While combing through this week’s reading materials, I read Loida Garcia-Febo’s article titled “Serving with Love: Embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion in all that we do”. Upon encountering this article, I thought to myself, “Wow, the timing couldn’t be better”. Currently, as I write this reflection post, I am sitting in front of Gate H6 at O’Hare International Airport waiting to board my return flight back to LAX.
You may be wondering, “That’s so random… why?”
This week is the ALA 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition, and I was invited to attend the Spectrum Leadership Institute as one of the scholars in the 2025-2026 cohort. With this opportunity, I met and networked with upcoming librarians and library professionals who are also BIPOC. Many of the stories shared between scholars, panelists, and keynote speakers embraced the values as highlighted in previous ALA President Garcia-Febo’s article, especially fighting for people from vulnerable groups and creating community spaces that reflect the needs of those people (Garcia-Febo, 2018). I was truly moved by the energy in the conference room and felt a sense of solidarity from a bunch of strangers from different parts of the country who share the same heart.
At today’s lunch reception, before I trekked over to the airport, we had our current ALA President-Elect Tamika Barnes speak a little about her hopes for the scholars and her lifelong experience up until her current leadership position at ALA. She reminisced about her days as a reference librarian and her transition to management and leadership. One of the scholars posed a great question regarding leadership and how to be an effective leader. Barnes’ response mirrored what Stephens (@michael) wrote in “The Heart of Librarianship” and the importance of listening. Listen to what people want and what their requests are; at the same time, pay attention to what they are not saying and the services they are not utilizing (Stephens, 2016, p. 43).
I am incredibly grateful and honored to be a part of the Spectrum family and ALA community. It gives me hope to see more faces that look like mine in this profession. I am looking forward to my journey forward as a hyperlinked librarian and building a foundation where communities can thrive.
References
Garcia-Febo, L. (2018, November 1). Serving with love: Embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion in all that we do. American Libraries Magazine. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/11/01/serving-with-love/
Stephens, M. (2016). The heart of librarianship: Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. ALA Editions. https://www.dropbox.com/s/gc9ecokb972xgil/HeartofLibrarianship.pdf?dl=0