Statewide Training Opportunities

United for Libraries offers flexible, online training opportunities for statewide and regional purchase at deeply discounted rates. Short Takes and/or Trustee Academy currently available statewide in CO, IL, MA, MD, MI, MS, MO, ND, NE, NV, OR, SC, SD, and VA.

For more information, including pricing, please contact Beth Nawalinski by phone at (800) 545-2433, ext. 2161 or by email at bnawalinski@ala.org.

Trustee Academy

The Trustee Academy is a series of online courses to help Trustees become exceptionally proficient in their roles on behalf of their libraries. How the Trustee Academy works:

  • Each course is a recorded webcast the Trustee views on his/her computer any time of the day or night.
  • A library can choose to complete one or more courses with the Trustees together in a meeting/training room.
  • All courses will be accessible through a password-protected area of the United for Libraries website.
  • Trustees will receive a certificate of completion by e-mail for each course they complete.
  • Reports available for the state library include website statistics/page visits, names of Trustees and their library who completed a course, results of feedback surveys, and the names/libraries of Trustees who request a certificate.

Short Takes for Trustees

Short Takes logoShort Takes for Trustees is a series of 10 short videos (8-10 minutes each) that can be shown during Trustee meetings to stimulate discussion about the important role that Trustees play in the governance of their libraries. How Short Takes works:

  • Utilizing an interview format, United for Libraries Executive Director Sally Gardner Reed covers topics in the series such as what it means to be a Trustee (discussing the broad fiduciary responsibilities of governing boards as well as the limits of an advisory board), as well as how to set policy, how to evaluate the library director (and why you should!), along with board self evaluation, and the ethical and parliamentary standards for boards — both governing and advisory. Specific topics listed below.
  • Videos can be shown by library directors during a Board meeting, or individual Trustees can log in on their own and watch the videos. A computer with high speed Internet access and speakers/headphones is needed.
  • For statewide purchase of access for all libraries, United for Libraries will set up a co-branded page on the United for Libraries website with access to all videos and accompanying resource materials. A single login will be provided that will be used by all included libraries and Boards of Trustees.
  • Users will enter name, email, library, and state before viewing videos (user data provided to the state library on a monthly basis).


For more information, including pricing, please contact Beth Nawalinski by phone at (800) 545-2433, ext. 2161 or by email at bnawalinski@ala.org.