Activity

• SLIM-OR SCALA Presidency

I would not say that leadership comes naturally to me. I am a reserved person and have generally been most comfortable in supportive rather than leadership roles. As I have advanced in my career and my education, however, I have come to realize that in order to make a real impact on the organizations and groups that I am involved with and bring complex and ambitious ideas to fruition, I must be prepared to take on leadership roles. As I have moved into more leadership positions and gained more experience, I have found that the support and collaboration skills I have are actually eminently useful in leadership, allowing me to approach leadership not a controller or director but as a facilitator and organizer. Leadership, as I have found, is simply one of the roles necessary in a successful collaborative team, ideally no more or less important than any other role.

My most prominent leadership role is my position as president of the SLIM-Oregon Student Chapter of the American Library Association (SLIM-OR SCALA). I have been involved with SLIM-OR SCALA since I began the SLIM program, and have seen the group make great advances over that time. As an officer last year (I was the SLIM-OR SCALA webmaster), I was involved in the drafting and adoption of organizational bylaws and the incorporation of our group as a nonprofit. As the president this year I have dedicated myself both to the maintenance of this strong foundation as well as to further expansion of the organization. I have reached out to other local organizations, working to forge collaborative relationships with the local chapters of professional organizations and other library groups. I have also opened up SLIM-OR SCALA activities to other library students in the Portland area, expanding the audience for our efforts and the pool of talent and ideas for future activities. (We have organized several successful activities this year, both social and educational.)

I have no doubt that the opportunities (and necessities) for leadership will expand as I advance into the world of professional librarianship, and I am now much more confident that I will be able to make the most of those opportunities. I look forward to helping lead libraries and librarianship into a bright future.

Values

• Demonstrate leadership by displaying vision, and adaptability, openness to new ideas, and risk-taking behavior.
• Imagine outside the box by demonstrating creativity in problem solving, management, and other professional activities.