Today I am spending the day in Waukesha, WI, as part of their staff training day. It is my last training of the year, which is good because I could use the break and 2026's busy schedule begins January 5th.
[Click here for all of my scheduled appearances.]
While I do have a pretty packed schedule for the fist three months of 2026 already, I did want to take this moment to remind all of you that training is very important to make sure you are serving your patrons as best as you can. Yes we help readers every day, but without gathering together and exploring new ways to provide this service, we get stuck in a rut. And we when are in a rut, our patrons notice.
There are many ways to get RA training as well, and it is not just from me.
LibraryReads offers grants to send you to a conference or to pay for a trainer to come to you. Those details are here.
They also offer this excellent directory of people you can contact with their speciality as well. Full disclosure, I am in that directory and LibraryReads has helped to fund many of my appearances in the last few years.
Another person in the directory is Lila Denning who has begun to offer more programs recently. She has this post about her current slate of RA and Book Discussion training programs.
Many libraries do not have the funds or the time to offer training for all staff but places like ALA, PCI, your system, and /or your state library will also offer training. These people regularly hire me as well.
And then of course, there is the valuable FREE resources I offer here 5 days a week with new content and access to my archives.
The point to all of this? It is not just to get you to hire me. In fact, I do not care who you hire. This is a post about how important it is for you to make sure your are getting the training you need.
In fact, part of your own personal year in review should be to look at your own training needs. For you, your staff, your library. But start with yourself. What do you need to serve your community better. Check around for the free resources your system or state already provide. Do they have what you need? If they do not, figure out how to share your needs with your system and/or state library. Maybe you have to go through your supervisor. But I would bet that your system or state has a way where they want you to share your thoughts on possible trainings. I know this because I often get contacted by these larger library training entities after a member sends them a note asking for RA training in general, or me specifically.
Advocate for yourself and your needs and it may not cost your library any extra money. All libraries are part of some group that provides CE and those CE people want to have programming that all of you want.
I often hear from my followers that they want my trading but they cannot afford it. But between the LibraryReads grants and going through your systems which have the money in their budgets to provide training,
Library workers often spend so much time worried about the day to day service of their patrons that they regularly forget about their own needs.
Today's post is here to remind you to stop and schedule some year end time to think about your 2026 training needs. Again for yourself, your department, and your whole library.
As always, you can contact me for free to discuss options from quotes for your library to how to contact your state library and more. At this point I have presented in over 30 states and have contacts all over the country.
But again, whether you make me a part of your training plans or not, please invest some time in yourself this December. Find a quiet moment to really think about your needs and make a resolution to invest in yourself next year.
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