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The Virginia Library Leadership Academy, an in-person leadership workshop, begins Sunday, March 10 in Harrisonburg, VA. The 2024 VALLA Cohort is a diverse group of 22 individuals who will learn to grow as library leaders over the next year. Meet 5 cohort members and learn about their journeys as library leaders.
What is your favorite part of librarianship?
I love that librarianship, and outreach librarianship in particular, allows me to break down barriers - I see myself as a gatebreaker rather than a gatekeeper. I feel fortunate that my work allows me to respond to needs within my community through relevant and impactful programs and services. When I am called upon to provide a service, develop a program, or meet a need, I can usually find a way to say, “Yes, absolutely!” which is incredibly rewarding. I also enjoy that librarianship calls for creativity, connection-building, and problem-solving, all of which I find important for job satisfaction.
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today?
When I went to school for my master’s degree in Library and Information Science over a decade ago, I was met with a lot of ambivalence from the general public as to whether libraries were still needed now that the internet exists. Sadly, this attitude is still prevalent today, as we see the work of librarians and library workers devalued and our professional judgment doubted. Libraries provide so many essential services for their communities, ranging from access to professionally curated educational and recreational materials, programs that support literacy and skill-building, workforce development, technology training, and more. Libraries are run by professionals who have extensive training in selecting and recommending books and other materials, building early literacy skills, assisting with research, developing engaging programs, providing information literacy instruction, and more, and it is unfortunate that there is sometimes a disconnect between what we know to be our skillset and public perception of our work.
What does a community of leadership mean to you?
A community of leadership is predicated on empowerment – effective leaders empower those around them to safely speak out, contribute new ideas, and develop their own leadership skills. Leaders should be community-minded by focusing on the advancement of their team and should demonstrate their leadership through direct action. A theme in my career has been relationship-building and networking and these skills are particularly important when considering leadership – the more I am able to grow my network of effective leaders, build relationships with my team, and develop rapport with my community, the better equipped I am to lead effectively.
When you reflect on your career, what project are you the most passionate about?
I am extremely passionate about developing partnerships with other organizations that share the goal of empowering youth in Fairfax County by championing literacy and lifelong learning. I am proud of the new partnerships I’ve developed by approaching an organization, pitching the wonderful services and programs that the public library offers, and then moving forward with a new relationship that helps both of us better serve our community. In the year that I have been in my current role, I have tripled the number of youth served by my outreach team and I am thrilled to continue to increase the services we offer throughout the county. We have developed a lot of our newer partnerships through word-of-mouth and I am incredibly grateful for the work that my team does to garner such glowing recommendations from our current site directors. When we initiated services at some of our sites, participants were occasionally hesitant to engage with us, check out books, or participate in our programs. Recently, a formerly hesitant participant proudly told me, “Ms. Marisa, I’m a bookworm now!” and hearing this kind of feedback is my proudest accomplishment as a librarian.
Why did you apply for VALLA?
I applied for VALLA because I am always seeking out opportunities to improve, both personally and professionally. I was largely driven to pursue a career in librarianship due to my interest in lifelong learning and VALLA seemed like a wonderful opportunity to learn, explore, and further develop my leadership skills. I am excited for the opportunity to connect with a diverse group of leaders in my field and learn from their experiences, challenges, and successes.
What do you hope to take away from VALLA?
I hope that VALLA provides me with a better-defined sense of my personal leadership style and my values as a leader. I also look forward to employing the skills that I develop during VALLA to mentor my team and best support them on their own leadership journeys and paths to professional success.
What is your favorite part of librarianship?
Am I dodging the question if I say the variety of work? I love being in a career where our goal is to “inform, inspire, connect” (as MRL’s tagline says). A public library can often find itself trying to be everything to everyone, which can be exhausting—but it can also be exhilarating. How privileged we are to be able to help a diverse patron base meet their informational and inspirational needs in innumerable ways, from simple information searches to creative programming to a myriad of innovations unique to our individual community’s needs and our individual library’s resources. Every day is different, and most days we get to problem-solve with a combination of logic and creativity to provide value to our communities. What could be more rewarding or more fun? Oh, and not to be cliché, but a reader who loves a book you recommended is always nice too.
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today?
I think one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today is the growing gap in understanding between those who make decisions that affect libraries and those who need libraries. An easy example to point to is the increased number of attempts by some to remove books from schools, despite the lifeline they may represent to an individual LGBTQ+ student or student of color. Another simple example is how difficult it can be to convince funding bodies of the public library’s need for increased resources; often those who hold the purse strings are not the same people who rely on library services in their personal lives. We are long past the days when a library was defined by its physical collection of books, and we need to communicate better to the decision makers in order to advocate better for our communities.
What does a community of leadership mean to you?
I’m looking forward to building a community of leadership with the 2024 VALLA cohort and finding out what it can mean. I hope that we will find in each other an enduring source of peer support as we travel our own individual leadership paths. I hope that the community we form will create a network of successful library leaders who will serve as role models to each other and in our libraries and communities. I hope this will in turn create more successful libraries, as well as work environments where library staff can thrive across the state, now and in the future.
When you reflect on your career, what project are you the most passionate about?
My colleagues would tell you I am passionate about most or all of my projects, if you define passionate as opinionated and determined! For example, during the COVID shutdown I created a regular take-home craft kit with accompanying tutorial videos to maintain a connection with patrons, despite my lack of natural craftiness. Recently, I have been spearheading many changes to the physical space in response to patron needs, such as increasing private study space with freestanding pods to meet demand and windowing the collection to improve browsability. The project that truly sticks out to me, as unglamorous as it may sound, is writing a procedures manual from scratch and streamlining new hire training for my department. Just after my promotion, I had my former position to fill and a relatively new part-time library assistant as my primary staff member. She helped me realize how much information and guidance someone new to libraries may need in the beginning, and I was not succeeding at this as her manager. As the person who had been at the library the longest, I also had the weight of being the primary source of institutional knowledge for our department. Now, there is no more “I think that’s how we’ve done this before.” Instead, it’s “I’m pretty sure that’s in the manual!” It’s not carved in stone but rather a living document with regular updates, including a complete review before any new hire starts. Maybe it seems mundane or silly, but I’m excited about giving staff the confidence that comes with the safety net of clear procedures (instead of relying on the patchy oral tradition of institutional knowledge).
Why did you apply for VALLA?
I have reached a stage in my career where people actively look to me as a leader, but until recently I lacked the support, time, or resources to pursue this type of more “personal” professional development. I believe in proactively equipping myself with all of the tools and knowledge that I can to be a successful leader, librarian, and human being. In addition, it has been—and continues to be—a time of great change for our library over the past few years, and I want to know that I have done all I can to help lead our organization (and by extension our community) into the future.
What do you hope to take away from VALLA?
I hope that VALLA gives me more confidence in my innate leadership abilities and the tools to help me shape and develop those abilities through a DEI lens. I also hope that the leadership network formed through VALLA will be a continued source of inspiration and accountability in my leadership journey. Ultimately, the key measure of success to me is that I use what I learn as a jumping off point and never stop learning and growing into the leader that the people who follow me need.
What is your favorite part of librarianship?
Reading, of course! I also love researching, and helping students/patrons with their research.
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today?
I think there are a lot of challenges, but to name a few it would be: finding ways to stay relevant amongst an ever-changing technological and fast-paced world, fighting the war on censorship and book challenges, and creating and maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.
What does a community of leadership mean to you?
To me, it means a group of peers or colleagues who find ways to support and empower each other, so they can perform their job/career to the best of their ability.
When you reflect on your career, what project are you the most passionate about?
I am new to the library world, having graduated from Catholic University with my masters in May 2023 and started my professional job in July 2023. As I reflect on the past year where I embarked on my professional career, I have found that I love helping students and the community around me. I am, and have always been, outspoken against censorship, and I’m passionate about being an advocate for providing access to information and knowledge for all, and assisting those who need help finding it.
Why did you apply for VALLA?
I applied for VALLA because, being a new librarian, I wanted to gain connections by meeting peers from all around Virginia. I also hope to meet others who share the same passion as I do about libraries, and to learn from others’ experiences.
What do you hope to take away from VALLA?
I hope to gain a better understanding of what it is to be a librarian, and I’m optimistic that this journey will also teach me some new professional skills that I can utilize in my current, and future, jobs.
What is your favorite part of librarianship?
My favorite part of librarianship is the daily connections I make with the people I serve! I love the moments of joy that occur when I connect someone with a new book or movie, or a resource that will improve their life! I have had folks hug me and bring me cookies or meals because I was able to help them find a resource for learning a language, doing taxes, or finding a job.
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today?
I believe there are two major challenges facing libraries today that are of equal importance: lack of innovation and censorship. As our society rapidly changes its relationship with information and the way we access it, many libraries find themselves struggling to adapt to the new needs and wants of the communities they serve. In reality, the ability to adapt is often directly tied to funding, which is evermore limited after 2020, and this lack of funding is in part due to the factors that exacerbate censorship. The ongoing culture wars in our country have turned libraries into bogeymen for some, asserting that librarians are exposing children to inappropriate content. Censorship is especially dangerous to libraries, because it puts the entire existence of the library up for debate. For example, the mere presence of queer-centered material at the Patmos Library in Michigan, led to the complete defunding of the library system for a time.
What does a community of leadership mean to you?
A community of leadership, to me, refers to a group of folks who work together to implement initiatives, address needs, and lead people within their sphere of influence. For example, this could look like the director of an outreach organization working with all levels of their staff, to identify community needs and implement a new initiative that serves the need.
When you reflect on your career, what project are you the most passionate about?
I am most passionate about my work with my library’s DEI Committee. I am privileged to be a part of this committee, and have worked on (among other things) implementing new language guidelines for internal and external communication, ensuring our spaces and collections reflect our community, and implementing new training initiatives centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Why did you apply for VALLA?
I applied to VALLA because I am early in my career and know I have so much to learn. I have always considered myself a leader, and know from experience that good leadership requires continual learning and growth. I like to challenge myself and learn from others and VALLA brings together a diverse and highly qualified array of library folks into one program, so it seemed like the perfect place for me to accomplish this learning and growth!
What do you hope to take away from VALLA?
My hope is to gain new leadership and DEI perspectives from VALLA. Specifically, I am excited to hear about the ways in which other library professionals practice empathy and DEI-centric library leadership. Of course, I am also looking forward to meeting new people and forming new professional connections.
What is your favorite part of librarianship?
I do not hold an MLIS, I actually have my Master’s in Education, but there’s a reason I decided to return to libraries. I honestly love everything that libraries do. If I had to put it into words, I would say my favorite part is the way libraries positively impact lives every day. They are such a vital resource for the community. Multiple times a day all over the world, something that seemed impossible or out of reach is available to someone because of the services libraries provide. For example, at our library we are part of a program that provides a scholarship and a learning path for community members to earn a high school diploma. We’ve had community members complete their entire online degree using library internet and library computers. We work on projects that build literacy, financial literacy, wellness, and socio-emotional growth. We help fight food insecurity. Books are wonderful, of course, but libraries are so much more than books.
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today?
I think one of the biggest challenges facing libraries today is that they are often undervalued. What I mean is that many people are not aware of the incredible impact that libraries have on their communities and the exponential value that they add. When folks are looking at budget line items they might say, “Well, doesn’t the library have enough books? Why are they asking for more money?” without realizing where most of that investment goes (back into the community!). If more people understood the full scope of what libraries provide, I think it would change the conversation.
What does a community of leadership mean to you?
We are better together. Good leaders are not created in a vacuum, they rise up behind other good leaders who have helped pave the way and, perhaps, less-than-stellar leaders who have shown them what not to do. A community of leadership creates a forum for leaders to share their experiences both good and bad. It creates a culture of growth, learning, and acceptance. It allows us to raise each other up and support the journeys of our peers. Knowledge and learning are more powerful and burdens are lessened when shared.
When you reflect on your career, what project are you the most passionate about?
I would say I am most passionate about advocacy with a focus on DEI-B (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging). DEI-B might look differently to you, maybe it is EDI, or EDIJ (J for Justice), but whatever you call it I believe the spirit is the same. This is not a single project but it is instead a theme that runs throughout. One of my current projects is creating and curating learning opportunities for library staff. Library workers are a vital resource for libraries and must be supported as such. If they do not feel empowered or a sense of belonging, how can they provide that to the communities that they serve? I am dedicated to finding out how best to serve our library workers so they, in turn, can better serve their communities.
Why did you apply for VALLA?
I want to make a positive impact in the world around me and I believe the best way to empower myself and others is by growing my leadership skills. VALLA offered an invaluable experience composed of top-down scaffolding and peer-to-peer support for leadership growth. In addition, it offered these resources with a strong focus on DEI-B. I am personally dedicated to being a lifelong learner. I will never have read enough books, spoken to enough people, finished introspecting. VALLA looked like a unique and invaluable experience to help me grow and evolve as a leader while networking and learning from people who have similar goals but different journeys, perspectives, and experiences.
What do you hope to take away from VALLA?
I touched on this a bit with my previous response, but I think real learning happens when we come together. From real learning, comes real growth and real change. I aim to build my own leadership skills, but even more importantly, I hope to bring tools back to share with my community and beyond. I want my experiences with VALLA to have a snowball effect of positive change and I hope to see that happening over and over again as other participants take what they have learned out into the world as well. |
