Finance and Budgeting for Library Staff

Monday, April 3 - Sunday, May 14, 2023 | Six-week course

In today’s library environment, the ability to manage your library’s changing finances is essential. In this six-week eCourse, library finance expert Sean Gaffney leads you through both the theory and the best practices of strategic financial resource management.

Participants will examine the connection between the theory and the best practices of strategic financial resource management. Topics include revenue models, types of budgets, internal controls, resource allocation, financial planning, and acquiring outside resources. This course will also pay special attention to updating budgets during times of declining revenue and advocacy for increased community support during times of uncertainty.

This course will be helpful for experienced and new library managers, supervisors, directors, and other leaders who want to understand better how to develop and manage budgets, particularly in times of uncertainty. No previous experience is required.

There are six modules. Each module includes both resources (lectures, readings, and videos) and a forum discussion question. Our primary text is Sanwald, W. (2018). Financial Management for Libraries (ALA Neal-Schuman). All materials are provided.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand basic accounting and budgeting conventions,
• Evaluate financial resources,
• Use a range of models and approaches to solve financial resources problems such as developing a budget, revising a budget, and gaining budget approval,
• Understand the impact of declining resources on library budgets and services, and
• Identify viable alternative solutions and actions and recognize the consequence of their implementation

Outline

Week One – Introduction to Budgeting 

Week Two – Developing a Budget

Week Three – Forecasting and Revenue Sources

Week Four – Capital Budgeting and  Budget Control

Week Five – Budgeting in an Uncertain Environment

Week Six – Advocacy

Sean Gaffney has taught at the School of Information at San Jose State University since 2008. His area of expertise is library management and administration. Sean teaches Library Financial Management, Project Management, Library Professions, and Using Social Media for Competitive and Company Research courses. Sean holds an MLIS from Kent State University and a Master of Business Administration from Saint Leo University. He is a second-year Ph.D. student studying Organizational Change at Western Michigan University. Sean is also a Certified Public Accountant (Illinois) and a Certified Management Accountant. He lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida

If you have questions or requests regarding accessibility, contact us at ce@ala.org or at 312-280-5100.

CALL Training Partner for this Event: American Library Association