ALA Announces the 2025 Class of Emerging Leaders; ALA, December 4, 2024

 ALA; ALA Announces the 2025 Class of Emerging Leaders

"The American Library Association (ALA) has selected forty-six (46) people to participate in its 2025 class of Emerging Leaders (EL). The EL program is designed to enable library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. See the list of participants.

The Emerging Leaders program will kick off with a day-long session during the ALA LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience (LibLearnX25) event in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants will continue in a virtual learning and networking environment for six months. The EL program culminates with a poster session where the Emerging Leaders will highlight the results of their project planning work during the ALA 2025 Annual Conference in Philadelphia this June.

Christina Fuller-Gregory and Libby Holtmann, co-chairs of the Emerging Leaders program, look forward to working with this class of Emerging Leaders. Commenting on the EL program, Fuller-Gregory and Holtmann shared that ' We feel privileged to work with a group of dynamic early career librarians and library workers. The 2025 Class of Emerging Leaders continues the EL programs tradition of excellence, bringing with them both a passion for the field, and a desire to continue to advance the larger work or ALA. This year's class can expect to engage in more specialized programming, intentional peer-to-peer engagement, and a continued tradition of providing Emerging Leaders with project-based learning opportunities."

The EL cohort consists of individuals from across the U.S. and Canada. The participants commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and may have an opportunity to serve on an ALA, division, chapter, round table, or affiliate committee or workgroup upon completion.

This year, approximately sixty-one (61%) percent of participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors include ALA divisions, roundtables, the National Associations of Librarians of Color, state chapters, and ALA affiliate organizations. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader to help defray costs of attending the LibLearnX and the ALA Annual Conferences.

The complete list of the selected participants and sponsoring organizations can be found on the Emerging Leader’s webpage.

The ALA Emerging Leaders program is managed by the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment(HRDR)."