Our mission is to train librarians and trustees to provide the best possible library service to their communities through:

• Continuing Education Blog
• Educational events
• Central Kansas Library Systems Web site
• Handouts and online resources
• CKLS staff provides adult programs for your library.

Educational events

System assemblies

Central Kansas Library System's bylaws require a Spring Assembly in May and a Fall Assembly in a month determined by the System's Executive Committee and Librarian. Fall Assemblies traditionally in September or October. Both assemblies are on the Wednesday after the second Sunday of the month.

According to the System's bylaws, "The May meeting shall be the Annual Meeting for the purpose of electing officials, adopting the budget for the year following current year, and transacting any other business before it. The Fall meeting shall be a program meeting, which may include business as necessary,...."

Since electing officials and adopting the budget takes less than an hour, both Spring and Fall Assemblies traditionally programming as an incentive for attendees to drive an hour or more to assemblies. However, programming is usually informational rather than educational because of the size and diversity of the audience.

Workshops

Each Fall, Chris Rippel e-mails a survey of potential continuing education topics to system librarians. Their votes determine many of the topics covered by the following year's continuing education events.

Traditional annual continuing education workshops are:

• New Librarians' Day in late February or early March
• All Librarians' Day the day after New Librarians' Day
• Summer Library Program in April (conducted by the Youth Services)
• Series of Trustee Workshops in September or October (conducted by Jim Swan)
• Fall Youth Workshop in October or November (conducted by Youth Services)

Announcements of other workshops are on the CKLS events calendar.

Online OPAL events

The Central Kansas Library System has purchased a OPAL room for online training. Though Chris Rippel has worked with the North Central Kansas Library System and the State Library of Kansas in sponsoring other OPAL events, we are still working on events for the use of this room.

Using OPAL

• If no one can hear you speak. (Word document)

Handouts and online resources

CKLS POST articles archive

CKLS POST is the system newsletter. Articles of lasting value are archived here.

Mouserobics computer mouse training program

Well-known online resource that has been translated by others into six languages.

Adult programing

Patron computer classes in your library

CKLS offers around 12 classes taught by a patient Chris Rippel on CKLS 8 computer lab set up in your library.

Genealogy classes

Jim Swan and Kathy Rippel are experienced genealogists that will teach your patrons basic genealogy.

Bestsellers from the past

Kathy Rippel reads selections from books on the bestsellers lists from decades ago.