ALA Announces Emerging Leader Participants for Class of 2019

The American Library Association (ALA) has selected fifty (50) people to participate in its 2019 class of Emerging Leaders. The program is designed to enable library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups, 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. See the list of participants (PDF).

Audrey Barbakoff and Pauline Stacchini, co-chairs of the Emerging Leaders program are excited to welcome the 2019 class. They look forward to working with this most recent cohort of talented and committed early career leaders who are eager to pursue leadership opportunities in the association. “This year's class joins a distinguished group of alumni, many of whom continue to make significant contributions to ALA.”

The Emerging Leaders program will kick off with a day-long session facilitated by Maureen Sullivan during the ALA 2019 Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Following the kickoff session which includes orientation and training, the program will continue in an online learning and networking environment for six months. The program culminates with a poster session where the 2019 Emerging Leaders will showcase the results of their project planning work during the ALA 2019 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Emerging Leader participants commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and may have an opportunity to serve on an ALA, division, chapter, round table, or affiliate committee or workgroup upon completion.

This year, a record ninety (90%) percent of participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors included ALA divisions, roundtables, state chapters, and ALA affiliate organizations. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader in order to help defray costs of attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference.

The complete list of the selected participants and sponsoring organizations can be found on the Emerging Leaders webpage.

The ALA Emerging Leaders program is managed by the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR).