Goal Area: Education

Strategic Planning Implementation Team 5 Draft Report

Goal Statement: MLA’s professional development programs foster excellence in those who work with music collections.

Objective 1: Increase enrollment in MLA-sponsored training and professional development programs.

Objective 2: Use technology to provide training and professional development opportunities through webcasts and other web-based workshops.

Evidence of Success (both objectives):

For 2012–2013:

1. MLA trainers have access to webinar software for online teaching.
2. An instructor or instructors from the EOP will teach a trial webinar as a preconference at the 2013 meeting.
3. A team from MLA will create a recorded webinar (as opposed to a live one) on an appropriate topic, such as music librarianship, potentially tested by teachers of music librarianship. This webinar should be ready to launch by the end of 2013.
4. Students, paraprofessionals, and librarians in their first year of joining MLA will have an option to be paired with a senior "advisor" for mentoring (mostly via email, Skype, etc.) in music librarianship beyond the Annual Meeting.
5. By the end of 2013, 5 practicing music librarians will be available to be advisors.
6. Music Librarianship Workshops section under Employment & Education on MLA website updated regularly; Workshop Descriptions to show Learning Objectives and list of potential instructors on same page; Workshop Calendar populated with more offerings; Instructors list updated and enhanced with job titles, links to their respective library sites
7. Establish an official MLA presence on Facebook, through which training and professional development programs could be marketed and promoted.

By 2015:

1. Enrollment in MLA-sponsored training and professional development programs grows every year.
2. Paraprofessionals and librarians with incidental duties for music join and participate in MLA in increasing numbers.
3. MLA charges for and offers continuing education credits for participation in MLA-sponsored training and professional development programs annually.
4. MLA has a standing committee [sub-committee?] to build, advertise, and deliver professional development programming.
5. Workshops attract many different audiences, including music librarians, "non-musician" music librarians, paraprofessionals, and library school students who need supplemental training in music librarianship.
6. MLA maintains a current Core Competencies document to support efforts at music library education internally and externally.
7. MLA maintains a list of topics and curricular ideas to include in a class in music librarianship.
8. Educational "tracks” from the program of the annual meeting are selected and broadcast as a virtual conference for audiences who would likely not otherwise attend a face-to-face meeting.
9. Advertising about MLA’s educational programs reaches a broad audience, well beyond the association.

By 2020:

1. Music librarians are consistently promoted within and between institutions.
2. New MLA members increasingly have participated in an MLA-sponsored training session before becoming members.
3. MLA has a course management system to deliver online courses.
4. Members of other professional organizations are familiar with and regularly enroll in MLA’s training and professional development programs. A random survey of "generalist" librarians shows that more than 25% have heard of MLA and are aware of its offerings.