Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America in partnership with rural library directors in Virginia, Illinois, and Massachusetts, will develop a self-paced, web-based online professional development course for library staff who deliver reader services to adults. The training, consisting of 15 short modules, will benefit those who work with readers one-on-one, through book groups, literacy programs, outreach initiatives, and online reading engagements. It will address challenges facing libraries in this arena, including limited opportunities beyond fiction genre training, the expense of most professional development, and access to this kind of training for staff that are not librarians. These issues are exacerbated in rural libraries that generally operate with scarcer resources and limited personnel. The project will leverage a combination of academic expertise, practical experience, and new technologies.