Learn kindness practices to build trust with your team and transform your management style.

Course Description 

This online course is designed to help library managers and leaders understand the critical difference between being kind and being nice. While niceness often involves surface-level pleasantries, kindness is rooted in genuine care and constructive actions that benefit the team and the organization. Being a kind people-manager includes using clear and direct communication, setting expectations and boundaries, and resolving conflict with empathy. This course provides theoretical insights, practical strategies, and reflective exercises to develop leadership skills that prioritize kindness and foster a more supportive and effective work environment.

The live sessions run on Wednesdays, April 2 and 9, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm ET (recorded for on demand viewing) with an ongoing facilitator-led workshop over 2 weeks.  Don’t miss this opportunity!

Learning Outcomes

After you attend this course, you’ll be able to:

• Understand the distinct impacts of kindness and niceness on leadership

• Recognize the benefits of kind management for team dynamics and organizational culture

• Develop skills in empathetic communication, conflict resolution, and constructive feedback

• Implement strategies to create a supportive and growth-oriented work environment

• Engage in continuous reflection and improvement of management practices

• Build resilience and navigate leadership challenges with a focus on kindness

Who should take this course?

This course is geared toward anyone who supervises staff. 

Course Features 

This will be a 2-week online course and will include:

• Live sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. (All sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.) 

• Facilitated discussions: Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

• 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. Workshop available for all multi-week courses plus half-day courses where indicated. 

• 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. 

Expected time commitment

If you attend or watch the recordings of all live sessions, you'll spend approximately 4 hours on this course. You'll earn 4 hours of PD credit and a Library Journal certificate of completion. 

On-demand access

All live guest speaker sessions are recorded and available on-demand for six months following the initial broadcast as a part of your purchase.

Certificate of completion 

Complete the course and earn 10 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. 

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.

Program to be announced soon!

Online Course Preview

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

Course Features

Live session with Andrea Blackman and Tasneem Ansariyah Grace	Live 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 Sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.

Asynchronous workshop

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