LAB Background

In Utah, there are certified librarians working in secondary schools, colleges, and universities, but younger students are rarely served by certified school librarians. Many of our state’s elementary schools rely on library aides or paraprofessionals to manage their school library’s resources and services. The work of these library paraprofessionals provides valuable educational opportunities to our elementary students.

Library Aide Basics (LAB) is a USBE and LSTA grant-funded project that provides training in school library administration through online, self-paced modules. The training is designed to help school library aides acquire basic library management skills so students can fully realize library learning benefits. The LAB program will build upon the successful but dated training generously provided by the Alpine School District (Utah). Building off of the Alpine model, Southern Utah University has developed a statewide online training tool for elementary school library paraprofessionals.

LAB is not intended to replace a school library certification or endorsement program, but it is designed to support library aides in elementary schools. The goal of the LAB program is to direct school library paraprofessionals and their supervisors to helpful resources.  

Funds for this project have been provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act and are administered by the Utah State Library Division.