PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT

PPLD Workforce Readiness – Basic Training

Curriculum developed by Pikes Peak Library District, El Paso County, Colorado.

BASIC TRAINING

Welcome to our training!  Here, you will find trainings and readings selected to prepare you for college or the workforce.  The trainings have been broken into four sections: professionalism, communication, social skills, and goal setting and planning.  You can complete the modules in the order listed, or in whatever order you see fit.

Before you start the training, take the pre-assessment using the link below.  After you finish, you will return to this page to complete the training.

Take the pre-assessment

CLICK ON EACH TAB BELOW TO COMPLETE THE TRAINING

Questions? Need help?

If you have questions about this training or how we are going to use the quiz scores, please contact Britt Bloom at bbloom@ppld.org.

Go to Intermediate Training

Professionalism

Things to Watch

Watch the video “Focus & Concentration” from the Crash Course Study Skills course.
Watch the video “Professional Behavior at Work”.
How to Be Positive at Work by The Great Office Escape
Watch the video “How to Be Positive at Work”.

Things to Read

  • PPLD Employee Policies

    Skim some of these excerpts from the PPLD Personnel Manual to get a sense for what Employee Expectations often look like in a professional setting.

Things to Do

Demonstrate accountability at school by:
  • Showing up to school on time.
  • Submitting assignments by the deadline.
  • Preparing for quizzes and tests.
  • Dressing appropriately (following school dress-code)
  • Honoring commitments to extracurricular organizations like clubs, sports teams, and activities.
Demonstrate accountability at work by:
  • Showing up to work early
  • Calling and emailing your supervisor to tell them you will miss a shift as soon as you know you will need to miss it
  • Signing up for shifts in a prompt fashion
  • Dressing appropriately (wearing your name tag, t-shirt and appropriate bottoms)
  • Filling out your timesheet each shift

Module 1 Quiz: Professionalism

Communication

Things to Watch

Watch the full Crash Course series on Navigating Digital Information. It is 2 hours and 24 minutes long, so don’t feel that you have to finish them all in one sitting. The first video in the playlist is linked above.

Things to Read

In the next section, you will get to write and submit a book review for PPLD’s website. Read through these book reviews to get an idea of what a good book review for the website might read like. Use these examples to help you write the review you would like to put on PPLD’s website. Feel free to be creative – the review doesn’t have to be formal, but it does need to answer the following questions:
  • What is the book about?
  • Why did you choose to read the book?
  • What did you like about the book?
  • What didn’t you like about the book?
  • What else does the reader need to know? What major themes are present, who might enjoy this book, etc.?
Read the following staff reviews:
Read the following Review Crew (teens who volunteer to write reviews for PPLD’s website) reviews:
It is important to use your own words when writing a book review, as well as any other writing you present as your own. Read the following article on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it:

Things to Do

  • Write down one internet behavior you might change based on the videos you watched.
  • Write one book review for the website and submit it at the following link: https://ppld.org/review-book
  • If you’re interested in joining Review Crew after this, apply online.

Module 2 Quiz: Communication

Social Skills

Things to Watch

Watch the “How to Speak with Confidence” video from the Crash Course Business Skills course.

Things to Read

Things to Do

Think about a positive experience that you had with customer service as the employee or as the customer.
What made the experience positive?
What can you take from that and apply to your interactions with people in the future?
You will record the answer in the assessment.

Module 3 Quiz: Social Skills

Goal Setting and Planning

Things to Watch

Watch the video “Setting Goals”.
Planning and Organization by Thomas Frank
Watch the “Planning & Organization” video from the Crash Course Study Skills series.

Things to Read

  • Setting Smart Goals
    Read the last two sections on this page, “How to set goals” and “Tips to achieve your goal.”

Things to Do

  • Write at least one SMART goal for this year using the instructions above. Write a second SMART goal about how you will achieve a future career or academic goal. You will submit this goal in the assessment.
  • Find a volunteer opportunity you could do during the school year. What organization did you choose? What would you need to do to apply? Hint: PPLD  as year-round volunteer opportunities!

Module 4 Quiz: Goal-setting and Planning

Finish Here!

We hope you enjoyed the training!  We would like you to complete a final assessment of your skills after completing the course.  Thank you for taking the time to help us improve our programs!  Click the link below to get started.

Questions? Need help?

If you have questions about this training or how we are going to use the quiz scores, please contact Britt Bloom at bbloom@ppld.org.

Go to Intermediate Training

LRS is part of the Colorado State Library, a unit of the Colorado Department of Education. We design and conduct library research for library and education professionals, public officials, and the media to inform practices and assessment needs.

This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).