In the SLA Board of Directors election, running Sept. 10-Oct. 1, members will choose from four candidates for Director, to fill two slots: Jessica Baumgart, Michael Kim, Daniel Lee and Nettie Seaberry. (For complete biographies, please click the link for each candidate.)
Jessica Baumgart, is a quality assurance engineer for Renesys (Manchester, N.H.), ensuring the software works properly, contributes to product design, handles support, logs issues, blogs, and gardens the corporate wiki. Baumgart mostly telecommutes from the Boston area. She previously worked as a news librarian, and is active in the News, Solo, and Information Technology (IT) Divisions and Boston Chapter. She mentors students and first-time conference attendees. Noted for her weblog about news librarianship, j's scratchpad, and her interest in technology, Jessica participates in a number of tech groups. Watch her video speech.
SLA can expand by reaching out to complementary industries, students and the international library community, Baumgart tells members. "Through SLA I've learned about key trends in the profession, many new and vital skills and the importance of networking," she says. "Keeping ourselves up to date is a huge challenge. Doing that with an entire professional association raises the bar quite a bit."
Michael Kim, of Coral Gables, Fla., is Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services at the University of Miami Libraries. Kim was an intelligence officer in the Air Force of his native South Korea. Before moving to Miami, Kim worked as a librarian at Oklahoma State University Library. He has been a section chair, editor and secretary for SLA's IT Division, as well as president-elect of the Oklahoma Chapter. Watch his video speech.
Kim notes that less than 5 percent of SLA members are from outside North America, and SLA has opportunity to grow throughout the world. "I think out of the box, and most importantly I ask with my funny foreign accent why and why not," Kim tells members. "I would like to keep asking questions about out future and innovation. ... I believe in the SLA members' imagination, curiosity and initiatives."
Daniel Lee is a Research Librarian for Navigator Ltd., a research-based communications and strategic counsel firm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Previously, Lee managed Web-based content for a professional organization and provided information services at an e-learning company. He has served in multiple roles of the SLA Toronto Chapter, and is the chapter's current president. Lee is active in the SLA's Innovation Laboratory, Leadership and Management Division and Diversity Leadership Development Program. Watch his video speech.
As an SLA Director, Lee would focus on "leadership, volunteers and technology." "We must provide an environment that allows for our volunteers to experiment with and explore the various dimensions of leadership," Lee says. "SLA needs to continue to invest, be it time, talent, ideas or money, into technologies that support the valuable contribution of our volunteer workforce and the continuing learning and skills development of our members." Examples of technological tools Lee has helped to develop are the SLA Wiki Spaces (including the Chapter Idea Bank) and the Innovation Laboratory.
Nettie Seaberry, of New York City, is the Director of the Minority Business Information Center at the National Minority Supplier Development Council. She is a solo librarian responsible for development, implementation and administration of the Information Center, and coordinates and oversees volunteers at the organization's national conferences. Previously, she spent 20 years as a librarian at Reader's Digest. Within SLA, she chaired the Affirmative Action Committee and helped launch the Diverse Issues and Gay and Lesbian Issues Caucuses. She is a previous New York Chapter president and has mentored several SLA leaders. Watch her video speech.
"A big part of success as a leader is the ability to (encourage) your peers to move outside their comfort zone, but assure them although it's a new path, it's the right path and it's for the right reason," she says. "A good leader inspires people to have confidence in their leader, but a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves. SLA is a great leader."
Post corrected Aug. 31 to clarify Jessica Baumgart's residence and business locations.