Since the closure of paraprofessional courses at Temasek Polytechnic some years ago there has been no formal avenue for skills development and recognition for support staff in Singapore libraries. More and more support staff undertake responsibilities which are crucial to library operations and yet have few opportunities in relation to external training.
LAS has, over the past few years, participated in the development of Library and Information Industry competency standards as part of the mapping of Singapore creative industries under the Workplace Skills Qualification (WSQ) initiatives of the Workforce Development Authority (WDA). LAS applied for, and has been granted the status of Approved Training Organisation (ATO). Last year a group of LAS members also undertook to complete the WDA approved Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA), which is a pre-requisite for all those who wish to develop, train or assess in programmes operating within the WSQ framework.
This year the first entry level (WSQ Level 2) training programme was developed and run. Since August there have been four iterations of the first programme: Support General Reference and Information Enquiry. This programme, consisting of 2 days of training plus a short assessment at a later time has now graduated some 60 participants assessed as competent. The feedback from the participants has been very positive, with particular praise for the approachability and competence of the trainers. Also importantly, many participants thoroughly enjoyed the programmes as well as learning useful skills. The first WDA/LAS Statements of Attainment have been issued.
From January 2011, the remaining four Level 2 courses:
- Support Collection Maintenance
- Support Acquisitions and Serials Work
- Provide Loans and Membership Services
- Support Bibliographic Control
will be delivered each month at training facilities at Toa Payoh by our ACTA recognized trainers.
Anyone who has been assessed as competent and received Statements of Attainment issued by WDA and LAS for all five programmes will be eligible to receive a WDA Higher Certificate. LAS hopes to “graduate” the first participants with the Higher Certificate just after the end of March 2011.
To date the courses have only been advertised to LAS members but will be given a wider advertisement next year. The Training and Development Committee wishes to thank the developers, trainers and assessors and those who have contributed administrative support for getting the programme established. It has not been a simple matter.
The future plans for LAS T&D are to continue and improve the Level 2 programmes so that, no matter where library support staff are, there are on-going opportunities to learn, share and enjoy entry level programmes such as these.
Another group is working on developing Level 3 standards with the intention that the supervisor level of support staff may also, in due course, have access to recognised training.
Contributed by Isabella Trahn, Chairperson, LAS Training & Development Committee