Library Trustee Continuing Education Requirement

Continuing education for New Jersey library trustees is required by law. Under NJSA (New Jersey Statutes Annotated 15:21-2.3): a member or members of the board or commission must have received a minimum of seven (7)total hours of library-related education annually to qualify for state aid, among other requirements.

What constitutes Continuing Education?  The regulation leaves it to your discretion.  The library director and board president sign the “Accuracy Certification.”  As long as you are comfortable that the education was “library-related” you will be able to say “yes” to the questions. Aside from the New Jersey State Library Trustee Institute, examples of continuing education may include dealing directly with library issues or broader topics such as customer service.  Regional training, watching a video on serving the elderly and having a library in-service day (you may want to join with other libraries if you decide this might be valuable) would all qualify, as well as workshops on common law and regulations pertaining to libraries and library law, duties of trustees/commissioners, budget creation and implementation, fundraising workshops, or a tour of a library to gain understanding of operations and current service trends.

Multiple opportunities to fulfill the Continuing Education requirement are provided through the NJ State Library. Programs are held regionally periodically throughout the year to educate trustees on in their roles and responsibilities, library law, and other important trustee activities. Notice will be sent to those libraries that are within the region when one of these special programs is offered.

The “Trustee Academy Webinar Series” by ALA's United for Libraries is an excellent series of online courses designed to help Trustees become exceptionally proficient in their roles on behalf of libraries.  Topics include Trustee Basics, Working Effectively with the Library Director, the Library’s Budget, Advocating for Your Library, Evaluating the Library Director, Per Capita State Aid, & New Jersey Library Law. The New Jersey State Library has paid for 100 site licenses that provide the Trustees, staff, and library directors with one year of FREE access (July 1 to June 30) to the Trustee Academy. To register for a free site license on a first-come, first served basis, please contact Beth Nawalinski, Director of Marketing & Communications, United for Libraries, 800-545-2433 Ext. 2161, bnawalinski@PROTECTED.

The New Jersey State Library is committed to providing the highest quality of trustee education available. The Trustee Institute, held every two years, is part of our goal to train trustees to be knowledgeable about their responsibilities and to help them understand core competencies to improve their skills as trustees and therefore better advocate for their library. Attending the Trustee Institute provides trustees with many of the tools that will help them to achieve their goals. Like New Jersey's libraries, our Library Trustees just keep getting better and better. The next Trustee Institute will be September 13, 2014, at the Eatontown Sheraton. More details will be forthcoming.

Trustees need to commit themselves to their continuing education.  It is part of a trustee’s obligation to improve skills, exchange ideas with other trustees, and participate in the planning of continuing education events. 

For further information on trustee training see: http://lss.njstatelib.org/trustees.

Contact Michele Stricker, Associate Director, Library Support Services, New Jersey State Library, at mstricker@PROTECTED.

Michele Stricker | Associate Director

Library Support Services | New Jersey State Library

PO Box 520 |Trenton, NJ 08625-0520

Voice 609-278-2640 Ext.164 | Fax 609-278-2650

mstricker@PROTECTED

www.njstatelib.org

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