From LIS Schools to a 5-stars profession: professionals learn

IFLA Section for Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning (CPDWL) prepared in 2016 the IFLA Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development, and successively a poster entitled “Our 5 stars profession” highlighting their key points. The rationale behind the guidelines is that the future of the LIS profession depends on ongoing learning and professional development, for which all stakeholders have specific roles and responsibilities: the learner, the employer, the Professional associations, all training providers but also the Library & Information Science degree-granting programmes. The latter have the responsibility of demonstarting prospective professionals how crucial is to LIS profession, dealing with the everchanging information ecosystem, to be continuously updated and ready to ride the waves. An essential part of LIS curriculum, advise the Guidelines, should include teaching this soft skill: attitude to face change. The paper will present the contents of the Guidelines and the Poster, translated in many languages and recently also in Russian, particularly the recommendations aimed at LIS educators and students, will reflect on the perspective of studies on Continuing Professional Development and lifelong learning and will illustrate opportunities created by the IFLA CPDWL Standing Committee to create an International exchange of ideas and learning opportunities among professionals that could benefit LIS students as well.