5/1/13 ALA Accreditation Reflection

Post date: May 1, 2013 3:57:32 PM

"Accreditation Frequently Asked Questions." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. <www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/faq>.

"Accredited Programs." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. <www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/>.

"Release notes for Accreditation Process, Policies, and Procedures (AP3), third edition, May 2012 | American Library Association." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/standards/AP3/releasenotes>.

"Standards, process, policies, and procedures (AP3)." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. <www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/standards>.

The Accreditation process seems to be mostly based on the ability to reflect on the growth and effectiveness of the program. It is about reflecting on and assessing the educational quality and the standards of quality or integrity. The most useful website was the “Accreditation Frequently Asked Questions” one, as it explained in greater detail the process of accreditation and the importance of having an accredited degree. “Standards, process, policies and procedures (AP3)” includes links to a PDF, Excel, or DOCX file of the 2008 standards, which tell that a program also has to be clearly competent at being able to sustain the level of education provided until the next accreditation review.

It’s good that they have a provision in the standards for accreditation that maintains how a program needs to be able to keep up the same level of quality in the future, because the ALA would be hard pressed to keep up with accrediting every library in America on a yearly basis. There is a form linked in the FAQ page for applying for the board that reviews accreditation and once being accepted via form, there is also a training period on how to evaluate specified programs. Training is very important in order to be able to do any job correctly. The process seems to be taken very seriously, and there are statues on how foreign degrees compare to the quality and statues that foreign countries uphold for their programs so that foreign graduates might hope to be accepted for the same quality and level of position as an American with a degree from an ALA accredited school.

I had to double check to see if UW-Madison was on the accredited list and it is. It also has a list of all the specializations available under their accreditation, which Youth Services and Public Librarianship are both available. I also found a link to job reporting from 2007 and how it compared with 2006. It looks like the Midwest was the most behind in salary for librarians, while the southwest was having the most increase. As much as I prefer to live in a smaller area and closer to my family, I may end up needing to move somewhere else. Given the past couple of years in political events, I wonder if France accepts ALA accreditation?