Frequently asked questions

The value of Opening the Book courses is widely recognized in the countries which have used them most - UK, Ireland and Australia - where listing course achievements in CVs and job applications is seen as a guarantee of specific skills. Library services also use the courses as internal qualifications, as part of staff induction or annual appraisals.

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), with early development supported by public funding from the Arts Councils of England, Wales and Scotland, and by national and state library organizations in Australia and Ireland.

Each learner who successfully completes a course is awarded a Certificate of Achievement.

Opening the Book is an officially recognized training provider by CILIP - the UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

A better experience for library patrons

Our largest rollout was a program across the State of Victoria in Australia with 1,000 learners - one in every library service, some in great cities, some in tiny outback stations. The evaluation showed this program changed practice in the public library service across the whole State, with the effects visible quite a few years later.

Developing staff skills

“In an environment where recruitment and retention are challenging, access to training for staff, and in particular new starts, is crucial. Providing training that is appropriate and accessible becomes a key part of the offer for incoming recruits. We prioritised our entry level Library Assistants, many of whom had no previous library experience. While they usually have customer service experience, speaking to library users about books and developing the confidence to do this, is a new skill.”

Generating staff enthusiasm

“The Intermediate courses have been especially popular with our staff. We have lots of people seeing their colleagues doing it - and then asking if they can do the course too.”

“The library staff love the courses, and I can see how inspired and motivated they are following their completion.”

Supporting modernizing library services

“We are currently part way through a period of intense transformation of our library service - but what I see as the impact of Opening the Book courses is that staff start to ‘get’ what we are trying to achieve. And they support those goals and can move towards the new services and service delivery models more comfortably.”

“Recently we have moved to Shared Services with the Council administration staff, which means new staff do not necessarily have library qualifications. A course like this gives employees with no library background an idea of what we are trying to achieve. It creates food for thought, especially for people new to the job.”

School librarians

Browse our Customer feedback and Learner stories pages and pick out the personal testimony from school and college librarians round the world - the return on investment is very clear. We have permission from these learners to use what they say, so you can cut and paste this to send to principals, boards and funders.

Very - the courses are self-paced and suit varied learning styles, mixing reading, images, audio, reflection and hands-on practice. Every learner can change the text size, reading width and contrast, and choose Listen in any course for an audio version with read-along text.

All Entry and Intermediate courses have also been updated for readability - shorter text blocks, clear structure and summaries - which increases accessibility for a range of neurodivergent and dyslexic learners while improving the learning experience for everyone.

Read more about accessibility →

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.

Very little - if your machines can browse the web, they can run the courses. There’s nothing to install.

Devices

The courses work on PCs, Macs and iPads. They work on other tablets too, but we don’t test them all and we don’t provide tech support for them. We don’t have many tech issues, to be fair.

You can view all the course content on a mobile phone, but you will not be able to do the interactive exercises. A message will pop up explaining you need a larger screen for these.

Browser

You’ll need a modern web browser. We test our courses across these:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Firefox
• Safari

You’ll need JavaScript and cookies enabled in your browser - turn these on in Settings.

Buy a single place

Select your course, put it in your basket and use our online checkout to pay by credit card. You will gain fast access - we email your login details within one working day.

Buy multiple places

We manage quotes and invoices - see how to pay.

What your learners will need

• Dedicated time online to take the course
• Permission to talk to patrons and to create displays - the practical tasks happen out on the library floor
• Time to monitor the actions they take, so improvements to the environment, displays and promotions can be seen working
• Support from their immediate line manager in their workplace

Feeling part of a team

Setting up a regular Teams, Zoom or other remote discussion about training gives staff a reason to talk to each other about their experience. You could set up a WhatsApp group so staff on the same course can message each other. Or suggest that managers who all have staff taking courses keep in touch with how it’s going and how they plan to use what’s been learned in their own branches. We can create an extra administrator place for any manager who wants to be more involved.

Deadlines

There are no deadlines set online for anyone to complete a course, but managers might consider setting deadlines for their own staff, depending on the time they allow for training. The most successful large-scale rollouts we have seen all set deadlines to help progress keep moving.

“I have seen so much benefit from Opening the Book online training, in the Victoria-wide rollout and in my own library service. I continue to use it because it’s the only training I’ve come across that focuses on reader-centred library practice. A lot of library staff I have worked with say it’s the best training they have ever done. They describe the course content as inspiring and even nourishing.”

Not check box learning

Our course platform enables each learner to record their personal responses, reflections and task outcomes. If you leave a box empty, you will be asked to go back and complete it. This learning record is visible to your nominated administrator who can check in on quality issues at any time.

Quality mentoring

Our Advanced courses for more senior professionals include tasks where the learning is adapted and applied to the learner’s specific work context. Each task is assessed by a personal mentor from the Opening the Book team with the opportunity for a dialog to ensure a satisfactory standard is achieved. This is a supportive and creative process to ensure staff get the most out of the course and can embed what they have learned into their own service strategy going forward.

Every course is written in-house by the Opening the Book team: Rachel Van Riel, who founded Opening the Book and pioneered the reader development approach, with Anne Downes and Fiona Edwards, who between them have delivered training and mentored learners across the UK, Ireland, Australia and beyond.

Nothing is bought in - the people who wrote the courses are the same people who support you while you take them, and the platform they run on is built in-house by our own technical team, led by Tristan Campbell.

Meet the authors →