As a member of the 2018 cohort of ALA Emerging Leaders, I spent a substantial portion of our first morning – and even afternoon – here at #alaac18 hearing from amazing library professionals on leadership, the future of libraries, and implementing diversity, inclusivity, equity, and accessibility initiatives within our institutions. But, though these were galvanizing talks, the morning was leading up to our poster sessions, when all 10 teams would have the chance to present the projects we’ve worked so hard on over the past few months.
Needless to say, it was a bit hard to focus. I and my team members were especially excited to share the resource guide we’ve created for the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), one school librarians (or, really, any librarian/educator faced with challenges to their resources and materials) can use to curate and defend the inclusion of LGBTQ+ materials in their collections. What I wasn’t quite prepared for was how inspiring the work of all the other teams would be. If you’re unfamiliar with the Emerging Leaders program, I have to say (at the risk of sounding boastful) it’s full of incredible new library employees who are passionate about their work and excited to contribute to the profession – and that passion and excitement clearly showed in the work presented yesterday. From research into cultural competencies in youth librarianship to recommendations for building virtual communities for ALA divisions – obviously of huge benefit to those members stuck at home – these leaders know their stuff and are already making their voices heard.
Project descriptions should be available through the Emerging Leaders page shortly, but for now peruse the photos included in this post to get an idea of the type of work done by this year’s cohort. And if you’re a new library professional (5 years of experience or less), consider applying to be an Emerging Leader next year; applications for the 2019 class should be available beginning next month.