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Public Library Financial Management Cohort
PUBLIC LIBRARY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT COHORT
UPDATE: The second cohort has been selected. Congratulations to our new participants! LM will announce a possible 3rd cohort application in summer 2023.
The Library of Michigan works to provide library specific administrative training for public library staff. As part of this goal, LM is working with the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government to provide a public library financial management certificate program for a cohort of up to 30 public library staff members. Recommended participants may be public library directors, budget administrators, or other public library staff with managerial financial management responsibilities. The cohort is a one-year series of classes focused on governmental financial accounting and policy development. The cohort does not include software or basic accounting instruction.
The Library Financial Management Certification Program includes six online courses:
- Budgeting for Libraries
- Governmental Accounting for Libraries
- Internal Control for Libraries
- Purchasing
- Payroll Administration
- Writing Financial Policies
Course Descriptions and Learning Outcomes - includes estimated time to complete each course.
The cohort participants will go through each of the six classes in the order shown above, have additional group meetings with the instructor after each course, attend topical webinars on Michigan specific issues from LM staff, and complete a short final project on financial policies for their library. Each participant `that completes the cohort will receive a program certificate from the University of Georgia.
WHAT IS EXPECTED OF PARTICIPANTS?
Participants must commit to completing all six classes, attending each meeting (15 total), and completing your final project by the deadline. In return, LM will make all arrangements for the classes and meetings and cover the program costs of approximately $1,500 per participant.
To participate successfully in the online, self-study courses, you will need internet access, a desktop or laptop computer and scheduled, uninterrupted time.
SCHEDULE
The second cohort schedule is from October 2022 through September 2023.
October 2022
- Cohort selection, initial cohort meeting and confirmation of program class and meeting dates.
- Initial Cohort Meeting - Tuesday, October 18th - 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM EST
November 2022 through July 2023
- Every month to two months, complete a class, have a wrap up group discussion with the instructor and have a cohort meeting and presentation from Library of Michigan staff.
August 2023 through September 2023
- Complete the financial policies project, have a project review meeting with the instructor, have the final cohort meeting and graduate.
Month by Month Timeline with Meeting Dates
APPLY FOR THE COHORT
- APPLICATION - Closed for the 2022/2023 Cohort
- Agreement Form - Download, complete and upload in application as a pdf.
Please contact Karren Reish at reishk@michigan.gov or 517-241-0021 with any questions.
Updated 9/20/2022.