Caris O'Malley, Maricopa County Library District (MCLD) teen services manager, has been named a 2012 "Emerging Leader" by the American Library Association (ALA).
Emerging Leaders (EL) is an ALA leadership development program that enables newer library workers from across the county to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and serve the profession in a leadership capacity.
Participants commit to all aspects of the EL program: a day-long session during the January ALA Midwinter Meeting; six months of online learning and networking; and poster session at the June ALA Annual Conference to display the results of the project planning work of each group. O'Malley will join the video game evaluation committee whose EL project is to look at the growing prominence of video game collections in libraries and determine the criteria for evaluating their merit to communities.
Having joined MCLD in February 2011, O'Malley says his biggest accomplishment has been building relationships with teen services professionals. Innovative thinking is O'Malley's mantra.
O'Malley says that good leadership is all about collaboration. He encourages getting input and bringing decision-makers into the process. For more information about MCLD, visit www.mcldaz.org.
