Autumn training moves on-demand as ALA Learning Library pools ALSC webinars
As the long, busy weeks of Summer Reading come to a close, many children’s librarians are turning their attention to the autumn calendar and how best to use the quieter months for professional growth. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is foregrounding continuing education in its fall roster, emphasising a mix of live, member‑discounted webinars and on‑demand learning that can fit around programme planning and reopening schedules.
ALSC’s live schedule includes two paid webinars designed to sharpen practical skills for frontline staff. On 18 September 2025, “Should It Stay or Should It Go?”—presented by Danielle “Dani” DiAmico and Dena Moscheck—will walk attendees through objective approaches to evaluating existing programmes, assessing effectiveness and making decisions about reallocating or discontinuing services. On 2 October 2025, Alyssa Jewell, MLIS, will lead “Creating Interactive Storytimes with Music, Play, and More,” offering a framework for movement‑based storytimes that encourage embodiment, social interaction and early literacy development. According to the event listings, both sessions will be delivered via Zoom, include automatic captions and will be recorded for registrants; ALSC notes that members receive a 50% reduction on paid webinar registration fees.
For members who prefer peer learning or need no‑cost options, ALSC is also running a member‑exclusive webinar on 23 October 2025: “Creative Writing Workshops for Library Kids: From New York, NY to Norwalk, IA.” The session brings together Rowana Miller, Executive Director of Cosmic Writers, Joy Hariprasad of the New York Public Library and Catherine Shook of Norwalk (Iowa) Public Library to share curriculum design, programme structure and outreach strategies for youth creative writing. Miller’s leadership of Cosmic Writers and Hariprasad’s history organising author events at NYPL underpin the session’s practical focus and reach across different library contexts.
If synchronous sessions don’t fit individual timetables, the newly launched ALA Learning Library consolidates member‑exclusive courses, webinar recordings and on‑demand training into a single, searchable collection. Announced by the American Library Association on 23 July 2025 and introduced at the ALA Annual Conference that year, the Learning Library is hosted on the ALA eLearning platform and is intended to make it quicker for members to find and return to professional learning materials. ALSC directs members to access the collection by logging into the ALA eLearning site and selecting the member‑exclusive Learning Library banner.
Membership itself remains a practical route to stretch professional development budgets. ALSC’s membership benefits include access to an archive of free webinars, discounts on selected online courses (and the stated 50% discount on ALSC‑offered paid webinars), as well as subscriptions, mentorship opportunities, awards eligibility and networking spaces on ALA Connect. For many library workers, those bundled benefits can make it simpler to pursue continuing education without diverting local programme funds.
Taken together, the autumn offerings reflect a simple proposition: professional development needn’t be a large line item or a one‑off event. Whether you join a live discussion about pruning programmes, learn fresh techniques for interactive storytimes, attend a peer‑led workshop on creative writing, or work through on‑demand modules in the Learning Library, ALSC and ALA present a range of formats designed to meet different schedules and budgets. Accessibility features and recorded sessions mean content can be revisited as plans are refined, but libraries should still consider carving out dedicated time this autumn to translate learning into improved experiences for children and families.