The American Library Association (ALA) has announced librarians who will participate in the Emerging Leaders (EL) 2009 program.
The American Library Association (ALA) has announced librarians who will participate in the Emerging Leaders (EL) 2009 program. This year, two librarians from South Carolina were selected to participate: Morgan Montgomery of Orangeburg’s Claflin University, sponsored by the South Carolina Library Association, and Amanda Brewer of the Beaufort County Library, sponsored by the Public Library Association. The EL program, which is in its third year, will enable more than 100 librarians 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. Connie Paul, one of the program’s facilitators said, “It's networking at its best."
The 2009 program kicks off with a daylong session during the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver. Afterward, it will grow and develop in an online learning and networking environment for six months, culminating with a poster session presentation showcasing the results of the project planning work at the 2009 Annual Conference in Chicago. Participants commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and will have an opportunity to serve on an ALA, Division, Chapter, or Round Table committee, taskforce or workgroup upon completion of program.
More than one third of this year’s participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors included ALA divisions and roundtables, 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.
Participants will receive two days of orientation and training with Maureen Sullivan, an organizational development consultant, and Connie Paul, executive director of the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. "The first two groups have shown what dynamic promise the Emerging Leaders hold for moving ALA into its future. Our third program will build on the lessons learned and success achieved by them,” Connie said.
The complete list of the selected participants and sponsoring organizations is available online at: http://wikis.ala.org/emergingleaders/images/0/0d/Complete_List09_ParticipantsAndSponsors.pdf.
For more information about the South Carolina Library Association, visit www.scla.org and for more information about the ALA Emerging Leader Program, visit http://wikis.ala.org/emergingleaders/index.php/Main_Page.
