The American Library Association's Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) program is a national certification program that allows library support staff to demonstrate their competencies and be certified by the American Library Association. To learn more about the program's certification requirements, review this page on the LSSC website for more information. The LSSC program is supported by the American Library Association and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The following Infopeople courses are all LSSC-approved and are offered at least once a year. As noted below, some competency sets require taking two courses in order to complete the competency.
To receive email when new courses are available, subscribe to the Infopeople Training Mailing list. Be sure to check our planned training calendar for the year's schedule and visit the training page for a list of current course offerings (LSSC-eligible courses will have an "LSSC" notation next to the course title).
Courses That Meet Required Competencies
Foundations of Library Science (Online)
- Competency: This course is approved as covering the Foundations of Library Services competencies for the LSSC program.
- Description: Do you want to gain a deeper understanding of the mission, ethics and core values of libraries? Are you interested in better understanding the staffing and governing structures of libraries (with a focus on public libraries)? Would you like a broad introduction to various aspects of library service, including reference, circulation, cataloging, and collection development? As a result of your active participation in the course you will learn the mission and roles of libraries, ethics and values of the profession, including an understanding of the Library Bill of Rights, the ALA Code of Ethics, freedom of information, confidentiality of library records, and privacy issues, core role of library policies (and knowing when exceptions are appropriate). Whether you are new or not-so-new to public libraries, you'll come away from this course with resources, best practices, and useful advice to help you build a solid foundation of understanding that will guide your work in public libraries.
Communication is More Than Words (Online)
- Competency: This course, in combination with Infopeople's All Work is Team Work course, is approved as covering the Communication and Teamwork competencies for the LSSC program. Both courses must be taken to meet the competency set.
- Description: Mastering the art of communication involves choosing words, understanding preferences, and learning to interpret body language, tone and gesture as well as listening without bias or judgment. Fortunately these are all skills that can be learned. As a result of this course you will have a new understanding of how we communicate in every situation, an awareness of the challenges involved in communicating effectively as well as the tools to improve conversations with customers and co-workers.
All Work is Team Work (Online)
- Competency: This course, in combination with Infopeople's Communication is More Than Words course, is approved as covering the Communication and Teamwork competencies for the LSSC program. Both courses must be taken to meet the competency set.
- Description: Whether working with customers on a public desk, participating in a short term project to improve workflow or meeting weekly with your team to alter services to accommodate shrinking budgets, work involves interactions with groups of people to get things done. This course teaches you how to become an effective team player by understanding the basic principles of team formation, group dynamics and how to make decisions while having all members of the team feel heard.
Library Supervision and Management (Online)
- Competency: This course is approved as covering the Supervision and Management competency set for the LSSC program.
- Description: Are you looking to be a leader in your organization? Have you taken on a new role that includes managing people? There are many ways to lead, and as you find your own path, you’ll need skills and expertise to succeed. In this course, you will advance your knowledge of key management principles, develop practical skills you need to deal with day to day responsibilities, understand the organizational and community dynamics that impact your decisions as a leader, build confidence in your effectiveness as a supervisor.
Technology in Libraries (Online)
- Competency: This course is approved as covering the Technology competency set for the LSSC program.
- Description: This course is designed to help support staff understand how technology is integrated into the library, how to use technology to succeed, assist users with technology and technological resources, and understand how to troubleshoot and learn new technologies on their own.
Courses That Meet Elective Competencies
Children's Services Fundamentals (Online)
- Competency: This course, in combination with Infopeople's Teen Services Fundamentals course, is approved as covering the Youth Services competencies for the LSSC program. Both courses must be taken to meet the competency set.
- Description: Do you want to be more comfortable and confident in providing library services to children and their families? In this course, expert children’s librarian and author Penny Peck helps you gain the skills to conduct an effective reference interview with children, determine children’s reading interests and find books to meet those interests, plan entertaining programs to attract families to your library and promote books and reading to children of all ages.
Teen Services Fundamentals (online)
- Competency: This course, in combination with Infopeople's Children’s Services Fundamentals course, is approved as covering the Youth Services competencies for the LSSC program.
- Description: Libraries can be a tremendous resource for teens, helping them to learn about themselves and the world they live in. Do you want to increase your confidence and competence in providing fundamental teen services? In this course you will learn about resources, experiences, and ideas for working with this energetic and enthusiastic age group. As a result, you’ll be able to create a welcoming environment for teens in your library, find out what teens read, listen to, and watch, help teens meet their homework or other information needs and navigate issues connected with privacy, challenges to materials, and Internet use.
Basic Cataloging and Classification (Online)
- Competency: This course is approved as covering the Cataloging and Classification competency set for the LSSC program.
- Description: Through practical information and hands-on exercises, you will gain an understanding of cataloging practices, rules, and tools, as well as the nuts and bolts of copy cataloging. The course will cover both AACR2r (the current cataloging rule) and Resource Description and Access (RDA), the successor of AACR2r. The Library of Congress genre/form headings project, and Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) subject headings will be discussed, as well. Tips on copy cataloging of newly emerging formats, such as e-books, graphic novels, and downloadable media will be offered. At the end of four weeks you will feel comfortable with the basics of cataloging, classification, and MARC records and be ready to begin copy cataloging items in a variety of formats.
Core Reference Fundamentals (Online)
- Competency: This course is approved as covering the Reference and Information Services competencies for the LSSC program.
- Description: Are you stepping into the role of providing reference assistance for the first time in your library career? Is it time to brush up on your basic skills because you are returning to work in a capacity that includes reference work with library users? In this 6-week course instructor Francisca Goldsmith helps you learn and practice an effective reference interview, explore a wide variety of print and web-based tools, discover ways to assist diverse groups of users, and learn to think like an indexer and apply that perspective to your information hunting in response to reference questions.
Reader's Advisory: Books and Beyond (Online)
- Competency: This course is approved as covering the Adult Reader's Advisory competencies for the LSSC program.
- Description: In this course you will have the opportunity to learn and practice the interviewing, evaluation, and communication skills needed to provide your local community with access to satisfying leisure reading, listening, and viewing.