Future Forward. Leading into the Future

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."—Bill Gates.

Good leaders empower others not only to be successful, but to become leaders themselves. As you prepare to lead into the future think about your leadership role in three different arenas: your school/district, your state, and beyond your state borders. Consider not only how you can become a leader, but also how you can empower others in these three arenas.

Leadership in Your School/District

I can remember a teacher telling me, "It must be nice to be a school librarian. All you have to do is read and check out books." Let's just say that was a teachable moment for explaining all the hats a school librarian actually wears. In too many cases, administrators, classroom teachers, and parents still equate librarians with checking out books and developing readers. Yes, these are important aspects of being a school librarian, but we are so much more. We empower our students and our teachers to become digital citizens. We lead the charge in educational technology trends. We prepare students for college and career readiness. And we support the development of successful schools.

Unfortunately, unless we advocate for ourselves and the profession, our ability to empower others may be limited. In order for good leaders to empower others, there have to be opportunities for that empowerment to occur. You may not feel comfortable advocating for yourself and the profession, but in today's world of budget cuts and disappearing school library positions, you have to step out of the comfort zone. Make sure that your administrators know what you do and why it matters. Reach out to classroom teachers and take the first step toward collaboration. Don't wait for them to come to you—go to them. Take steps to become a leader in your school or district. Look for opportunities that are available to you. Volunteer for building and district committees—especially those where the library can have a direct impact. If you don't find them, be proactive and speak to your administration about what you can do to support the mission of the school and district. Look for opportunities to lead, to empower others, and to show everything that school librarians do.

Leadership in Your State

As I finish writing this, I'm attending my state school librarian annual conference. Seeing librarians from other schools and districts that I haven't seen since the last conference reinforces to me how isolating our role can sometimes be. In many cases, school librarians are the only librarian in their school. Because of that, it's important to develop a professional network to support what you do. Professional networks offer librarians the opportunity to not only learn from each other, but also to develop leadership capacity as well.

Begin by looking at what's available in your state. Do you have a state school library organization? If so, are you a member? Do you contribute to the organization? Becoming active at the state level will afford you the opportunity to learn from other leaders in the state and to develop your own leadership skills. It opens a road to becoming a leader in your state as you grow, develop, and share your knowledge and skills. I've been on the state board for our school library association for eight years. During this time I've had great opportunities to network with others in the state and to learn from their expertise. In order to become a good leader, you have to develop your leadership skills and involvement in your state organization is a great way to do that.

Leadership beyond Your State

I know you're probably thinking, "I don't have time for everything my job already requires, yet alone have a personal life, and now you want me to take on leadership opportunities?!" The answer is yes—but you don't have to be overwhelmed by the thought. You can become a leader in small ways. I talk with school librarians about developing professional learning networks. The issue I see in many cases is that people will join these networks, but only remain consumers of the information they find. They read Twitter feeds, follow blog posts, and gather information from some of the leaders in the field to improve their own teaching—they consume, but don't contribute. Become a leader by taking the leap and lending your voice to the discussion. Join in the conversations and offer some of the ideas that you've tried—successful or not. If we all become contributors, we expand our knowledge, learn from one another, and continue to develop strong school librarians. We empower each other.