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CILIP recognized
Officially recognized training provider by CILIP - the UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
FOR KEY STAFF AND LIBRARY TEAMS
Train your whole team - in a way that fits your service
Per-place pricing, your own admin Dashboard for managing rolling out, and a named contact who knows your service. Used in training programs from London to Colorado - including the largest single rollout, 1,000 learners across the State of Victoria, Australia.
- CILIP recognized training provider
- Not-for-profit pricing
QUALITY & RECOGNITION
Why library services trust us
Public-funding origins
Originally developed with the UK Society of Chief Librarians (now Libraries Connected), funded by Arts Councils and national/state library bodies.
Not for profit
In recognition of that public funding, we charge rates that cover costs - we are not profit-making.
Competence-based
Certificate of Achievement with the same value worldwide. Entry & Intermediate are self-assessed; Advanced courses include a personal mentor.
EVIDENCE AT SCALE
From small services to whole states
Victoria State, Australia
1,000 learners across every public library service in the state, from great cities to tiny outback stations. The evaluation showed the program changed practice across the whole state - with effects visible years later.
- Our largest single rollout to date.
I’ve seen the difference Opening the Book’s online training makes, both in the Victoria-wide rollout and in my own library service. Time and again over the past 15 years, library staff have told me it’s the best training they’ve ever done. They say it’s inspiring, practical and even nourishing.
OUR METHOD
Not check box training
Our courses don't sit in a separate folder marked "training." They embed into the everyday routines of running a library - what you say to a patron at the desk, how you arrange a program, when you intervene and when you step back.
Designed by Rachel Van Riel and the Opening the Book team - pioneers of reader-centered library design. We've trained library staff in 51 countries - starting with face-to-face training in national rollouts and moving online twenty years ago to reach more staff in their place of work.
WHAT YOU GET
Your own admin Dashboard
When you buy for a team you get a Dashboard to manage all the training places you've purchased.
AVAILABLE PLACES
Buy a pool of places - allocate when you're ready
When you are ready to enroll a member of staff on a course, you fill the place with their name and email and select the course you wish them to take from the dropdown menu. A welcome email with password access is sent automatically and the learner can begin immediately. Each place is for single use.
ACTIVITY
See who's doing what - at a glance
See who's signed up to which course, when they last logged in, and how their progress is going. View as the learner to see exactly what they're working through. Useful for line managers, induction trackers, and anyone responsible for evidencing CPD.
HOW LIBRARY SERVICES TYPICALLY BUY
The pyramid - and the variations
Many services buy a balanced pyramid of places across all three course levels. Numbers scale up or down - services from Melbourne to Ontario have adapted the pattern to fit their needs.
Entry level
Frontline staff · self-assessed
Intermediate level
Library assistants & librarians · self-assessed
Advanced level
Managers · personal mentor
"Typically a service buys a pyramid of places - 50 Entry, 25 Intermediate, 5 Advanced."
Other patterns we see
- Trial first, then scale.
- North Lanarkshire took 50 places in 2025, then added 150 more for 2026 once the approach had proved itself across its 19 libraries.
- Regional consortium.
- Libraries in North Wales combined together to run a shared program supported by regional funding.
- Whole-service induction model.
- Cork County Library makes entry-level training a core part of its Library Development Programme - every new library assistant began with a course in 2024.
SUPPORTING YOUR LEARNERS
What your learners will need
Dedicated time online
Learners need dedicated time online to take their course - in time slots at their convenience.
Permission to engage
Permission to talk to patrons and to create displays - the practical tasks happen out on the library floor.
Time to monitor
Time to monitor the actions they take, so improvements to the environment and displays can be seen working.
Line-manager support
Support from their immediate line manager in the workplace makes the biggest difference to completion.
INDEPENDENT EVALUATION
What changes back in the library?
State Library of South Australia
Three Intermediate courses rolled out across library services state-wide. The evaluation asked staff what changed once they were back on the floor.
90%
saw an impact in their library
80%
said it changed their practice
85%
planned new work in future as a consequence
From an evaluation of three Intermediate courses at the State Library of South Australia
How do I pay for courses?
Team purchases work by invoice rather than the online checkout. Email Rachel - or use the form below - to tell us what you need and we'll send you an invoice. Pay by electronic bank transfer, or by credit card if you prefer. As soon as we receive payment we’ll email access to your courses and Dashboard. Full details on the How to pay page.
How long do we have to use the places we buy?
Courses can be used any time in the 12 months following purchase. The places remain in your account and you fill them when you are ready. This has been helpful for services meeting spending deadlines or wishing to test a mix of courses before deciding how to roll them out.
Individual learners take courses at their own pace. There is no cut-off date and their work remains visible for 12 months after they finish. However, many managers do set internal deadlines for their staff. The most successful large-scale rollouts we’ve seen all set deadlines to keep progress moving.
How many people can manage the Dashboard?
We can create an extra administrator place for any manager who wants to be more involved - useful when training, line management and finance are different people. Each administrator gets the same Dashboard view of places, learners and progress.
Are the courses recognized and accredited?
A Certificate of Achievement is awarded on successful completion. Self-assessed courses issue downloadable certificates; Advanced courses are individually mentor-assessed. The courses are on-the-job professional development - not credited to a librarianship degree, as they are more practical than academic. They were originally developed in partnership with the UK Society of Chief Librarians (now Libraries Connected) and are widely recognized in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Opening the Book is an officially recognized training provider by CILIP.
How many staff can take a course at once?
You control which courses you allocate, in what numbers. It's a good idea not to have several staff in a small branch all trying out the same idea at once - but apart from that, numbers are limitless. Some services rotate staff through courses so each cohort takes the same courses but not in the same order.
Who should go first?
If you're not sure about the best balance for your situation, allocate some places for staff to go through quickly as a pilot, then regroup to discuss which courses you want more people to do. It's often a good idea to get keen people in the first tranche - they send good messages about the experience to others.
GET A QUOTE
Tell us roughly what you need
Rachel Van Riel will explain the options and help you find the best fit for your service. No deadlines, no hard sell - just an answer to "what would this cost for us?"
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Email Rachel directly rachel@openingthebook.com →
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Prefer a real conversation? Email Rachel - she’ll set up a call →
Ready to plan your team’s training?
Per-place pricing · CILIP recognized · Used in training programs from Ballarat to Cork