Trustee Training

Training resources especially for public library trustees.

Trustee Training Recordings

RAILS Academy includes training built specifically for trustees. Whether you're new to the board or a seasoned member, you'll find resources to support you at every stage of your service. Create an account in RAILS Academy and start exploring.

Inside the Trustee Training category, you can explore:

  • Orientation resources to help new trustees get up to speed quickly
  • On-demand webinar recordings covering Robert's Rules of Order, Director Evaluations, Best Practices for Using Social Media, and more
  • Short training modules on key topics you can complete at your own pace

Upcoming Trustee Training

Apr 22, 2026

May 6, 2026

iLEAD Trustee Training Portal

iLEAD – leadership, empowerment, accessibility, and development for public library trustees – is a new online learning portal developed for Illinois public library trustees. This project is grant-funded by the Illinois State Library and developed by the Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS), with subject matter experts throughout the state contributing and advising. This online learning portal provides Illinois public library trustees with the knowledge, requirements, and resources they need to be influential library leaders.

Short Takes for Trustees

Our partnership with United for Libraries (a division of the American Library Association) provides you with the online training resource, Short Takes for Trustees.

Short Takes for Trustees is a series of short videos (8-10 minutes each) that can be shown during board meetings to stimulate discussion about the important role that Trustees play in the governance of their libraries.

Timer set to 10 minutes, with text that reads: Short Takes For Trustees.

Topics in this series explain the basics, such as what it means to be a Trustee (discussing the broad fiduciary responsibilities of governing boards as well as the limits of an advisory board), as well as how to set policy, how to evaluate the library director (and why you should), along with board self-evaluation, and the ethical and parliamentary standards for boards — both governing and advisory.

For access, you will need to create an account (free of charge for trustees at RAILS public libraries) with United for Libraries.