After more than 17 years at the Wyoming State Library, the monthly continuing education (CE) calendar is moving on. The Maine State Library (MSL) is now taking over this valuable, nationally-recognized resource that started in Wyoming.
MSL staffers Kimberly Clark and Elaine Bissonnette are taking over calendar duties. A landing page for the calendar has been created where people can subscribe and suggest programs for inclusion. Comments or questions may be sent to CECAL.MSL@maine.gov.
The calendar was a major team effort over many years, most recently headed up by Paige Bredenkamp and Jessica Otto. Jamie Markus first created a list in late 2005 or early 2006 as a way to collate online trainings and send them out to Wyoming libraries all at once rather than forward events by email as they were received. Soon, he began actively looking for events, and created a document of continuing education providers to check for events before sending out the email each month. Over time, the list was shared with CE coordinators from other state libraries, and WebJunction began promoting it on their site. At some point, an online version was added to give the calendar a home, in addition to the monthly email. With many other states and WebJunction sharing the information, the calendar developed national reach.
“I am truly excited that Maine State Library will continue the important work started by the Wyoming State Library through the monthly publication of continuing education opportunities from around the United States,” said Lori Fisher, Maine State Librarian. “Librarians of all types benefit from this monthly compilation, and the MSL staff is honored to be able to contribute to the library profession through this work.”