This course is for library directors, staff, and board members who are interested in developing better relationships with local government officials. It will provide ideas for language to use when talking about the value of libraries.
Ultimately, the goal is for you to have a better relationship with local government officials – one where you can work through disagreements, find commonalities, see value in each other’s work, and work together in service to your community.
The contents of the course are from webinars and the Connecting with Local Government Officials handbook.
Participants will learn about
- How to develop better relationships with local government officials
- How to talk about the value of libraries
Estimated Course Length: 1 hour
Continuing Education Units: 1 Credit in Library Administration
Course open date: September 6, 2024.
Updated Content! September 2024
Most public libraries in Montana are funded primarily by tax revenue collected at the local level. They may receive state funding, grants, or private donations but the largest percentage of their revenue comes from taxes.
Understanding the library’s revenue, expenditures, and local government budgeting is an important duty of the library board and director. There is an expectation that the director and board will manage public funds wisely. This course explores key concepts surrounding local government budgets and revenue sources in order to help trustees and directors create and manage the library’s budget.
Participants will
- Learn about basic principles of local government accounting in Montana
- Learn about the role of local government officials versus the library board authority when it comes to library funds
- Learn about financial reports, revenue sources, and key expenditures found in libraries
- Learn about best practices for building a library budget
Continuing Education Units: 1 credit in Library Administration
Course Open Date: August 1, 2023 - minor updates and new resource links added September 2024.
Participants will
- 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
Continuing Education Units: 1 credit in Library Administration
Course Open Date: June 28, 2024
Objectives and Course specifics
Participants will
- Learn about Montana’s open meeting law
- Learn about the laws that cover conflict of interest and trustee liability
- Learn about library board authority and the library records confidentiality act
Estimated course length: 1-hour
Continuing Education Units: 1 credit in Library Administration
Course Open Date: October 6, 2023
Coming in Early 2025
Participants will learn
- Raise awareness of attorney general opinions and case law and their impact on board authority.
- Increase understanding of board and local government authority in the following areas
- Personnel – management, salaries, and hiring/termination
- Property – ownership, remodeling, maintenance, and contracts
- Budget – setting, spending money, management
- Board – appointments and removals
Estimated course length: 1-hour
Continuing Education Units: 1 credit in Library Administration
Course Open Date: TBD
This course was designed by the Montana State Library Consultants for public library trustees and directors. This is the first course in the "Trustee Essentials" series.
Participants will
- Gain knowledge of the defined roles of trustees' and how those roles support the functions of a public library.
- Gain knowledge of the Montana Code Annotated that relate to the support and management of public libraries.
Continuing Education Units: 1 credit in Library Administration
Course Open Date: March 7, 2023
Most public libraries in Montana are connected to a city or county. Even independent library districts created under Montana Code Annotated Title 22, Chapter 1, Part 7 must work with the county for levying the money needed to fund the library and for election of board members.
While Montana law has given most public library boards a fair amount of authority, the governance structure of the library and the form of local government influences how that authority works. It’s important to understand the structure of your city or county’s local government. Knowing who does what and what laws they must follow helps you get your work done while building strong, positive relationships with your local government officials.
Participants will
- Learn about different forms of local government and about how the form of government impacts the library
- Learn about the work of key local government officials and how the library interacts with those officials
- Be able to better understand some of the sources of tension between local government and library boards and why they exist
- Learn about techniques for managing areas of tension
Continuing Education Units: 1 credit in Library Administration
Course Open Date: March 31, 2023
Objectives and Course specifics
Participants will
- View the Basic Training for Trustees webinar and engage with resources shared in the webinar.
- View the Policy Development and Review webinar and engage with resources shared in the webinar.
- View the Public Library Survey webinar and engage with resources shared in the webinar.
Estimated course length: 2 hours
Continuing Education Units: 2 credits in Library Administration
Course Open Date: November 9, 2023