Volume 6, September 30, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) SDL NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEYS

2) WSL CONTRIBUTES 115,000 PAGES TO CHRONICLING AMERICA

3) FIRST TUESDAYS PRESENTS SUMMER READING PREVIEW

4) FREE PRESERVATION WORKSHOPS

5) LAURA BUSH 21ST CENTURY LIBRARIAN GRANTS

6) STRETCH DONATIONS FOR NOLO BOOKS

7) TRAVEL GRANTS TO ATTEND ALA MIDWINTER

8) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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It was an interesting ride, being an ALA Emerging Leader in the Class of 2009. The upshot: I got to work with a great group of people, create some cool videos, and met a lot of really interesting librarians. The downside (downshot?): I’m not really any more interested in getting active in ALA committees than I was beforehand (and that, I think, is really the point of the whole thing).

That said, I recommend the program to other emerging librarians for a number of reasons.

1. You’ll meet a bunch of young(er), active, new(ish) librarians with lots of energy and great ideas.
2. You’ll get to collaborate on a project at a distance with a group of people you don’t know very well. Okay, this sounds like a con, but really, I think this type of work, and being able to do it effectively, is becoming more and more important as we get more and more online and virtual.
3. You’ll have an excellent excuse (and possibly a sponsorship) to attend both ALA conferences for a year. Attending an ALA conference won’t make or break you as a librarian, and you may or may not get a whole lot out of the sessions provided, but either way it’s an excellent opportunity and shouldn’t be passed up (especially if you’ve never been to a big library conference before).

One of my fellow ELs has written much more prolifically on the topic than I have (or plan to), including her “10 Reasons to Apply for Emerging Leaders 2010.”(See also 2, 3). The deadline for applying, including ALL supporting documents, is July 31st. So hopefully you’re already underway, or you can type really fast and have some letters of recommendation already sitting around … Apply to become an Emerging Leader for 2010 here.

What follows are some of my thoughts on the EL process, why it’s valuable, and where it’s not. These are broken down into two parts: my thoughts after attending ALA Midwinter, and; my thoughts after attending ALA Annual (and finishing the EL program).

If you want more info on other EL projects, documentation, and some behind-the-scenes stuff, you should check out the ALA Emerging Leader wiki, where each project is outlined and deliverables are linked.

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