ALA Online Learning Offerings by Unit

The new ALA eLearning site has launched! Designed to meet your evolving learning needs, ALA eLearning brings together content from every office and division of ALA in one place.

We are in the process of moving some of our recorded and free events to this unified site. If you are looking for a recorded or free event and do not see it listed on ALA eLearning, it may be available within the pages listed below or on the ALA Division Pages.

ALA Continuing Education

ALA Continuing Education’s expanding role in online learning and professional development is all about meeting the evolving needs of the library community wherever they are and whenever it’s convenient. We offer materials for professional development, improving library services, technology training, and the promotion of libraries, literacy, and reading—for all librarians in any type of library. In an increasingly crowded eLearning marketplace, our goal is to be the leading content provider of eLearning professional development and customized eLearning content events for both library workers and library institutions. Our primary events are short-form live webinars and long-form eCourses.

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

AASL offers online learning opportunities to meet the needs of busy school library professional. Monthly webinars, asynchronous courses, and an archive of online professional development through eCOLLAB are designed to make school librarians leaders in their school community.

Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)

ACRL offers a number of online learning opportunities to meet the demands of your schedule and budget. Stretch your professional development budget by participating in these affordable online learning courses and webcasts! Registration for all ACRL e-Learning online courses and Webcasts qualifies for the ACRL Frequent Learner Program. Register for three, get one free.

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

ALSC offers a variety of quality online education courses every winter, spring, summer and fall, best suited for children’s librarians and other library staff whose primary duties include delivering library service to and advocating library service for children ages 0-14. All courses run between four and six weeks and are offered asynchronously (self-directed) in an online learning community using Moodle. ALSC also offers short (one-hour) interactive webinars that give librarians and library support staff the opportunity to learn right at their desks. The webinars are free and open to all, and are recorded and available in the archived webinars section of the ALSC website following the live presentation.

Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures

Core offers numerous online learning opportunities to meet your needs. Scheduled throughout the year, Core's webinars, web courses, and e-Forums are affordable and timely. Enhance your skills, get practical how-to-information, and stay up-to-date on trends with our professional learning opportunities presented by experts from the field. Topics include Access and Equity, Assessment, Leadership, Metadata and Collections, Operations and Buildings, and Technology.

Finance & Accounting Office / Governance Office

The Finance & Accounting and Governance offices together with members of the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC) created the online ALA Financial Learning Series to provide a basic understanding of ALA’s finances and how they impact all areas/units of the Association. These webcasts expand on and support the information provided at the ALA Finance Workshop, an education session held by BARC at each Midwinter Meeting. Note that additional offerings will be added as areas of interest are identified.

Office for Diversity, Literacy & Outreach Services

The Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services offers elearning opportunities to support library workers as they create responsible and all-inclusive spaces that serve and represent their communities. Through our elearning offerings, we strive to build a professional culture where equity, diversity, and inclusion are incorporated into everybody's everyday work.

Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR)

The mission of the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR) is to facilitate the development of librarianship as a profession. One way we accomplish this is by focusing on education and learning programs. HRDR provides information on education and professional development in support of the principle of lifelong learning. We offer a variety of opportunities to assist library workers in their professional journeys —whether you are support staff, a new graduate, mid-level careerist, or an experienced professional. Our courses can be used to enhance your knowledge in specific areas or to help you gain certification in core areas.

Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)

OIF is the premier source of information and education concerning the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries. Our online learning programs provide knowledge and practical advice for librarians and members of the general public who want to learn more about censorship, the First Amendment, collection diversity, filtering, meeting rooms, privacy, and other legal and policy issues that relate to access to information and to library resources.

Public Library Association (PLA)

PLA knows that as the role of public libraries keeps expanding, staff must constantly adapt and absorb new responsibilities. That’s why we’ve designed our e-learning offerings to help keep you a step ahead. We offer a variety of live and on-demand webinars in addition to online courses and workbooks.

Public Programs Office (PPO)

Online learning opportunities from PPO can help you maximize the impact of your arts, humanities, STEM and community engagement programs with fresh resources, approaches and insights. Classes are free, and archived sessions may be viewed at any time.

Reference & User Services Association (RUSA)

Whether you want to acquire new skills or sharpen your current skills, RUSA's online courses and webinars offer convenient and flexible learning opportunities on both basic topics, such as the reference interview and readers' advisory, and advanced topics, for which we dive into specialty areas such as business reference, genealogy, and content related to prison libraries. RUSA members qualify for discounted registration rates including discounts on group registrations.

United for Libraries (United)

United for Libraries offers specialized online training for library boards and support organizations, as well as library staff. Short Takes for Trustees features 10 short videos to show at board meetings, while the Trustee Academy series goes in-depth with comprehensive online courses. Webinars offer real-world tips and strategies for success as library directors work with trustees. United for Libraries members have free access to webinars on topics such as library advocacy at the state level and planned giving, while advocacy webinars on responding to a budget crisis and creating a campaign for your library are free and available to all.

Public Policy and Advocacy Office (PPA)

The ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office offers screencasts and documents that will help you lobby local and federal policy makers to work for libraries. Our offerings include materials on messaging, event logistics, media relations, government relations, and grassroots, coordinated measures that will help you get the message to power about how important libraries are and why they deserve governmental support.

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

YALSA offers several opportunities for online professional development that will meet your needs, your schedule, and your budget. YALSA offers online courses three times a year, with coursework on literature and collection development, programming, technology, management, serving special populations and reaching teens and tweens at the library. In addition, YALSA offers monthly webinars on the third Thursday of each month. Both courses and webinars are ideal for any professionals who work directly with those ages 12 to 18 in a library setting.

Back to ALA Online Learning homepage--or contact us with questions at online-learning@ala.org.