The contents of the course are from webinars and the Connecting with Local Government Officials handbook.

Participants will learn about

  1. How to develop better relationships with local government officials
  2. How to talk about the value of libraries
  • Estimated Course Length: 1 hour
  • Course open date: September 6, 2024.

Participants will learn what it means to be an effective and ethical board member from the experts!

  • Tracy Cook, Montana State Library Consulting Librarian
  • Dan Clark, MSU Extension Local Government Center Director
  • Ashley Kent, MSU Extension Local Government Center Associate Director
    • Estimated Course Length: 2 hours
    • Course Open Date: April 21, 2025

  1. Learn about different forms of local government and about how the form of government impacts the library
  2. Learn about the work of key local government officials and how the library interacts with those officials
  3. Be able to better understand some of the sources of tension between local government and library boards and why they exist
  4. Learn about techniques for managing areas of tension

Estimated course length: 1-hour

  • Learn about MSL Mission, Values, and Tenets
  • Learn about MSL Programs
  • Learn how to access MSL Resources
  • Learn about the history of the agency

Estimated Course Length: 1 hour
Course Open Date: April 25, 2025

  • Learn about Montana’s public library standards
  • Learn about what the public library standards look like in practice
  • Learn about resources to help plan and evaluate how your library can meet the standards
    • Estimated course length: 1 hour
    • Course Open Date: January 16, 2026