Library Association of Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications System for Library Officers & Para-professional

Janice Chia, Chair, Training & Development, LAS

Brunei Darussalam Library Association 25th AnniversaryRegional Conference on Library, Archives and Museums

November 2011

FOCUS ON STAFF

• Traditional focus on resources• Current focus on value-added services• Who are the most visible staff?• Whose efficiency allows the professional to operate

effectively?

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Right staff, right skills• Doing the right things right• Support staff are the front line• Technical services more reliant on support staff• Singapore overall has generous support staff levels; the

total population in libraries is not small• Where to get relevant education and certification and

continuing education?

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From Temasek to Nothing• Temasek Polytechnic (TP) offered courses in library

skills and know ledge aimed at para-professional and would-be paraprofessional staff

• 5 years ago TP terminated courses• Large libraries plan and conduct own in-house/on the

job training programmes for these staff;• Small libraries rely on on the job training

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WDA Initiative• 2007 - the Workforce Development Agency (WDA)

approached LAS to develop competency standards for the Library industry

• Why competency standards? What do they lead to? The importance of WSQ (Workforce Skills Qualifications) – portability & recognition

• LAS and NLB first jointly developed the competency map for support staff and professionals

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Who are WDA?• Government statutory authority about 7 years old

which:– Supports the development of competency

standards for industry– Provides pre-delivery approval of courses– Encourages regular reviews of courses– Provides assistance to bodies wishing to train

for their industry

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Competency Standards for Libraries

• WDA focused on the Creative Industries from 2007 and asked LAS to develop the competency standards and potential training courses that could be offered to LAS members/interested outsiders

• In 2008, 5 LAS members came together to develop the first 5 competency standards for support staff professionals at Entry Level 2

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Approval of Competency Standards

• The five standards were finalised with the help of a consultant appointed by WDA who had done similar work in UK

• These were then tabled for approval at the WDA Steering Committee responsible for standards development

• The standards were then made ready for development into training courses

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Developing Training Courses• Mid 2009 another team of LAS members came

forward to help develop and deliver courses• Before they could begin, they were required by WDA

to attend the Advanced Certificate for Training and Assessment (ACTA) Advanced Certificate course conducted by WDA

• 10 of our members have completed the course

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Target groups

• Entry level – no prior requirements• Staff needing a specific or broad grounding in basic

library services• Staff in allied areas who need to know about library

functions• New support staff: staff moving to new areas of work• Experienced support staff who would like a qualification

for recognition• People who are looking to enter/re-enter library work

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Library Competency Standards ( Entry Level 2)

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Competency

Statement of Attainment (SOA)

Training (2 or 3 days)

Assessment2 weeks later

Library Competency Standards ( Entry Level 2)

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Competency 1

Competency 2

Competency 3

Competency 4

Competency 5

Higher Certificate in Library and Information

Services

Library Competency Standards ( Entry Level 2)

1. Support general reference and information enquiry work

2. Support collection maintenance3. Support acquisitions and serials work4. Support loans and membership services 5. Support bibliographic control work (3-Day Module)

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Training Courses Timeframe

• The first course on was accredited in June 2010 and first training in August 2010.

• The rest of the courses were accredited by Nov 2010 and the first training in Jan 2011.

• A cycle of the 5 modules were set up so that staff can gradually assemble the SOAs needed to obtain the HCLIS

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Course Fees• Gross Fees per course– S$ 330 for 2 day module– S$495 for 3 day module

• Nett Fees per course (after subsidies) – S$65 for a 2 day module: – S$95 for a 3 day module

• Full certificate gross fee– S$1815

• Full certificate net fee (after subsidies):– S$355

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Publicity

• LAS Members Mailing List• www.las.org.sg• LAS FaceBook

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The numbers so far ….• Support General Reference = 76• Support Collection Maintenance = 48• Support Bibliographic Control = 31• Support Acquisitions & Serials = 48• Provide Loans & Membership Services = 34• Total SOAs issued for the 5 modules = 237• Total no. of HCLIS = 17• No. of Unique Headcounts = 97

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The Challenges• Limited manpower resources in LAS Council• Balancing demands & limitations• Keeping up with the paperwork• Sustainability of courses & trainers

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The fruits“It is a good opportunity to

upgrade and receive

recognition of our skills.

Hopefully [attending these

courses] can help us in our

career advancement.”

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“[Participating in these

programmes] will enable me

to better perform my job and

duties.”

Thank you

training@las.org.sg

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