Continuing Education in Montana

There are many opportunities for continuing education in Montana or out-of-state. Above we referred to the federations, which often provide continuing education for member libraries. How this is done varies with each federation, so contact your coordinator to find out what is happening in your area. This section is intended to give you an idea of what opportunities are available in Montana and roughly when they happen and whom to contact.

  • MLA Annual Conference occurs in April. The conference lasts three days and has several pre-conferences. Workshops cover a wide range of topics and tend to be shorter. Check out http://www.mtlib.org for more information.
  • OFFLINE is in February. It is a two-day retreat, sponsored by MLA. The focus is on technology in libraries. MLA's website is the best place to go for information about OFFLINE. The address is http://www.mtlib.org.
  • ASLD/PLD Retreat is in the fall. What are these? PLD is the Public Library Division of the Montana Library Association and ASLD is the Academic and Special Library Division. Just in case you are wondering, there is also a School Library Media Division. The PLD retreat offers workshops focusing on pertinent library topics. You can find out more about this retreat on the MLA website at: http://www.mtlib.org.
  • The MSL Fall Workshop occurs in September and is offered by the Montana State Library. Workshops can cover everything from grants to children's services; the classes tend to be longer than those at a MLA conference. For more information, contact the Montana State Library 1-800-338-5087.
  • Federation meetings are held in the spring and fall. Contact your Federation coordinator for more information.
  • Online classes are available in a variety of ways. The Montana State Library offers online classes developed by state library staff, online training with our training specialist, as well as Webjunction courses. To learn more about our online trainings please see our continuing education page:http://libraries.msl.mt.gov/learning.
  • Montana Library Event Calendar. This online resource is a statewide training/event calendar created to provide a focused source of information for library-related activities that can be used as a planning tool for librarians and trustees. The calendar is managed by Montana State Library with cooperating libraries. The website address is https://mslservices.mt.gov/ASPeN/Events/
  • Our Training Specialist will provide on site workshops on a variety of topics. We request that at least 4 people attend each training. Please contact our training specialist at 406-431-1081 for more information.

MSL Training and Certification

Montana Library Event Calendar

ASPeN: The New Library Directory

Events Calendar