Providing Professional Development Opportunities to Staff in Tough Economic Times: A Guide for Administrators

Introduction

Library administrators have pressures from various areas from both inside and outside the walls of the library. There are stresses on their organization due to new modes of knowledge acquisition, changes in technologies and standards in librarianship, and the expectations of the communities they belong to. Library budgets are also shrinking, and this enhances these strains on the entire organization. Libraries, however, need to respond to the constant changes through staff education and professional development, or the library will not be successful. Library staff should always be dedicated to responding to new technologies and techniques in library science. How can they be productive, however, when library budgets do not always allow them to participate in the various forms of professional development and show growth?

It is extremely important that library administration is aware of and encourage professional development opportunities for their staff. Being aware of what is out there allows you to be able to provide professional development in a manner that encourages professional growth for your staff and gives you the opportunity to budget properly for learning. This chapter will provide you with the background information that you will need to foster, create, and sustain a budget-friendly professional development program for your staff.