News & Noteworthy

LITA Welcomes Two Emerging Leaders

lita: empowering libraries through technology

ALA’s Emerging Leaders program enables newer library workers to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. LITA is thrilled to sponsor these two excellent emerging leaders.

Aisha Conner-Gaten headshot

Aisha Conner-Gaten, intersectional librarian, activist, and tech enthusiast working at the William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Aisha is interested in emerging technologies, issues of equity and access in the library, and the role of librarians as social justice accomplices. Aisha’s experiences in activism mirror her leadership philosophy; showing what is possible by doing and then empowering others to do the same. She takes inspiration from an Alice Walker quote that she has used to guide her work: “Activism is my rent for living on the planet.”

Samantha Quinon headshotSamantha Quiñon, Assistant Director and Head of Research & Instruction at Lesley University Libraries in Cambridge (MA).

Samantha was the 2016-17 co-chair of ALA’s New Member Round Table Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee and an ACRL 2017 Teaching with Technology Immersion Program alumna. She recently led her library’s website reconstruction project using agile software development methodology and has given several individual and panel presentations at regional conferences on learning experience design for websites and critical pedagogy. Samantha takes inspiration from the words of Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

LITA is sponsoring two Emerging Leaders for 2018 thanks to donations from LITA members and supporters in celebration of our 50th anniversary. We look forward to learning more about these outstanding emerging leaders and the projects they will work on in upcoming LITA blog interviews.

Questions or Comments?

For any questions or comments related to LITA participation in the ALA Emerging Leaders program, contact LITA at (312) 280-4268 or Jenny Levine, jlevine@ala.org, or Mark Beatty, mbeatty@ala.org