Welcome to your new position as a South Dakota library director! Public and school libraries are wonderful places to work, full of fun and fascinating information. They can also be confusing sometimes, especially when you are a new librarian. The South Dakota State Library wants to help you navigate this new world so we've gathered information that will help guide you.
State library staff provide consultation and assistance to libraries in many areas including administration, trustees, grants, standards, and statistics. Check out the Public Library Services and School Libraries webpages for more details. If there is anything we can do to help you in your new position, please contact us.
Five things new librarians should know:
- Who are your library board members and when do their terms expire?
- Is the library under city, county, or school governance?
- Where are your policy and procedure manuals?
- Do the librarian and the library board understand responsibilities? Check out the Library Trustees webpage
- There are state laws governing SD public libraries. Get familiar with them.
- Accessible Library Services Program
- Automation, Integrated Library Systems
- Continuing Education
- Electronic Resources/SD Titles to Go eBook Consortium
- Public Library Survey (your annual report)
- Public Library Accreditation Program
- Public/Academic Library Staff Certification Program
- School/Public Library Combos
- Weeding (Deselection of Materials) - enroll in the Weeding course and earn 1 hour of Continuing Education credit
- Youth Services
- South Dakota Codified Law dealing with public meetings
See specifically:- 1-25-1: Official meetings open to the public--Exceptions--Teleconferences--Violation as misdemeanor
- 1-25-1.1: Notice of meetings of public bodies--Violation as misdemeanor
- 1-25-2: Executive or closed meetings--Purposes--Authorization--Misdemeanor/
The SD State Library has lists that you can join to keep up with news and continuing education opportunities in SD libraries. In addition, you can post messages to the lists if you need guidance from library colleagues around the state. SDSL uses these lists to make important announcements.
It is important to be involved in state and regional library associations. Library conferences provide excellent training opportunities and making connections with other librarians through these associations is invaluable. Linked below are some state and regional associations to check out.
South Dakota Library Association
SDLA is a statewide organization representing libraries, library employees, library trustees, and library supporters.
Mountain Plains Library Association
The Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA) is a twelve-state association of librarians, library paraprofessionals and friends of libraries in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Its purpose is to promote the development of librarians and libraries by providing significant educational and networking opportunities.
Association for Rural and Small Libraries
The Association for Rural & Small Libraries is a network of people throughout the country dedicated to the positive growth and development of libraries. ARSL believes in the value of rural and small libraries and strives to create resources and services that address national, state, and local priorities for libraries situated in rural communities.