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Professional Development Resources for Librarians: Online Courses & Webinars

Serving Mature Patrons

Libraries and Aging: 101 Educate, Engage and Empower Mature Adults

July 29-August 26, 2024

Librarian and gerontologist Fatima Perkins provides a four-week course to help libraries engage with older adult patrons, through assessing their needs, creating meaningful programs, and developing relevant services. As the population ages, libraries have a unique ability to empower older adults. 

The Learning Outcomes will help librarians 

  • Understand the relevance of national, state and local demographic changes and how these changes impact library service;
  • Increase your ability to identify and address the needs of mature audiences; and
  • Enhance your collaborative capacity to improve program development and effectiveness.

Benefits of Participating in eLearning from RUSA:

  • Learn directly from subject matter experts and gain essential skills for your professional growth
  • Your purchase helps fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals
  • You help support RUSA, which is a leading advocate group for library resources and information services and collections

Who Should Attend

This course is for any library staff person interested in creating or enhancing impactful programs and services for the ever-growing older population.


Instructor

Fatima Perkins is the Director of Community Outreach & Advocacy for the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging. She has engaged with the senior services network for more than 20 years, sharing her skills and talents with Greater Cleveland Volunteers, Alzheimer's Association, Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Cuyahoga County Public Library. As a librarian, she developed more than 5,000 programs including health and wellness initiatives. Fatima is an ALA Spectrum Scholar and was a 2015 recipient of the Carnegie-Whitney Grant. Fatima is the current Chairperson for Library Services to an Aging Population, Committee of RUSA. She continues to be a tireless advocate for older adults, libraries and librarians.


How to Register
  • Online
  • By Email: download, complete and email form (PDF format) to registration@ala.org
  • By Mail: download, complete and mail form (PDF Format) to American Library Association, ATTN: MACS/Online CE Registration, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60601

Tech Requirements

ALA uses Moodle for all online educational courses. It is hosted at http://ecourses.ala.org Learn more about Moodle at www.moodle.org.

All content for this course will be provided by the instructor. No textbook required.

The Moodle login instructions will be sent the Friday before the start date. The course site will remain open one week after the end date for students to complete any assignments and submit the course evaluation survey.


Credits

Continuing Education Credit - A certificate of completion will be sent to each participant upon successful completion of a course.

Although this course is not CEU-certified, many licensing boards will accept it for credit. Requirements vary by state and school district regarding certification and continuing education credits. The decision to grant CEU credits remains entirely up to your state or school district. If you are in need of credits, check with your state and/or school district before enrolling to determine eligibility. Some states will review your certificate of completion and course description to determine eligibility.

 

Presented By:

Reference and User Services Association color logo

FDLP Academy

Enhance your knowledge of Federal Government information through the FDLP Academy.  The Federal Depository Library Program offers the FDLP Academy for webinars and webcasts. FDLP Academy Training Repository has free videos of previous events.

Recent webinars include:

  • Science Resources at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Libraries
  • Library of Congress Veterans History Project
  • Access to Court Resources: PACER, Court Records, and More

Library 2.0

Library 2.0 is one of the first modern social networks for librarians and educators.

Webinar courses include:

  • Medical Emergencies: What to do Until the Paramedics Arrive
  • Ten Library Service Myths Every Librarian Should Challenge
  • Porn and Patrons in the Library: What to do About a Vexing Issue

simpleK12

SimpleK12: Professional Development in Your Pajamas offers practical online teacher training" webinars are specifically geared toward K-12 teachers, some offerings may also be of interest to librarians.

Some simpleK12 educational webinars are free.

Examples of free webinars and recordings:

  • Using the Chrome Browser to the Best of its Ability
  • Literacy Tools and Strategies to Strengthen Social Emotional Learning
  • HyperDocs: Tools for Reflection

TechSoup

A non-profit supported by a large global network of funders and donors, TechSoup helps you stay up-to-date on technology and continue to innovate.

Most courses are free. Tech-focused learning content examples include:

  • Email Marketing for Nonprofits and Libraries
  • Tech Training for Nonprofit and Library Staff 101

Emerging Tech

Emerging Tech is a free professional learning community where school librarians, teachers, and administrators can explore all the ways to integrate technology into 21st century learning.

Membership includes free monthly edWeb webinars.

WebJunction

At WebJunction, library-specific courses and webinar recordings are available for free to all library workers and volunteers. Through the generous support of OCLC and many state library agencies across the US, WebJunction provides timely and relevant learning content for you to access anytime, from anywhere.

Course and webinar topics include:

  • Digital Collections Stewardship
  • Build a Better Library Website Boot Camp
  • Creating Pathways to Civil Legal Justice

Idaho State Library Tutorials

The ABLE (Alternative Basic Library Education) program offers online tutorials on basic library-related skills.

The SABLE (Supplemental Alternative Basic Library Education) program provides additional resources to supplement the ABLE tutorials for library staff members who have no formal education in library science.