Starting this month, the MD State Library Agency will be reviewing the contents of the Maryland Libraries Training Academy on Niche Academy site. Current content will be evaluated and weeded based on age, usage, and accessibility, and the site will be reorganized once these changes are complete.
The Pratt Learning Blog is a great place to find information about training, learning portfolios, and get helpful tips on customer service, managing employees, or other library issues. We'll also be posting post-conference reflections and ideas discovered by staff members at programs they attended.
WELCOME TO THE STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING OFFICE HOMEPAGE.
Friday, March 6, 2026
Niche Academy site will be changing
Friday, January 30, 2026
CPR classes coming soon
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
EPFL Move to Microsoft 365
When the library makes the switch from Google to MS 365, this blog will disappear. There will be a replacement site hopefully available before the entire staff switches to MS 365, but in the interim, all forms and information currently available on the blog will be moved to the shared (S:) drive under Training. This will be near the bottom of the list, and is not the same as the SD&T part of the drive.
All forms and information sheets will be converted back to their original formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) which will make them easier to access as no download is required. We will keep you updated on the location of all current documents, and look forward to trying out the new format for sharing information.
Please reach out to SD&T if you have questions or can't find something.
Monday, November 10, 2025
Manager Resource Evaluation Project
Manager Resource Evaluation Project
The Short Version
We’re evaluating
management and leadership books by reading and reviewing their usefulness and
beneficial aspects (or not). Pick a book from the list, read it,
submit an evaluation, and you’ll help create an annotated resource list for all
interested staff members.
There are over
25 books on the current reading list, and more waiting to be added. Here are a
few from the list:
8 paradoxes of leadership agility : how to
lead and inspire in the real world by Chuen Yeo
Arrive and thrive : 7 impactful practices for
women navigating leadership by
Susan Brady, Janet Foutty, and Lynn Perry Wooten
First Time Manager by Loren Belkner, Tim McCormick, and
Gary Topchik
Twice as good : leadership and power for women
of color by Mary J
Wardell
The antiracist business book : an
equity-centered approach to work, wealth, and leadership by Trudi Lebron
Building trust :
exceptional leadership in an uncertain world by Darryl Stickel
The Culture Question – How to Create a
Workplace Where People Like to Work by Randy Grieser et.al.
How to Be an Inclusive Leader by Jennifer Brown
You can view the full list on the shared
drive
or
stop by the office to see what grabs your attention.
If you have a
suggestion that isn’t on the list we can discuss adding it to the project.
This project will run to the end of the year, and can be
extended as needed.
Monday, November 3, 2025
Link to IMLS grant funded activities survey
If you received funding for a learning activity that was charged to our IMLS learning grant, you must complete the survey below so that we can provide accurate information on the grant report. Thanks.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IMLS2026
Monday, October 27, 2025
PLA Conference Information and Deadlines
PLA members January 2, 2026.
ALA members and non-members February 6, 2026.
Staff interested in attending the virtual PLA events should apply by February 13, 2026.
Monday, October 20, 2025
The LMS is currently unavailable due to the AWS issue.
The LMS was affected by the AWS outage today, so you may not be able to log in to the program.
Our upstream provider, AWS, is currently experiencing an outage affecting multiple services in all the regions, which is causing a broader impact on Docebo's system — specifically on intra-service authentication.Customers located in US East 1 are experiencing long load times or errors when attempting to access or navigate their sites due to ongoing issues with AWS recovery. We are actively reviewing our possible mitigation paths and will update when additional information is available.