American Library Association announces Emerging Leader participants for class of 2017

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) has selected 50 people to participate in its 2017 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.

Maureen Sullivan and Audrey Barbakoff, co-chairs of the Emerging Leaders program welcome the 2017 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 have made significant contributions to ALA in the past ten years of this program.”

The Emerging Leaders program kicks off with a day-long session during the ALA 2017 Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta. 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 2017 Emerging Leaders will showcase the results of their project planning work during the ALA 2017 Annual Conference in Chicago.

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.

Nearly 70% of this year’s participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors included ALA divisions, roundtables, state chapters, ALA affiliate groups and other organizations. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader in order to help defray costs for attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting and the Annual Conference.

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

Related Links

2017 List of Emerging Leaders (PDF)