professional development

Libraries at Work: Improving Job Prospects through Library-Accessed Online Learning

RosemaryPosted 12/5/2015

By Rosemary Long, Product Manager, Partner Products, Gale

Today’s libraries provide valuable help to their community members as the job landscape continues to shift. With advancing technology, access to computers and career development resources make the public library the perfect place for upgrading professional skills and mastering new capabilities. This may be the reason more than 30 million people reported using library computers for employment or career information in one twelve-month period during the last economic downturn.1

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Cobblers’ Kids, Unite! Resources Just for Library Staff

professional development library science ebooks

Posted on August 12, 2015
By Tina Creguer

We’ve all heard the expression that it’s the cobbler’s kids that have no shoes. Too often, the analogy applies in libraries. Collections are painstakingly developed for all types of community members, but library staff lack the professional development resources that could help them develop new competencies.

Now you can build core competencies with special GVRL eBook collections geared toward professional library staff. The custom collections that deepen job satisfaction were just updated with new titles and include Chandos Publishing, Information Today, Libraries Unlimited, Linworth, and Wiley and is based on the WebJunction’s Competency Index 2014, which is endorsed by the American Library Association. Covered are:

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Gale Sponsors Library Journal’s Lead the Change Professional Academy

Professional Development for Libraries

Library Journal’s Lead the Change, a professional development program for librarians available online and in a series of live events across the country, is launching next month.  As series sponsor, Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, is helping to fund the event and making unique tools available to librarians.

Lead the Change offers timely resources and tools to help librarians stay ahead of innovations and changes affecting the library profession.  Library staff at all levels can participate in hands-on live events, access insightful on-demand webcasts, and participate in a new online learning program. 

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Guest Blog: Overcoming Textbook Fatigue through Text Sets

By ReLeah Cossett Lent, Author of the ASCD published title “Overcoming Textbook Fatigue”

Textbook fatigue [tekst-book  fug-teeg], noun.

  • Too many vocabulary words insufficiently defined
  • Too many complex concepts crowded into one chapter
  • Too many one-size-fits-all assignments
  • Too many pages to cover, topics to teach, ideas to unpack

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To Change the Way Students Learn, We Must Change Professional Development

By Dan Alpert, Program Director: Equity/Diversity and Professional Learning, SAGE Publications

Each year, scathing critiques of public education flood our newspapers and social media.  It may be an old story, but public school K-12 educators are at a critical point in time this school year.  We are deep into the massive project of implementing rigorous new standards for college and career readiness.  Despite the passage of 60 years since Brown v. Board of Education, 50 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and despite significant shifts in our nation’s demographics, we’ve made little progress closing sizable achievement gaps between our privileged and marginalized student populations.  And the inauguration of new high-stakes assessments, the brainchildren of two interstate consortia – PARCC and Smarter Balanced — will undoubtedly launch a fresh, new wave of dire predictions.

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Library Directors Need Information, Too!  Support Your Library’s Growth

Carla is beloved by patrons at her library. As the new library director, she leads monthly meetings for key community members, networks with local business leaders, and responds personally to patron concerns – promptly. And even though she only has a few reference desk rotations a month, people ask for her, because they know she will provide great servigvrlladyce…and know where to find what they need. But Carla is concerned about keeping her knowledge and skills fresh – whether it’s about new collection development strategies or upcoming IT advancements that will affect how the library leverages its MARC records. She recently hit the 15-year anniversary of library school graduation, and she’d like to be sure she has all the knowledge she needs to keep her library as a vital community resource…and continue her career advancement.

Library directors who want to avoid the “cobblers’ children” syndrome (failing to support their own learning and development because they’re focused on supporting others’) can do so easily, with resources we’ve pulled together to meet you and your colleagues’ needs.

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Accommodate Your Community Members’ Career Goals

goal-getter professional development resources for public libraries

Keisha is busy. In addition to being a mom, volunteering at the school, and working full time as a customer service representative, she’s looking for opportunities to advance her skills and move into a better job. A few co-workers have moved into management, but she’s been told she doesn’t have the background needed to be promoted. With school-aged kids and a 40-hour work week, Keisha’s schedule doesn’t accommodate traditional classes.

You’ve probably met Keisha – or a  goal-getter  just like her – in your library. To meet her needs, you can connect her with dozens of resources that can help her sharpen professional skills and pursue new opportunities for herself…and her family. All directly from your library website. Online learning programs, eBooks, and other resources are available 24/7 to answer questions and help members of your community expand their professional horizons (and earning opportunities).

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Featured Partner: Oxford University Press

An ongoing look at the partner publishers available through GVRL.

By Melissa Rayner

Oxford University Press has been one of the biggest names in academic publishing almost since the industry’s inception. The first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, and although the formal press had not yet been born, Oxford University involved itself with several printers over the century that followed. Now, the press publishes over 6,000 titles and sells more than 110 million units each year. It has offices in 50 countries and is the largest university press in the world.

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Featured Partner: IGI Global

An ongoing look at the partner publishers available through GVRL.

By Melissa Rayner

Founded in 1988, IGI Global grew rapidly to become a leading international academic publisher of more than 2,300+ reference books, 155+ journals, encyclopedias, teaching cases, proceedings, and databases. They aim to offer a unique interdisciplinary approach to cutting-edge applied technology – with an especially strong focus on the role, impact, and effective use of new technology.

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