NMRT President's Program Preview

Building Your Professional Toolkit

By: NMRT President's Program Committee

The Annual Conference is just around the corner and librarians across the country are gearing up for the Windy City. For first-timers, Annual can be large and overwhelming. Additionally, it can be difficult to find sessions that are aimed at librarians new to the profession. Luckily, the New Members Round Table has your back! This year, New Members Round Table President Janel Kinlaw's theme is "Growing Your Professional Skills", and the President's program Building Your Professional Toolkit will feature speakers experienced in doing just that.

Personal branding can help you stand out from the crowd to get a potential employer's attention; interview skills help you land that coveted position. Once in your new job, leadership and management skills are often required immediately. New and seasoned professionals need emotional intelligence to succeed on the job, and networking and project management skills are must haves as responsibilities grow. A cadre of speakers will share their knowledge about these topics and more.

Each speaker will discuss a different tool to put in your proverbial professional toolkit. Speakers and their topics include:

  • Justin Hoenke, teen librarian at the Chattanooga Library - personal branding, which you can see in play at his blog, Justin the Librarian.
  • Benjamin Andrus, Binghamton University Libraries - breaking into academic librarianship, the job search, and juggling part-time jobs.
  • Nora Quilan, Nova Southeastern University - interviewing, providing a behind-the-scenes look at search and screening committees.
  • Cory Eckert, Octavia Fellin Children's Library - community engagement and networking.
  • Sheila Urwiler, Starke County Public Library System - leadership and customer service.
  • Emily Sanford, Michigan State University - emotional intelligence.
  • Ed Garcia - project management.
  • Catherine Soehner, University of Utah - management positions for new librarians.
  • Jason Chabak, Springer - insider vendor's knowledge on negotiating for your library.

There is something for everyone in this year's President's Program and all librarians will walk away with new knowledge and information. Building Your Professional Toolkit will take place on Sunday, June 30th from 8:30 to 10:00 am in McCormick Place S103a with a coffee and tea service to start your morning off right. Look for it in the Scheduler!