My Emerging Leader Experience: Abigail Sparling

2018–2019 has been the year of raising my hand and finding my professional home in ALCTS. My first ALA Annual Conference was in 2018, where I attended an amazing session put on by the ALCTS Electronic Resources Interest Group. Motivated by the speakers, I stayed for the business meeting after the session and found myself volunteering to co-chair the interest group. It wasn’t long after that I learned about the ALA Emerging Leaders Program. The program seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn more about the structure and governance of ALA and my potential place within it. I was delighted and honored to be named the 2019 ALCTS Emerging Leader.

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My ALCTS Experience: Shelby Strommer

In June 2019 I had the opportunity to attend the ALA Annual Conference as a recipient of the Jan Merrill-Oldham Development Grant. In recognition of Jan Merrill-Oldham’s commitment to preservation education and mentorship, the grant provides early-career preservation practitioners an opportunity to further their professional development by attending the Annual Conference. I was honored to receive this award and thrilled to have the opportunity to find ideas and inspiration to help me serve as an effective steward of our library collections and an effective mentor to my student employees.

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