CPLA graduates two librarians, adds eight candidates, seven course renewals
Contact: Jenifer Grady
ALA-APA
312-280-2424
jgrady@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
September 9, 2008
CHICAGO - The Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA) Certification Review Committee (CRC) granted certification to two CPLA® candidates. In addition, the committee approved eight new candidates and renewed seven program courses in its first Fall 2008 review. CPLA® now has nine graduates and 112 candidates representing public libraries of all sizes across the nation.
The Certified Public Library Administrator program is a voluntary post-MLS certification program for public librarians with three years or more of supervisory experience and ALA-accredited master’s degrees in library and information studies.
The candidates are from 29 states and Nassau, Bahamas. To their course work they bring, on average, a decade of supervisory experience. Even with their considerable management skills they consider CPLA® a valuable source of knowledge. Several candidates have been promoted or changed positions during their candidacy. Cindy Leist at Brevard County Public Library in Florida believes that completing the Budget and Finance course from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign may have “played a part in my being promoted; it helped establish that I could handle that aspect of the position effectively.” Another candidate, Amanda Hipp of the Irving Public Library in Texas, said that the Planning and Management of Buildings course from the University of North Texas LE@D program “impacted me professionally almost immediately as I was given the task of conducting a needs assessment and soliciting community input for our renovation and building project.”
If you are a public librarian who has gaps in your managerial experience, is looking for practical professional development or needs a flexible credential, consider applying. There are courses on nine different management topics offered online, face-to-face and at American Library Association conferences. During the review, two providers renewed their commitments to offer courses; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) will offer four courses and the University of North Texas LE@D Program will offer three. Courses may also be taken by individuals who are not part of the CPLA program -
http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cplacourses.html.
CPLA® invites you to apply to become a candidate or a course provider. The next deadline for provider and candidate reviews is Sept. 26. The application for participants may be found on the CPLA® Web site:
http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cpla.html. The RFP for providers is here:
http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cplaproviders.html.
If you have questions, please call the ALA-APA Office at (312) 280-2424.
ALA-APA: the Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees is a service organization to the American Library Association and the library community. It has two missions: providing certification in specializations of librarianship and advocacy for salary improvement efforts.
