What a great Leadership Summit in Dallas, TX! I attended last year’s summit in Atlanta, and I have to admit that, looking back, I was a bit overwhelmed. This year though I knew a little better what was going on, and I learned a lot! Listening to fellow librarians, the SLA board and staff was truly inspiring and eye-opening.

The news that we all were most excited about was the upcoming launch of the new SLA web site (thanks for the picture, Chris). It has a wonderfully clean look … way to go, HQ!

Despite the great weather in Dallas, we spent most of our time in conference rooms; but I haven’t heard anybody complain about it. The sessions were too interesting to do so. True to our current challenges, we heard and talked a lot about budget, membership retention and engagement, developing leadership skills etc. It’s a great experience to learn from other professionals, and in turn to share my own knowledge (which is, compared to others, very limited).

My favorite session was held by Jeffra Bussman (Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics Division) and Valerie Ryder (Philadelphia Chapter), who presented their division’s/chapter’s brand new strategic plans. Thanks to their hard work, other divisions (like mine) don’t have to reinvent the wheel but can use these documents as template to create their own plans for the future. Thanks, ladies and everyone involved in this effort!

Thanks to the following people to share their stories about how their involvement in SLA helped them in their careers as leaders: Richard Huffine, Ulla de Stricker, Sara Tompson, Stacey Greenwell and Tom Rink (the “guncarryinglibrarian” … gotta love this guy even if you are (like me) not a fan of guns).

Finally, this year’s Fellows and Rising Stars were announced by President Deb Hunt:

2013 Fellows: David Cappoli, Dennie Heye, Martha Foote, Mary Talley, Rebecca Vargha
2013 Rising Stars: Alyson Avery, Kendra Levine, Amy Sarola, Rachel Bates Wilfahrt, Aileen Marshall.

Thanks to all who made this summit a great experience! See you all in San Diego! And for those who can’t wait, check out this awesome kick-off video:

Last but not least a big thank you to all our sponsors, who made the summit possible!