Public Library Management
Offered By: University of Michigan via edX
Course Description
Overview
Whether you earned a library science degree or entered the profession from another career, this Professional Certificate program will help you take your career as a public library manager or director to the next level. With our team of professors and expert practitioners, you’ll hone your skills in budgeting and finance, personnel, diversity, identifying community needs, strategic planning, managing infrastructure, marketing, and grant writing.
The program will be taught through job-embedded assignments that will help make the learning relevant while strengthening your capabilities. Those who complete the program and earn the Professional Certificate will be well-prepared for public libraries’ common management responsibilities.
Syllabus
Course 1: Identifying Community Needs for Public Library Management
Learn how to conduct research, surveys, and interviews as well as how to analyze data to better assess the local needs and wants of a public library community.
Course 2: Managing a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace for Public Libraries
Learn management skills to support workplace diversity and inclusion in a public library setting.
Course 3: Personnel Management for Public Libraries
Learn the foundational principles of personnel management and leadership.
Course 4: Budgeting and Finance for Public Libraries
Understand financial concepts as well as effective practices in budgeting and auditing for library managers at all levels.
Course 5: Infrastructure Management for Public Libraries
Learn how library managers and directors make key operational decisions regarding maintenance, insurance, technology, and more.
Course 6: Strategic Planning for Public Libraries
Learn how to develop, implement, and adapt a strategic plan to fit the needs of your library.
Course 7: Grant Writing and Crowdfunding for Public Libraries
Learn how to increase your impact, innovate, and overcome often static funding through various fundraising and grant writing approaches.
Course 8: Public Library Marketing and Public Relations
Learn how to develop effective marketing and PR strategies to help share your library’s programs, services, and value with the broader community.
Courses
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Public libraries are becoming dynamic hubs for learning, civic engagement, and community.
This course will discuss strategies for gathering statistical and descriptive data about public library communities. Learners will identify local partners in education, social services, government agencies, and more.
While conducting real-world investigations, learners will gain deeper insight into the wants and needs of community organizations. This will empower learners to make better management decisions to address those needs, even in libraries with limited budgets.
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Learn management skills to support workplace diversity and inclusion in a public library setting.
You will learn about theories and frameworks that explain the underlying mechanisms of the impacts of diversity and learn how to understand and address the needs of women and underrepresented minorities (e.g. race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, marital status, age, sexual orientation, and citizenship).
You will learn how employment practices such as recruitment, selection, promotion, salary, training and development impact an organization’s ability to attract, retain, and manage a diverse workforce.
Lastly, you will recognize what organizational changes can be made to help organizations maximize the potential of all workers.
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This course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, will explore skills needed for hiring and evaluating personnel to reflect your library's mission through an organizational culture that will thrive in your community.
Learners will understand the legal considerations when managing a diverse workforce.
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Money isn’t generally the first topic that comes to mind when thinking about libraries, however it is a critical resource that touches every aspect of the organization. Whether you are an aspiring manager or a library director, it is important that your organization’s finances are aligned with your service goals and priorities.
This course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, will help you understand how to build a budget, read financial reports, and plan for the long-term sustainability of your library.
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In this course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, we’ll explore the ongoing infrastructure support that library leaders must facilitate, including:
- maintenance
- insurance
- contract services
- patron privacy
- technology
- budgets
- policies
You’ll learn how these decisions are made to ensure long-term sustainability.
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In this course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, we’ll explore the nuts and bolts of creating a strategic plan by reviewing and reflecting on the strategic plans of a variety of library types.
Strategic planning is a strategy for setting an organization’s goals, vision, and desired future. You’ll learn how library leaders, in partnership with trustees, library boards, and/or municipal leadership, use strategic planning to set long-term goals as well as identify the necessary funding priorities, staffing needs, and other elements needed for success.
You’ll also learn how an effective strategic plan is more than mere paperwork: it is an ongoing planning, action, and reflection process that can engage all stakeholders in a common set of expectations and action steps for the future.
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This course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, explores strategies for developing effective grant proposals and for engaging the community in crowdfunding campaigns.
In this course, you will mock up a crowdfunding campaign and create a grant proposal for a local or state-level funding source.
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In this course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, you’ll learn how to use attractive graphic design, public relations outreach with the media, and paid marketing to better communicate about your library and, in the case of social media, build better conversations and relationships with patrons.
Solutions at multiple budget points (e.g., DIY software versus working with a designer) will also be discussed.
Taught by
Larry Neal, Kristin Fontichiaro, Lionel P. Robert and Josie Barnes Parker
Tags
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