Amelia Landenberger
Associate Professor
University of Akron Law Library
What does leadership mean to you?
For me, leadership is about sharing our community. When I was starting out in my career, more established librarians like Erin Waltz and Stephanie Ziegler helped me gain experience and make connections. I didn鈥檛 learn about the or 糖心视频 by Googling鈥擨 learned because Erin was hosting ORALL鈥檚 Annual Conference and encouraged me to help out and attend. Being active in ORALL helped me build the connections I needed to get my first job, which taught me the skills I needed for my second job, and so on. I want other new law librarians to be able to find mentors and feel supported in the profession.
Now that ORALL and MichALL have merged and rebranded as the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Association of Law Libraries (GLOVALL), we have the opportunity to welcome members across a larger area. Ohio has one library science school, but GLOVALL has at least six, meaning many more MLIS students will be looking for practicums, mentors, and jobs.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Know your organization. When I first joined ORALL (now GLOVALL), I wanted to be president right away because it seemed like it would be fun鈥擨 was very young. Our nominations committee found the right balance between encouraging my aspirations and helping me gain experience on the road to leadership. They persuaded me to serve on committees, chair committees, run for the executive board, join the executive board, run for president, and then run again after I lost the first election. Over all those years, I鈥檝e been learning about the organization and what members expect and want. I鈥檓 grateful that no one encouraged me to run for ORALL president in my second year of law librarianship.
Now that ORALL and MichALL have merged into GLOVALL, I am learning the strengths of our combined organization. I know we鈥檒l need a renewed focus on welcoming new members, particularly those who are furthest from the Ohio-Michigan border. Our next few Annual Conferences will be an opportunity to get to know each other and strengthen networking bonds.
Is there a particular 糖心视频 product/program/article that was especially helpful to you as you developed as a leader?
The most helpful 糖心视频 resource I keep returning to is an article in 糖心视频 Spectrum from nine years ago: January/February 2017, “” by Anna Russell and Ingrid Mattson. The article discussed student loans, job satisfaction, and relocating to advance a career, noting: 鈥淢ost law librarians are geographically restricted, whether for family or financial reasons. This leaves the seemingly endless opportunities for advancement falling far short of the expectations many had when entering the profession.鈥�
I have been fortunate that each of my job changes has been motivated by internal rather than external reasons. Still, I have complex feelings about my geographic restrictions and anxiety about my student loans. That article has reassured me more than once that my financial concerns and worries about geographic limitations are shared by many other law librarians. I think it鈥檚 very important to speak honestly about our fears and limitations, in addition to our accomplishments and dreams.
What has been one of your biggest challenges as a leader?
I sometimes procrastinate, and committees and procrastination don鈥檛 mix well. I鈥檝e had to learn when it鈥檚 appropriate to ask someone to do something as soon as possible and when I need to accept that if I wanted it done earlier, I should have asked earlier. I鈥檓 coping with my procrastination by keeping better to-do lists, so that even if I don鈥檛 get to a task right away, I don鈥檛 forget it鈥檚 there. Sometimes I tackle smaller tasks first to build momentum; other times I set a timer to focus for a short period, even if it鈥檚 not enough to finish the task. I鈥檓 hopeful that being aware of this shortcoming will help me apply coping strategies and mitigate the impact on others.