Dear Alaska Librarians,

Just a quick note about the upcoming Alaska State Library Strategic Staff Development online course, March 5th -April 16th, 2018

Strategic Staff Development aligns staff resources to the library’s mission and goals and fosters a knowledgeable staff able to anticipate and adapt to continuous change. Public Library Directors skilled in strategic staff development will be able to identify and enhance the knowledge and skills their staff need to acquire in order for the public library to be successful. 

During this course participants will:

1.  Participants will identify library services and learning priorities based on a thorough analysis of library’s mission and vision statement and a staff self-assessment.
2.  Participants will review staff job descriptions and determine competencies staff need to develop based on the Competency Index for the Library Field.
3. Find formal training and/or design informal learning opportunities
4. Design a staff development plan

Participants will meet the objectives list above through a combination of the following activities in this course:

• Listening to weekly video lectures
• Completing readings, activities and quizzes
• Participating in discussion forums

During the 2018 Alaska Library Association Conference in Anchorage, students registered in the Strategic Staff Development online course will have an opportunity to meet during a session scheduled for Friday, March 9th from 3:45 pm- 4:35 pm and participate in an highly interactive conference session with various hands-on activities.