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Earning CE Credit

Here are some ideas to earn Continuing Education (CE) hours toward your endorsement renewal

  • CE events (in-person or virtual, and not for academic credit). These might be webinars, workshops, seminars, institutes, conferences, etc.
    • Training by the State Library will be automatically recorded in your IA Learns account after you complete the evaluation. Training offered by other providers should be recorded using a request for External CE credit form.
    • General guidelines for credit:
      • 30 minutes of instruction = 0.5 contact hour
      • 50 minutes of instruction = 1 contact hour
      • 1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) = 10 contact hours
      • Roundtable/networking sessions = Half-time credit
    • Note that you may claim 5 hours of CE credit for required city government training during your three-year recertification period. (This limit applies to programs such as CPR, defibrillator, and blood borne pathogen training.)
  • Learning Development Plan. A customized pathway to grow your understanding of a particular area of the field.
  • Take a course for academic credit.
    • These courses must keep librarians abreast of new knowledge and developments within their field, update their basic library-oriented education, enhance their job competence, or lead to specialization in a new area of librarianship.
    • Complete the request for External CE credit form. You must include a copy of your transcript with the completed form.
    • Guidelines for credit:
      • 1 semester hour of college credit = 15 continuing education credits
      • 1 quarter hour of college credit = 10 continuing education credits
      • 1 CEU credit = 10 hours of continuing education credits
  • Serve as an instructor for a continuing education activity.
  • Participate in professional library association activities.
    • Complete the request for External CE credit form. Include your duties, length of appointment, and successes.
    • Note: Maximum number of credits received per eligible activity is 10 for each three-year recertification period
  • Write a library-related article.

Not all activities are eligible for CE Credit. Please see our list of ineligible activities (at right) or contact the CE Consultant with questions.

Ineligible CE Activities

To be considered a learning activity for the purposes of CE credit, the activity must be planned, coordinated, administered, and evaluated in terms of learning objectives, and designed to keep librarians abreast of new knowledge and developments within their field, update their basic library oriented education, enhance their job competence, or lead to specialization in a new area of librarianship. Among the activities not likely to meet these criteria are the following:

  • Staff, business, committee, planning, or advisory meetings.
  • Training on regular library operations, procedures, forms or general office equipment, such as training in routine use of the local automated system or a photocopier.  
  • Training and orientation of new staff or a new position.
  • Updating current internal manuals and guides or other internal documents.
  • Professional association activities which are routine in nature (e.g., serving on the ILA nominating committee).
  • Reading monographs or professional journals unless they are part of a larger class or learning project. 
  • Training on topics not related to library work such as retirement planning.

If you are unsure whether an activity qualifies for credit, please contact the Continuing Education Consultant.