I was lucky to be able to attend MLA today. I heard some great speakers and panels and met some inspiring (and friendly!) people. “The Future of Libraries: The Next Generation,” featuring six panelists who have only been librarians for five years, was excellent, and skillfully moderated by Maureen Sullivan. One of my favorite audience questions to this panel was “What is your hope for your profession that will keep you in it?”

The next panel, “The Future of Library Leadership,” featured participants in the 2011 New England Library Leadership Symposium (NELLS). All had insightful things to say and great examples of their leadership skills in action; all demonstrated the value of close relationships with professional peers. Though many NELLS participants were in management positions, some were not, proving that leadership is not just for managers.

I’ll go into both these panels in more depth in future posts; I’ll also touch on the “Reading Women” talk, Random House Book Buzz, and the closing keynote (Maureen Sullivan, Keith Fiels, and Molly Raphael). More to come!

“I can’t imagine not wanting to learn.”
-Jeremy Shaw-Munderback, “Next Generation” panelist