Good morning! Please excuse cross-postings:
I hope you can join me for this!
"Workforce agencies are increasingly investigating the value of microcredentials in upskilling. This brings forth a larger discussion of what a "credential of value" is. Professional librarianship recognizes the MLIS/MLS, yet the cost to obtain one for many interested in librarianship remains prohibitive. Are there more affordable and accessible credentials of value - microcredentials - that could be industry-recognized and "stacked" toward a master's degree, such as edX's Certificate of Public Library Management?
To think about:
Is the Associate's and Bachelor of Library Science "industry recognized" as a credential of value?
Does the MLS/MLIS prepare students to be library directors?
What short-term, affordable ways are there to train people for the library field?
Can the cost of the degree be offset by wages in rural libraries?
Are library schools willing to count work experience and microcredentials as credit earned toward the degree?
Lisa Shaw is the Small & Rural Libraries/Workforce Development Specialist for the Maine State Library; Advocacy Committee Co-Chair for ARSL; a member of Maine's Northeast Workforce Development Board Youth Services committee; a member of LibsWork; and Maine State Library's representative to several state and nationwide workforce development inter-agency initiatives."
To register and FMI:
https://connect.ala.org/events/event-description?CalendarEventKey=db5dc0da-618d-42ed-86a8-dbc8bc8fc521&CommunityKey=d439fbcc-2d33-4650-9a01-7e30182ea397&Home=%2fcommunities%2fcommunity-home
Lisa M. Shaw
(Pronouns: she/her)
Maine State Library - Library Development
Rural & Small Libraries/Workforce Development Specialist
64 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0064
(207) 217-1565 (mobile)
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https://www.maine.gov/msl/libs/index.shtmlhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lisanealshaw/
Dator's Law: "Any useful statement about the future should at first seem ridiculous."
[Jim Dator]
