Polished & Prepared Part 1

Core Professional Skills for Library Staff: Communicating Like a Pro

Course Details

On-Demand Replay

2-Hour Online Crash Course

2 Credit Hours

This course is recommended for new library workers, regardless of library type.

Available as part of the Polished & Prepared Certification Bundle

ABOUT THIS COURSE

Communicate clearly, confidently, and professionally in every library interaction.

Self-Paced Materials:
Available as part of the Polished & Prepared certification bundle.

Strong communication is at the heart of excellent library service and professional success. This 2-hour, online crash course will help you strengthen your professional communication skills across a variety of workplace situations, including interactions with patrons, colleagues, and supervisors. You will learn strategies for active listening, clear written and verbal communication, receiving feedback, and choosing the right tone and medium for your message.

You will leave this 2-hour crash course with practical tools to communicate more effectively, reduce misunderstandings, and build stronger working relationships throughout your library.

The webinar was held on March 12, 2026, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM ET.

This course is available for on-demand replay when purchased as part of a larger 4-course series — register for the full series here.

PART OF A PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION SERIES

Polished & Prepared Part 1 is one course in the Polished & Prepared Certification Series. Purchase the series to purchase the on-demand replay of this course.

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Need approval? Email this course to your supervisor.

TRAINING A TEAM?

Build a shared approach to professional communication and workplace interactions across your team.

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What You'll Learn Course Program Course Speaker Course Details Pricing and Discounts

AFTER YOU ATTEND THIS COURSE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO:

Communicate clearly, directly, and effectively.
Reduce conflicts by proactively communicating.
Understand tenets of professional communication in the workplace.
Analyze the context of various workplace situations.
Change your communication style to fit the needs of each situation, purpose, and audience.

Session 1 | 2:00–2:50 pm ET

Clear is Kind: Direct and Effective Workplace Communication

How can you communicate clearly and effectively? It’s normal to feel anxious or uncomfortable with direct communication, but this session is designed to help you find the confidence to speak directly and honestly. You will learn how to reduce misunderstandings and conflict by grounding yourself, listening well, and responding clearly and kindly. Leave knowing how to set yourself up for success by understanding what types of communication do and don’t work in a workplace and how to navigate common library communication frustrations with ease.

Break | 2:50–3:00 pm ET

Session 2 | 3:00–4:00 pm ET

Know Your Audience: How to Pivot Communication to Maximize Impact

How should you change your communication depending on who you’re talking to? How might communication with library users need to be different than that with your colleagues and leaders? Building off of the last session, this session will teach you how to assess the context of scenarios and modify your communication to have the best chance of a successful interaction. Leave knowing how to analyze the audience, purpose, and goals of common library interactions and adapt your communication style like a pro.

COURSE SPEAKER

Kate Hall, Executive Director, Northbrook Public Library

Speaker Name Kate Hall is the Executive Director of the Northbrook Public Library, a Library Journal 5 Star Library, after serving as Director at the New Lenox Public Library and in various library positions in the Chicagoland area for over 20 years. Kate has been in leadership positions in state and national library groups and has served on the committee and chaired Director’s University, an intensive training for new Illinois Public Library Directors that has trained over 350 new library directors. She has co-authored two books, The Public Library Director’s Toolkit and The Public Library Director’s HR Toolkit. Kate is the recipient of the 2021 Illinois Library Association Librarian of the Year Award and in 2021 launched Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide joint programming cooperative. Most importantly, she is the devoted servant of two very demanding black cats.

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE

This course is recommended for new library workers, regardless of library type.

THIS WILL BE A LIVE WEBINAR

This course will be delivered as a live webinar. You will have access to the recorded webinar and all course materials for six months after the conclusion of the webinar.

EXPECTED TIME COMMITMENT

Complete the course and earn 2 professional development credit hours. We provide a certificate of completion that is emailed to you.

ON-DEMAND ACCESS

You will have access to all course materials for six months after the course start date.

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

Complete the course and earn 2 professional development credit hours. A certificate will be emailed to you upon completion.

ACCESSIBILITY

All video recordings feature auto captioning. Please email course-support@libraryjournal.com upon registration if you require any special accommodations. We will make our best efforts to facilitate them.

SUPPORT

For support with online courses, please contact course-support@libraryjournal.com .

DISCOUNTED RATES ARE AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

Secure your tickets now to lock in the best price!

Rate	Early Bird	Standard
Deadline	February 12, 2026	March 12, 2026
Ticket Price	$99	$129

GROUP RATES

We offer discounts for groups of 3 or more.

For larger groups of 15 or more, we offer the option to apply group rates across multiple courses to receive significant discounts. For more information, select “Bulk Course Credits Packages” in the form below.

Request Discounted Group Pricing

For support with group purchases, please contact groupsales@libraryjournal.com .

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