Infuse equity into every part of your library leadership and administration

Course Description 

The last few years have proven that leadership in the workplace must adapt and create work cultures with shared values in order to attract and retain top talent. In this course, you will learn to develop whole-person, healing-centered leadership skills to help you assess your current leadership style and organization, plan and prepare for organizational change, and foster and maintain an inclusive work environment through well-being, evaluation, and accountability practices. All of these topics will be taught with an equity lens that prioritizes radical empathy, vulnerability, and justice in your leadership practices.  

This course has something for every level of leader, and will teach you how to lead up, down, and sideways. Whether you are an aspiring leader, a branch manager, a seasoned director, or somewhere in between, you will have the opportunity to participate in peer workshop groups to refine your skills with others in similar roles. Join us and learn tangible leadership practices that transform lives.

This is an on-demand course made up of recorded instructional presentations plus an instructor-led asynchronous workshop over three weeks (with all materials accessible for six months). Don’t miss this opportunity!

Learning Outcomes

After you attend this interactive online course and workshop, you’ll be able to:

• Critically examine where you are on your DEI leadership journey and plan for next steps

• Conduct an equity assessment on your organization 

• Create an equity-centered strategic plan for your organization

• Lead organizational change through iterative and data-driven processes

• Revise your HR practices (hiring, retaining, budget, etc.) to match DEI best/promising practices 

• Lead with emotional intelligence and vulnerability

• Manage staff with empathetic and trauma-informed practices

• Participate in conflict resolution and difficult feedback conversations from a people- and equity-centered approach 

Who should take this course?

Any current or aspiring library leader who wants to hone their skills in centering equity in their leadership and management practices. You will be able to self-select into peer workshop groups based on leadership experience to ensure coursework is relevant to your role. 

Course Features 

This is an on-demand course made up of recorded instructional presentations plus an instructor-led asynchronous workshop over three weeks. The workshop includes written feedback on assignments from an expert, as well as peer-to-peer interaction via discussion forum.

This will be an on-demand online course and will include:

• Recorded sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. (All session recordings have on-demand access for six months.) 

• Asynchronous workshop: Project-based weekly assignments to connect what you’re learning to your professional life. Includes written feedback from an expert in the field who functions as the workshop facilitator, as well as peer conversation via discussion forums.

• Early access on-demand resources: Access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace. 

• Online Classroom: The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends.

*Note: You do not have to complete the asynchronous work during these three weeks; it will be open to you for six months. However, the feedback from facilitators will only be available from September 24 - October 15.  

Expected time commitment

If you watch the recordings of all sessions and participate in the asynchronous workshop, you'll spend approximately 2-4 hours per week on this course. You'll earn 15 hours of PD credit and a Library Journal certificate of completion. 

On-demand access

All guest speaker session recordings are available on demand for six months as a part of your purchase.

Certificate of completion 

Complete the course and earn 15 professional development credit hours. We provide a certificate that is emailed to you. 

Accessibility

All guest speaker sessions feature live captioning and are made available on demand after the initial broadcast. Please email libraryjournal@edmaker.co upon registration if you require any special accommodations and we will make our best efforts to facilitate them.

Support

For support with online courses, please contact libraryjournal@edmaker.co.

Group Rates

We offer discounts for groups of 3 or more. Groups have the option to collaborate in the same workshop group, where discussions and project-based assignments receive feedback from an experienced librarian.

For larger groups of 15 or more, we offer the option to apply group rates across multiple courses to receive significant discounts. For more information, select “Bulk Course Credits Packages” in the form below. 

Request a group discount!

By registering for this event you confirm that you have read and agree to our Code of Conduct.

Week 1: Understanding yourself & equity-centered leadership, and planning for organizational change

Recorded on Thursday, November 2, 2023

Session 1 | Intersectional Leadership: Building an Inclusive and Equitable Workplace Culture 

How can your leadership style better serve and support LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC staff? Learn how to create a workplace culture that invites all employees to feel respected and included. You will learn the characteristics of white supremacist and hetero-patriarchal work cultures and tangible ways to avoid them to make positive change in your library. Leave this session with a toolkit for engaging with staff, establishing policies, and more, in ways that center intersectionality, embodiment, emotions, and relationships.

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Session 2 | Radical Empathy and Servant Leadership: Strategies for Healing-Centered People Management 

So you’ve implemented equity-centered recruiting and hiring practices, but how do you keep that same energy with your hired staff? This session will lay the foundation for healing-centered and servant leadership practices to help you support your direct reports holistically. You’ll learn how to have difficult feedback conversations, manage conflict, ensure staff success without micromanaging, how to differentiate staff support and encourage wellness, and more. 

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Week 2: Sustaining equity-centered leadership through fostering an inclusive work environment 

Recorded on Thursday, November 9, 2023

Session 1 | Where Am I? Self-Assessment as a Tool for Your Equity-Centered Leadership Journey

Ongoing, lifelong learning is necessary for good DEI work, and we don’t all start in the same place. Knowing where you are on your DEI leadership learning journey is the first of many steps to making good progress toward your goals, but self-assessment can be hard. This session will help you authentically and accurately place yourself on a learning spectrum using a change management approach that will immediately signal your next learning steps. Join us to learn how to understand where you are now and strategize how to get to where you want to be. 

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Session 2 | Strategic Planning and Leading Organizational Change

This session will push you to think big when it comes to how you imagine equity-centered leadership in your organization. You’ll learn about how to think beyond the typical confines that limit the progress you want to make. How to craft your ideas into a strategic plan that maps out tangible ways to lead organizational change. This session will help you play with what’s possible and then equip you with the tools to bring your radical imagination to life. 

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Week 3: Applying a DEI lens and best/promising practices into all aspects of your work

Recorded on Thursday, November 16, 2023

Session 1 | Equity-Centered Recruiting, Hiring, Onboarding, and Retention Best Practices 

Practicing equity-centered leadership extends into how we recruit, welcome, and provide ongoing support structures for our library staff. In this session, you'll reflect upon and learn some tangible strategies for identifying how to ground equity in your hiring, onboarding, and retention practices.

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Session 2 | Applying Equity Practices: Equity Impact Analysis Tools and Organizational Assessment

Now that you have an understanding of where you are personally on your equity-centered leadership journey, it’s time to consider your organization at large. This session will teach you the ins and outs of DEI organizational assessments so that you can home in on and prioritize the most pressing areas of growth. Similarly, you will learn how to apply an Equity Impact Analysis tool to ensure you’re able to assess all of your future organizational policies, procedures, and practices through a data-driven lens. You will leave this application-focused session with tools to implement a DEI lens in all aspects of your work. 

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Online Course Preview

A preview of how we build your library skills and bring inspiration to your projects with our online learning experience.

Course Format

One-Week Timeline (Course Runs 3+ Weeks)

DAYS 1-2 On-Demand	DAY 3 2 hours	DAYS 4-7 1-2 hours (optional)
PRE COURSE - Resources - Discussions - Bonus Content	RECORDED SESSIONS - Guest speaker recordings - Recordings available for 6 months	ASYNCHRONOUS WORKSHOP - Project-based weekly assignments - Written feedback from a facilitator - Peer conversation via discussion forums

Course Features

Live session with Andrea Blackman and Tasneem Ansariyah Grace	Recorded Guest Speakers Sessions Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field.  Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

Recordings of guest speakers

Recordings Available On Demand Session recordings have on demand access for six months after the workshop ends.

Asynchronous workshop

Online Classroom + Asynchronous Workshop The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends.  Session recordings. Project-based weekly assignments.  Written feedback from an expert in the field who functions as the workshop facilitator. Peer conversation via discussion forums.

Early Access On-Demand Resources

Early Access On-Demand Resources Bonus: Register early and get access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace.  Some courses include supporting resources in the online classroom.