The American Library Association- Reference and User Services Division (RUSA) Summer 2025 CE offerings offer an outstanding combination of repeat courses. Our list of upcoming programming is below:
Marketing the 21st Century Library
Four-week asynchronous course starting on July 7, 2025 Marketing the 21st Century Library explores how a well-developed marketing plan drives the creation of promotional plans, allowing librarians to better serve their patrons, community, and professional colleagues. The following principles of sound marketing plans to be discussed include: developing mission and vision statements; creating survey methods; implementing your project plan; and increasing staff support. This systematic method results in a growth in your patron base and your usage statistics will explode. In this class, we use a systematic approach to create a draft marketing plan to share with your colleagues during and after the course concludes.
The instructor, Debra Lucas-Alfieri, Professor Emeritus, was the Head of Reference, Interlibrary Loan, Public Services, and Information Analysis and Instruction, at D’Youvile University in Buffalo, NY. Debra has been teaching online library science classes, seminars, and webinars for over a decade, working with national organizations. She has presented web-based symposiums for organizations in Florida and Montreal. Debra has vast experience and knowledge of the history of libraries, and its mission, her research and philosophies are highly regarded, studied, and cited across the world. Through teaching and writing, she has impacted students and scholars across the globe.
This course is designed for MLS/MLIS candidates, graduates, librarians and paraprofessional who research and develop marketing and promotional plans for their library.
Libraries and Aging 101: Educate, Engage and Empower Mature Adults
Four-week asynchronous course starting on August 4, 2025
Many communities are home to an aging population. Libraries in these communities need to be able to educate, empower and engage older adults.
In this four-week course, librarian and gerontologist Fatima Perkins shares data-driven strategies that will help you assess the needs of the older population in your community and create impactful programs and services.
Each week will target a different aspect of services for this population and provide an opportunity for discussion with the instructor and other students. Throughout the course, you will be encouraged to develop a “signature” program or service for a mature audience with at least one outcome measure.
Don’t see a topic that interests you, check out our continually updated listings here or submit a proposal form here.
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.rusaupdate.org.