PLA to sponsor participant in ALA Emerging Leaders Program

Contact: Angela Thullen


PLA, Marketing Specialist


312-280-5026


athullen@ala.org

For Immediate Release


August 15, 2006

PLA to sponsor participant in ALA Emerging Leaders Program

CHICAGO - The Public Library Association (PLA) will sponsor one individual to participate in the American Library Association (ALA) Emerging Leaders Program, an initiative of ALA president Leslie Burger. The goal of the program is to prepare 100 young librarians for ALA and professional leadership.

The Emerging Leaders Program will kickoff with a daylong session at the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Afterward, it will grow and develop online for six months, culminating at the 2007 Annual Conference in Washington. Participants are required to commit to all three elements of the program. For more information on the ALA Emerging Leaders Program please visit
http://lb.princetonlibrary.org/emerging_leaders.html .

PLA will select one participant to sponsor through a competitive application process. Candidates must:

Currently be a PLA member;

Be 35 years old or under, or have no more than five years of post-MLS library experience;

Meet all other obligations for the program, as outlined by ALA President Leslie Burger at
http://lb.princetonlibrary.org/emerging_leaders.html .

Eligible candidates may apply by electronically submitting any two of the following items to PLA President Susan Hildreth (
shhildreth@comcast.net) and Greta Southard (
gsouthar@ala.org) by September 15, 2006:

List of ALA and PLA activities (no more than five);

Description of participation in state, regional or other library associations (no more than five);

Short essay describing three ways in which you have demonstrated leadership potential (500 words or less).

All applications must be submitted electronically with the subject line, "PLA Emerging Leader." The individual selected by the PLA President will be notified by September 22 and asked to submit the full application by the September 30 deadline.

For more information on this and other continuing education programs sponsored by PLA, contact the PLA office at 800-545-2433, ext. 5PLA, or visit PLA’s web site at www.pla.org. PLA is a division of the ALA.