Certification is part of state standards; you must renew your certification in a timely manner. Library Education Units (LEUs) are earned and tracked on the honor system and subject to random audit.  In order to renew a certificate or permit, you must have earned the requisite number of LEUs.

Renewing a Temporary Permit

The Indiana State Library accepts renewal applications through the mail or in person at the Indiana State Library. There is a limit of 3 temporary permits per individual, per position. This means you may only renew a temporary permit twice.

To renew a temporary permit you must submit a completed the Application for Certification of Public Librarian and a personal check or money order made payable to Indiana State Library in the amount of $10. Beginning in 2018, a person who renews a temporary permit must also submit both of the following:

  1. Proof you earned at least 10 LEUs during the period of your temporary permit. PLEASE make photocopies of your LEU certificates for your records before you mail them to us.
  2. A statement indicating what progress you have made in the past year toward qualifying for a 5-year certificate. The statement may be brief and can consist of listing the courses you have taken.

Lists or spreadsheets unaccompanied by the actual LEU certificates are not verifiable and will not be accepted.

Renewing a 5-Year Certificate 

The cost to renew a 5-year certificate is $50.00. Payment can be made by personal check or money order made payable to Indiana State Library.

  • You may renew a 5-year certificate by completing an Application for Certification of Public Librarians and submitting it through the mail or in person at the Indiana State Library.
  • Alternately, a person who already holds a 5-year certificate may renew that certificate using the Indiana State Library’s new certification portal here.  To renew online, you must have your certificate number.
  • If you don’t know your certificate number, you can search for it at on the certification portal under Verify Status here.
  • There is a credit card processing fee of $1.13 for all online renewals, in addition to the $50 renewal fee.
  • Please follow these instructions to access your record online.

You are NOT eligible to renew online if you fall into one or more of the following categories:

  • You have changed job classification (e.g., from Professional Assistant to Department Head),
  • You are upgrading your certification level (e.g., from LC3 to LC2), or
  • You are renewing a Specialist or Temporary certificate.

All of the above must be renewed by mail.

*Please note: if you have already submitted a transcript with a previous application, you don’t need to submit the same transcript again with a renewal application, unless you have completed additional course work that impacts your certification eligibility.

Audits

Each quarter, the Indiana State Library randomly selects for audit 10% of the people who renewed a 5-year certificate during the previous quarter. The purpose of the audit is to verify that the person being audited obtained the number of LEUs necessary for renewal. If you are audited you will get a letter in the mail to notify you of the audit and instruct you what to do. The Indiana State Library advises each certified librarian to create a paper file to hold hard copy documentation of every library education class you take and LEU certificate you receive.

Certified librarians must retain copies of LEU certificates of completion, or other written documentation of LEU completion, for a period of at least ninety (90) days from the later of the following dates:

  1. The end of the certification period during which they were earned; or
  2. The actual date on which the certificate was renewed if the certificate was renewed after it expired.

The State Library does not keep this information and will only request copies of LEU records from individuals whose files have been selected for random audit at certificate renewal.

If you have not heard from the State Library within the applicable 90-day period, you have not been chosen for audit and you may dispose of LEU certificates from the 5-year period of your now expired certificate.

If you receive a notice of random audit, send your LEU certificates to Indiana State Library, ATTN: Certification Program Director, 140 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

PLEASE make photocopies of your certificates for your records before you send the originals to us through the mail. Spreadsheets and other unverified lists of workshops may be submitted along with the original LEU certificates, but will not take the place of the actual certificates.

You will be notified by email of the outcome of your audit.