For Immediate Release
Tue, 10/26/2010 – 16:30

Contact: Beatrice Calvin , HRDR

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) Emerging Leaders program, now in its fifth year, kicks off with a daylong session during the 2011 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego. Eighty-three individuals have been selected through a very competitive process for the program this year.The program enables librarians and  library staff from across the country to participate in project planning workgroups; network with peers; gain an inside look into ALA structure; and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers.

Participants will receive two days of orientation and education with Maureen Sullivan, an organizational development consultant whose practice focuses on leadership development for the profession, and Peter Bromberg, assistant director, Princeton Public Library in New Jersey.  “It’s wonderful to see so many Emerging Leaders from the previous four years now serving in leadership positions across the association. They’ve shown how valuable the Emerging Leaders program is in creating sustainable leadership for ALA’s future. In our fifth year we will continue to build on the lessons learned and success achieved by them,” Bromberg said.

Following the kickoff session, the program will continue in an online learning and networking environment for six months, culminating with a poster session in which the 2011 Emerging Leaders will showcase the results of their project planning work at the 2011 Annual Conference in New Orleans. Participants commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and may have an opportunity to serve on an ALA, Division, Chapter or Round Table committee or a taskforce or workgroup upon completion of program.

Nearly half of this year’s participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors included ALA divisions, offices, round tables, state chapters, ALA affiliate groups and other organizations. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader in order to defray costs for attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting and the Annual Conference.

Read the complete list of the selected participants and sponsoring organizations (PDF).

Check out their final projects at: http://connect.ala.org/el10projects.

Related Links

• Video: Emerging Leaders Present at Friday’s Poster Session
• Photos: Scenes from the Emerging Leaders Poster Session

Members of the 2010 class of ALA Emerging Leaders speak about their experiences so far and what they’ve gotten out of the program. ALA is now seeking applicants for the Emerging Leader class of 2011; learn more at http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/hrdr/abouthrdr/emergingleaders.cfm. Application deadline is July 31.

*You’ve Emerged, Now What?*

You’re invited to attend this year’s EL Summit. EL alumni will follow an unconference format to brainstorm, network, gossip, discuss, and plan based on the following topics: Promoting your Emerging Leaders Project; How and Where to Publish and Present; and Brainstorming Session on How to Form and Sustain an EL Networking Group.

Volunteers are wanted to share their success stories and experiences. If you want to volunteer to speak on a specific topic, contact Jaime Hammond at JHammond[at]nvcc.commnet.edu.

Emerging Leaders Summit
Saturday, June 26, 2010
2 pm – 3:30 pm
Location: WCC201

For Immediate Release
Tue, 05/25/2010 – 22:03

Contact: Beatrice Calvin
Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR)

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) is now accepting applications for the 2011 class of Emerging Leaders.  Applications can be found at http://www.ala.org/cfapps/emergingleaders/index.cfm. The deadline to apply is July 30.

The program is designed to enable a group of library workers to get on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership.  Participants are given the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, network with peers and get an inside look into the ALA structure and activities.

An ALA division, round table, ethnic affiliate, state chapter or school library media affiliate will sponsor many of the selected applicants.  Each sponsor will contribute $1,000 toward expenses ($500 for each conference).  Sponsorship is not required for participation in the program.

Applicants can indicate on the application which groups they want to consider them for sponsorship.  A list of sponsoring units is included as part of the online application. You can also check with your state association and/or state chapter to find out if they are participating and how to apply for their sponsorship.

Library support staff are encouraged to apply to the program and will have an opportunity to be considered for sponsorship through the ALA Library Support Staff Interests Round Table.

No more than one person from any institution will be selected for participation in the program.  Preference will be given to those who do not have experience working on ALA committees, task forces, etc. and to those who meet the following criteria:

1. Be under 35 years of age or be a library worker of any age with fewer than five years experience working in a library, and
2. Be able to attend both ALA conferences and work virtually in between each,
3. Be prepared to commit to serve on either an ALA, division, chapter or round table committee, taskforce or workgroup, or in your state or local professional library organization upon completion of program and
4. Be an ALA member or join upon selection if not already a member.

For questions or more information regarding the program, contact Beatrice Calvin at bcalvin@ala.org.

For Immediate Release
Thu, 05/13/2010 – 16:11

Contact: Louise M Gruenberg
ITTS

ALA is planning a web redevelopment in the next year.  To ensure that the changes to the website satisfy members’ needs, ALA stakeholders should tell us: Just how Web 2.0 should ALA go? When you visit the ALA website, does it meet your expectations? Would you prefer to be able to customize, personalize, share, comment, and rank? Team J of Emerging Leaders needs to know what you want out of your ALA.org experience.  We have made it our mission to survey our members to determine how and to what extent members would like to interact on ALA.org.

The survey can be found here. Please take 15-30 minutes to fill out the questions in the eleven rating scales.  There are also six optional demographic questions.  Your responses to all questions will be confidential and anonymous. Submission of the survey implies consent for Team J to use your answers in our analysis and recommendations. The deadline for completing the survey is Sunday, May 23rd at 11:45 PM.

Results from the survey will be presented in a poster session at 2010 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. They will also be used by the Website Advisory Committee and the Web Editorial Board as they make their strategic plans for the site.

Should you have any questions or problems, please contact any member of Team J, either through our staff liaison, Louise Gruenberg, ALA’s Sr. Usability Officer or by sending us a message in ALA Connect or at projectjbots[at]gmail.com.   Thank you for your assistance with our project!

Team J

• Jeannie Chen
• Justin Hoenke
• Susan Jennings
• Anne Krakow
• Rafia Mirza

A big thank you to Emily for sharing her time, and so much valuable information about the Washington Office, and ways for ALA Members to get involved.

Big thanks also to Gwendolyn Prellwitz, ALA Office for Diversity & Spectrum,  for time and support in producing the Webinar.  Big thanks also to Emerging Leader Subcommittee members Rachel Vacek and Connie Paul, and HRDR Program Officer and Emerging Leaders Program Coordinator Beatrice Calvin, and Lorelle Swader, Director of HRDR for their time and support in planning and producing the Emerging Leaders Webinar series.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER

Emily Sheketoff, Associate Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA)

Emily Sheketoff is the Associate Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA), managing the Washington Office. In that capacity, she directs lobbying efforts before Congress and the Executive Branch to fund libraries, and works on initiatives important to the library community such as family literacy, public access to government information, first amendment protection, and intellectual property and copyright issues. Ms. Sheketoff also oversees the policy work done by the Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), an office that promotes the development and utilization of electronic access to information as a means to ensure the public’s right to a free and open information society.

The ACRL Insider article states,

The award, sponsored by YBP Library Services, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic/research librarianship and library development.

“Maureen’s career has been deeply influential across the spectrum,” said Barbara Jenkins, chair of the ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award Committee and Director for Instruction and Campus Partnerships at the University of Oregon. “Her work in organizational development and strategic planning has had a unique and lasting impact on many individuals and organizations. Almost single handedly, she ushered academic libraries into the world of effective strategic planning – strategic planning that has had a significant impact on how we engage our students, faculty and others who use our libraries. She has been a model for others in how to reach out, mentor and engage new professionals and experienced collages.”

To read the whole article, see: http://www.acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/2010/01/21/maureen-sullivan-named-acrl-academicresearch-librarian-of-the-year/

Congrats Maureen on this well-deserved honor, and thank you for all you have done for the Emerging Leaders program!!

The meeting is open to all Emerging Leaders as well as all ALA members who are attending the conference.   Visitors welcome!

We will be discussing/reviewing the 2009 program, the first day of the 2010 program (taking place on Friday, Jan 15th), and looking ahead to plan for 2011.

For more information on the Emerging Leaders program see:

• Current Roster of Emerging Leaders
• ALA Webpage
• Emerging Leaders Wiki (for links to previous classes and their projects)