Return to Work Safety Videos and Quiz

In preparation for returning to the library we are asking all staff to view a series of videos that will help keep you and everyone else safe while at work.  

View the videos below, and then complete the quiz and send it to your supervisor to show that you completed this requirement.  If you have any questions, please speak with your manager or supervisor.

Wearing a cloth mask properly  (1 min 42 sec)  

Hand washing ( 1 min 26 sec) 

Glove removal (1 min 12 sec)

Preventing Coronavirus at work  (2 min 28 sec) 

Clean your workspace (1 min 16 sec)

Quiz:  to access the quiz, click on the link below.  Once you are in Google Drive, Select File, then Download, and Microsoft Word. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uyOv9tEKyil5Hcd6GcoI2yfyKz87D6WBZ6mubJiapXI/edit?usp=sharing

Registration for webinars and programs that have fees - what to do while we are out of the office

We've been sending out training opportunities for staff, and some of you have questions about those that charge a fee.  We will continue to pay these fees for staff, and the process to request funding is similar to the usual process. 

1. The staff member identifies a program they wish to attend.  There is a fee involved.

2.  The staff member creates a 354 request with a goals statement (and any registration information needed) and sends these by email to their supervisor.

3.  If the supervisor approves, they forward the email (with the form and statement) to their division chief with a statement like "I approve this."  If not approved, supervisor notifies staff member.

4.  If the division chief approves the request, they forward the email and attachments to SD&T, also stating "I approve this," or similar.  If not approved, chief notifies supervisor.

5.  SD&T will register the staff member for the program and pay the fee.  Staff member will get confirmation of registration from SD&T.

6.  When the program is complete, the staff member forwards confirmation of completion to SD&T.

Once we return to the library, the forms will be printed and appropriate signatures will be required.

No requests without the appropriate paper/email trail can be considered, so please follow the directions carefully.  

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Downloading SD&T Forms for submission

If you click on a document link on the Forms page and your document opens as "View Only," there are several ways to open the document in a form that you can edit.

On the File drop down menu are two easy options.  The first is "make a copy," whereby you can save a copy to your drive. 

You can also "Download as" and save the document in Word or Excel.

Either way, you can save the document/form to your computer, and complete the forms before printing them for submission.

If you have any problems, please contact SD&T.

SD&T Winter/Spring courses

Over the next few days we're going to start announcing the classes we are offering for winter/spring 2018.

Keep your eyes on your email for these announcements and contact SD&T to register for any or all of the programs.

Copies, Copies, Copies

Just a friendly reminder, that you should keep copies of all paperwork you send to SD&T, especially conference requests.  These all go through several offices before they come to us, and somethings things get lost along the way.  If you need to recreate any paperwork it's easier to start from a copy then from nothing.

CEU forms from non-library programs

We received some questions lately about getting CEU forms for programs offered by other organizations. If you attend programs offered by SD&T, SLRC, MLA, or other Maryland libraries, you can expect to receive a completed CEU form at the end of the program.

Any other programs, including those from ALA or OCLC, will not provide ready-made forms for attendees.  Not all library systems require certification supported by continuing education, so they don't provide these types of forms for their programs.

If you attend a program/webinar that is approved by SD&T where a CEU form is not provided then you will have to create your own. The blank form is available on the Vine, and you will need to completed the form, including the program description and learning goals.

When you submit the form, be sure to include a copy of your completion certificate, "thank you for participating" email, or other proof that you completed the program so that the SD&T coordinator can approve your hours.

Any forms submitted for programs which do not meet the minimum requirments for continuing education credit will not be added to your file.  It is best to check with SD&T for approval of CEU hours before participating in a program.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact SD&T.

Copies available in the SD&T Office

Learning 2016 - some misc. thoughts and facts

Learning 2016

Orlando, FL

October 23-26

The Learning conferences are designed for training and learning professionals, and focuses on issues surrounding workplace learning.  This was the 26^th year of the conference, and there were 207 breakout sessions offered, as well as 6 general sessions.  Attending the conference were 1639 learning professionals who support over 30 million employees worldwide.  Maryland Libraries sent 9 staff to the conference from 7 different systems.

The themes for this year were innovation, storytelling, and the panorama of learning. 

Here are some interesting and random ideas from the conference:

• People need power skills – deep thinking, advanced communication, and problem solving
• Leadership is a habit and people have to change their habits, this requires repletion and practice
• Multi-tasking is a myth, we cannot do more than one thing at a time
• 20% of the U.S. workforce lack HS Diploma = 40 million people
• Job rotations provide stretch assignments and cross-functional learning opportunities
• Our brains are wired to love pictures, 50% of your brain is involved in visual processing and interpretation, images process 60x faster than anything else in our brain
• In space, they use Greenwich Mean time

One final thought:  the average attention span of humans is 8 seconds, and goldfish have a 9 second attention span.

Lisa Kenyon

Staff Development and Training

MLA/DLA 2016 Conference Notes - Unleashing Staff Potential

I attended a program at MLA called “Unleashing Staff Potential” which was presented by Beth Roszkowski and Megan Hunt, from George Mason University.  The presenters created a program where staff members dedicate 1 hour per week to a training that is related to their interests or their job. 

Staff members chose their own training and meet with their supervisors each week for 15 minutes to discuss what they did in the previous week and what they want to do in the next week.  The training was built into their schedules to ensure that it was done, and done while they were at work.  The employees were responsible for identifying trainings that interest them and supervisors also made recommendations.

Their staff is obviously significantly smaller than ours, and this wouldn’t work as a mandatory program right now, but I thought could be a useful model for our staff.

If each of our librarians and library associates did 1 hour of training every other week, or 2 hours per month, then they could easily make their re-certification goal without having to attend day long trainings or leave their locations.  This would be particularly useful in departments that may be understaffed or in smaller braches where staff have difficulty attending classes.  If the librarians and LAs did an hour every week (allowing for vacations and holidays) they could meet the re-certification goal in under 2 years.

Likewise, staff interested in increasing their skills or moving into higher positions could use this model to learn skills that would make them better candidates when these positions become available.  Managers who are interested in developing the skills of their employees might also want to think about this model when creating performance plans.

Just something to think about, and it would be an easy way to get training and explore your interests.

Lisa R. Kenyon

SD&T

CEU Requirements and Guidelines - An Overview

The decision regarding the appropriateness of any activity focuses on the following questions:

     Does the activity meet the minimum requirements for CEUs?
     Is the activity appropriate for library staff?  Is it appropriate for the attendee's position?
     What are the learning objectives of the activity?
     Will participating in the activity improve the skills of the attendee and improve library services?

Minimum Requirements for CEUs:

• The program must pertain to the person's position (current or future) or improve library services.  For example, a course on databases, or a course on supervision if looking at a future position as a supervisor.
• CEUs will only be given for activities that have clear and appropriate learning objectives.  Attendees need to be able to obtain behaviors, skills, or knowledge from the activity.  These may be new or an update of existing skills (for instance, reference interview skills or renew CPR certification).
• Credit will only be given for full contact hours and half hours beyond the first hour, not including lunch and breaks.

Approved program formats (from State Guidelines):

• Attending academic courses and accumulating semester hours (in appropriate fields)
• Attending a seminar, or library-sponsored or commercial workshop
• Participating in e-learning course and earning continuing education credit through contact hours as defined by the e-learning course sponsor
• Serving on the Blue Crab Award Committee or the Maryland Author Award Committee (Credit for this activity can only be earned once every five-year period)
• Creating a workshop, seminar or class that meets the criteria for receiving CEU credits (Contact hours for this activity can only be earned once for each training created and are limited to the number of contact hours awarded to the actual training)
• Creating and implementing a learning portfolio activity

Formats NOT approved:

• Meetings and/or committee service (except as above)
• Webinars or programs where the purpose is not specifically training/education (e.g. sales presentations)
• Preparation for programs/classes except as part of a learning portfolio.
• Any program/presentation that fails to meet the minimum time and/or learning objectives requirement(s).

Please Note:

Not every activity qualifies for CEU hours, even if it seems to be educational.

All CEU forms for programs offered by EPFL staff will have the signature of the coordinator.  If your form does not have a signature then the program may not be eligible for credit.

All programs/webinars/training from non-Pratt sources must be reviewed and approved by the coordinator.  If you aren’t sure if your activity meets the requirements, ask the coordinator before participating in the activity.

The Staff Development Coordinator must review and approve all continuing education activities that are submitted to meet state certification requirements.

"How to Respond to a Security Incident in Your Library" Webinar 12/9/15

We had a good turnout for the ALA webinar yesterday, with 61 staff members in attendance.  We've already received some great feedback from attendees.  Extra thanks to Bruce Hall for leading the Q&A session after the presentation, and for his helpful answers to staff questions and concerns.

Here is the link for the video mentioned in the webinar, "Run, Hide, Fight"

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0

Also, here is the link for the FEMA video Bruce mentioned in his email on 12/8/15, which is eligible for CEU credit:

https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-907

This was a great start to what will be an ongoing discussion about safety and security in the library, and we hope to have more programs on this and related topics coming soon.