timely, topical and interactive, the webinars are conducted by highly regarded professionals in the field and focus on leadership, management, evaluation, assessment, marketing, funding, and more to promote organizational success.
Library Journal & School Library Journal: The Upcoming Events page features online courses, in-person events, virtual events, and webcasts. If you hover your mouse over the tabs, you can also view past/archived events.
Maryland State Library Agency Library Subject Guides: 18 (and counting) different libguides created by the Maryland State Library Agency.
Microsoft 365 Training Hub: A one-stop-shop for all things Microsoft 365 including, Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Learn the basics with self-paced videos, explore training templates and guides, and download cheat sheets and infographics.
National Training & Events Calendar: Provided by Maine State Library, this National Continuing Education Calendar is updated monthly, and is available in PDF or Doc format – perfect for sharing! You can also subscribe directly to the calendar so it gets delivered straight to your inbox.
Niche Academy (ESRL): This academy is purchased and updated by ESRL and is free to any library staff member under the eight-county library systems. Please use your library work email to self-register.
Niche Academy (Upcoming Webinars Page): Register for Niche Academy’s upcoming learning management webinars and learn about essential topics directly from experts in organizations like yours.
PLA: The Public Library Association (PLA) is a division of the American Library Association. This link will take you directly to their website’s “Conferences & Continuing Education” section.
Polaris: Training & Learning Resources: A new training website from Innovative, built on the LibGuide platform, for storing and sharing training resources. This includes: Polaris guides, How-To articles and videos, recordings of live webinars, navigation tips, and more!
Public Library Policy Collection: This website was established to provide small, rural libraries with easy access to a variety of policies. This is available for anyone to search, browse, and download example library policies.
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- Note from the site: “Please keep in mind that any policy you utilize should be reviewed and customized according to your local and state laws. And, of course, it’s always best practice that you discuss major changes with your board (even seeking approval).”
SLRC: The State Library Resource Center, or SLRC, offers a variety of professional development opportunities for librarians in Maryland.
These SHARED training opportunities relevant to public libraries are provided by: Maryland public library systems and regional libraries, Maryland Library Association, and the State Library Resource Center. Free webinars and conferences from out-of-state libraries and library-related organizations are also listed, along with significant statewide meetings and events. Some training and events are available by invitation only.