2025-26 Continuing Education

This workshop is for library staff who conduct summer reading for children and teens. This year’s theme is Plant a Seed – Read! The session will cover preparation for summer reading, story times, performers, crafts, practical program ideas, decorations, and community partnerships. Participants will leave inspired and prepared to conduct their own summer reading programs.

Trainer: Guest Presenter

Cost: $45.00 per participant                                                                                                  

Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 9:00am – 3:30pm – State Library of Louisiana

State Library of Louisiana

701 N. Fourth St.

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

The basics of analog archival preservation offers an accessible introduction to caring for physical historical materials such as photographs, tapes, documents, and film. Participants learn essential principles like proper handling, environmental control, and storage strategies that help slow deterioration and extend the life of collections. The session also highlights common risks—light, humidity, pollutants, and physical stress—and provides practical tips for creating low-cost, preservation-friendly setups. Whether new to the profession or a seasoned veteran, this webinar equips attendees with foundational knowledge to safeguard analog materials for future generations.

Trainer: Samuel Ayers, Louisiana Collection

Cost: $15.00 per participant

Let’s dig deep into summer as we plant a seed and read! While this workshop will review the new iRead material, it will also cover a variety of programming, promotion, and SRP tracking ideas that can be applied to your library’s summer reading. Light breakfast and snacks will be provided.

Trainer: Brittany Whitfield, Library Development

Cost: $25.00 per participant 

Address:

Address:

910 N. Trenton St.

Ruston, LA 71270

Let’s dig deep into summer as we plant a seed and read! While this workshop will review the new iRead material, it will also cover a variety of programming, promotion, and SRP tracking ideas that can be applied to your library’s summer reading. Light breakfast and snacks will be provided.

Trainer: Brittany Whitfield, Library Development

Cost: $25.00 per participant 

Address:

Address:

708 S Irma Blvd.

Gonzalez, LA 70737

We will have a new data entry software for 2026! This course will cover all aspects of navigating the new software, how to enter data for the State Annual Report, and cover new questions for 2026. All staff responsible for entering the data for the State Annual Report should take this training.

Trainer: Kelly LaRocca, Library Development

Cost: Free

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 9:00am – 10:30am

Let’s dig deep into summer as we plant a seed and read! While this workshop will review the new iRead material, it will also cover a variety of programming, promotion, and SRP tracking ideas that can be applied to your library’s summer reading. Light breakfast and snacks will be provided.

Trainer: Brittany Whitfield, Library Development

Cost: $25.00 per participant 

Address:

Address:

1320 N. Simmons St.

Lake Charles, LA 70601

Whether prepping for high school, college, or post grad, HomeworkLA has something for your patrons or students.

Trainer: Ashlenn Wellbrock, tutor.com

Cost: Free

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 9:00am – 10:00am

Digital preservation introduces participants to the core practices needed to keep digital files accessible and trustworthy over time. It covers essential concepts such as file formats, storage strategies, redundancy, and documentation, while also explaining common threats like hardware failures, software obsolescence, and data corruption. Attendees gain practical guidance on organizing files, creating backups, implementing simple preservation workflows, and selecting sustainable formats. Whether managing small record collections or vast institutional collections, the webinar provides a clear, beginner-friendly foundation for maintaining and protecting digital materials well into the future.

Trainer: Samuel Ayers, Louisiana Collection

Cost: $15.00 per participant

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 9:00am – 10:00am

Confidence plays a significant role in the workplace environment, and with it, comes job satisfaction. Confident employees receive more benefits such as raises and promotions and are trusted with more responsibilities. In this webinar, you will learn tips on how to gain confidence to be successful in the workplace.

Trainer: Brittany Whitfield, Library Development

Cost: $15.00 per participant

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 9:00am – 10:00am

Use the hard work you put into collecting your statistics and completing the State Annual Report to show your community why your library is a good investment! This course will cover visual reports available in the new software used for the State Annual Report, benchmarking your library against comparable libraries in the state, comparing and contrasting your library's statistics over the years, and the stories these numbers can tell.

Trainer: Kelly LaRocca, Library Development

Cost: $15.00 per participant

Date/Time: Thursday, March 26, 2026, 9:00am – 10:30am