Developing Leaders Program | 2020-21 Cohort

Team Remote Access

Advisor: Lissetty Thomas

Team Members:

• Katharine Pigliacelli, Adelphi University
• Kristin Beutler, Central Islip Public Library
• Lauren Hinett, Fairport Public Library
• Michelle Fernandez, New York Public Library. 
• Marie Pierre, Ossining Public Library 

Team Project: Lighting the Way: A Mentorship Program

A mentorship program will be devised to connect library students and recent graduates with early to mid-career library professionals who can help them navigate the myriad roadblocks to completing graduate school, becoming certified, and finding a library job. The team will contact NYLA and local universities to recruit prospective mentors and mentees. Students will benefit from gaining insight into the profession, and mentors will benefit from gaining familiarity with current educational trends and theory. Anecdotal evidence suggests that persons without prior institutional knowledge (social connections) of the library environment are more likely to take longer to find full time employment. This may be attributed to a lack of familiarity with the civil service process, limited opportunities for mentorship, or difficulty obtaining institutional knowledge, all of which are instrumental in obtaining and maintaining full time employment.

Team TBD - To Be Diverse

Advisor: Rebecca Budiger-Mulhearn

Team Members:

• Danielle Newman, Filmore Central School District
• Emily H. Dowie, Pearl River Public Library  
• Jo Ann Mulligan, Altamont Free Library
• Juanita James, Brooklyn Public Library
• Kaysha Watson-Phillips, Baldwin Public Library

Team Project: Diversify is Fly: The Diversification of a Library Profession

The objective of this project is to create a tool to allow librarians to audit their collections in order to determine if the collection is diverse and represents the patrons the library services. A program curriculum will be developed as well that will encourage collaboration between public and school libraries that supports and encourages the use of the diverse material collection.

Team Craftarians

Advisor: Erika Jenns

Team Members:

• Chelsea Roy, Kirkland Town Library
• Dan Lewandowski, Crane Branch Library
• Katherine Carr, Penfield Library, SUNY Oswego
• Kirsta Otto, Greece Public Library
• Victoria Calarco, Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES SLS

Team Project: The Outdoor Classroom

This project is meant to encourage patrons to be lifelong learners while developing a sense of wonder and appreciation for the great outdoors of New York State. A website will be developed to curate resources for various outdoor activities. This website will be modeled in part like a traditional pathfinder with topics including; camping, biking, birding, etc… Each topic will have multiple learning opportunities for patrons to engage with, and will provide points of entry to bodies of knowledge that can seem overwhelming.

Some of the learning opportunities will include resources that can be provided by various library systems, connections among local organizations/nonprofits, and from other open access resources already published to the web. It is our hope that through this project our patrons will develop passions for continued learning at any age as well as develop a healthy appreciation for the environment and their natural surroundings. As patrons develop their appreciation for the outdoors this source will encourage ways to respect and promote positive change for the environment.

Check out the Outdoor Classroom Resource Guide

Team League of Extraordinary Service

Advisor: Liz King

Team Members:

• Amber Gladle, St. Lawrence Lewis BOCES
• Erin Vest, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
• Frank Somers, Bethlehem Public Library
• Michael Bartolomeo, Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library
• Sue Gleason, University of Rochester, Rush Rhees Library

Team Project: Recruitment Toolkit for New York Libraries

Create a toolkit that can be used to promote careers in libraries in New York State. The toolkit will consist of resources anybody can use to market the profession; and will include materials that can be given to job seekers as well as aids for recruiters and/or career counselors in marketing the profession.

Team MAARKS

Advisor: Karie Doelger

Team Members:

• Alana Mutum, Great Neck Library
• Andrew Maines, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
• Meg Sgombick, Florida Public Library
• Rebecca Kluberdanz, Central New York Library Resources Council
• Sarah Gluck, Queens Borough Public Library

Team Project: A Librarian’s EcoLiteracy Toolkit

Overview: With the advice and guidance of ALA’s Sustainability Round Table, Team MAARKS will develop a virtual tool kit on ecoliteracy for librarians consisting of a variety of resources including webinars, books, and articles. The tool kit will be a resource which will provide an overview, history, and tips and tricks allowing librarians to gain knowledge about the three pillars of sustainability, how they can employ sustainability practices in the workplace, how they can encourage sustainability practices within their community, and offering pathways to living and working sustainably.

Team Social Agenda

Advisor: Cathy Brenner

Team Members:

• Amy K. Smith, Red Hook Public Library
• Andrea Roberts, Westhampton Free Library
• Angela Hackstadt, University at Albany, SUNY
• Arielle Hessler, John Jermain Memorial Library
• Katie Smith, Hazeltine Public Library

Team Project: Social Responsibility & Libraries, a webinar series

Our project is to plan and execute a free web series on Social Responsibility and Librarianship that creates opportunities for librarians to share, discuss and brainstorm approaches to the different aspects of Social Responsibility as defined by the ALA’s Core Values.