By Kathy Lowe
A professional is a proactive leader. Proactive leaders stay up to date on developments in their fields. They seek out trends and find out what's happening on the cutting edge so that they are prepared, and can help their colleagues prepare, for change. In our profession, this is a real challenge because change has become a constant. It's important to keep up by joining state, regional and national professional organizations, attending their conferences, reading their journals, visiting their web sites regularly, and these days, reading some of the many library blogs that abound on the Web. But most important is to become actively involved in some way. Every organization offers its members a variety of participation options. Right now AASL is begging its members to run for ALA Council and there are a multitude of AASL and ALA committees, requiring varying levels of commitment, from which to choose. MSLA is always looking for members to submit articles to MSLA Forum, participate in planning our conference, serve on committees, lobby at the State House, and to contribute displays for our Legislation Day or the Exploratorium at our conference. So many of us are inclined to wait for someone else to respond, to step-up, to speak out. Or we hang back and wait to be asked, complaining about "cliques" and "in-groups". The reality is that everyone is needed and welcome to be proactively involved in promoting and advocating for our programs and us. If you wait for someone else to do it for you, it might never get done. If you see a need, don't ask "Why aren't 'they' doing something about this?" or "Why haven't 'they' invited me to join?" Instead, decide what YOU CAN DO to affect change, put yourself out there, and then - JUST DO IT!
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 June 2007 )
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What is Professionalism? 
