Have you been thinking about growing your skills and experience as a leader? Perhaps you’ve become interested in supervisory or management positions, but you don’t yet have the budgetary or strategic project management experience you need to land that next role. Regardless of whether you’re looking to grow in your current role or to set yourself up for the next step in your career, I’m here to tell you that serving as part of the ALSC Board is a phenomenal (and fun!) way to gain both experience and confidence.
The ALSC Nominating Committee is starting to seek candidates for the 2026 ALSC election. We’ll be putting together a slate of candidates for the following positions, who will begin their terms in June 2026:
- ALSC Board of Director member (3 open seats)
- ALSC Division Councilor (1 open seat)
- ALSC Vice President/President-Elect (1 open seat)
The Nominating Committee wants to know what you want to know about these elected leadership roles and what it looks like to serve ALSC and the profession as a member of the ALSC Board. Please share what you’re wondering by leaving a comment, or send an email with your questions, and the Nominating Committee will share all our information and advice with you in an upcoming blog post.
And if you already know you’re curious about being considered as a candidate for one of these roles–or you know a colleague or friend who would be a great fit-we have an informal nomination form that you can fill out for yourself or a colleague to indicate you’d like to learn more. Filling out the ALSC Informal Nomination Form isn’t a commitment to run–it’s just a statement of interest to find out more about how elected leadership in ALSC could be a great fit for you and your career.
Let the Nominating Committee know what you’re wondering about how standing for election to the ALSC Board could be the leadership and career move for you!
Today’s blog post was written by Amy Koester, Director of Public Services at Skokie (IL) Public Library and a former president of ALSC, on behalf of the ALSC Nominating Committee. She can be reached at akoesteralsc@gmail.com.
Stephanie Bange
This is an awesome blog, Amy! Serving in any of these positions puts one right in the thick of things. Practice Strategic Planning, execution of the budget, and both developing and executing a vision for the future are parts of these authentic learning experiences, too.
For members who just want to dip into the leadership pool (without diving in head first), it’s never too late to fill in volunteer forms for committee work. Food for thought of committees to work on to develop specific leadership skills are in the article I wrote for Children & Libraries’ Winter 2024 issue: https://journals.ala.org/index.php/cal/article/view/8396