Public Library Staff Education Program

Purpose: The Public Library Staff Education Program is a tuition reimbursement program developed by the California State Library to improve library services to California’s diverse communities. To support the professional development of California public libraries, the California State Library provides California public library staff with tuition reimbursement for courses required for a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science. Employees of public libraries and county law libraries are eligible to apply for tuition reimbursement for their graduate coursework toward a master’s in library science at an ALA-accredited library school. This program is competitive; not every applicant will be selected to receive funding. The program includes a waiting list, and applicants who are not selected might learn later in the year that funds are available for them. All applicants will be notified if they are selected to receive reimbursement funding. Those not selected will also receive appropriate notification. This is a tuition reimbursement opportunity. If selected to receive reimbursement funding, students must first pay for courses, then complete courses with a grade of B- or above (or Pass for no letter grade courses). Once courses have been completed, students must provide proof of tuition fees paid and a copy of grades received to the cooperative library system. When final reimbursement is requested, students must complete final narrative report. The System will then issue the final reimbursement directly to the student. Eligible Applicants: Eligibility (student applicants should meet both eligibility requirements below): Applicants must be currently enrolled in an ALA-accredited library school and have completed some courses toward their MLS degree. Applicants must be currently employed in a California public library, county law library, cooperative library system OR were recently employed in one of those libraries but are affected by COVID-19 pandemic staff changes.

• PSCLibraries and Arts

• Grant guidelines

  Not yet available

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  lena.pham@library.ca.gov