In moments of uncertainty, professional associations matter most.
Academic libraries are navigating shifting funding models, evolving policy environments, rapid technological change, and workforce pressures that affect institutions of every size. In times like these, it can be tempting to swing toward extremes—either prolonged deliberation that delays action, or reactive decision-making driven by urgency. Neither approach serves our profession well.
Professional associations exist to help us find the balance.
They provide the structure that allows collective wisdom to become coordinated action. They create the space where complex issues can be explored thoughtfully, where disagreements can be surfaced constructively, and where values guide strategy rather than fear dictating pace.
But associations are not abstract entities. They are built—and sustained—by the participation, trust, and leadership of their members.
From Section Work to Strategic Direction
One of the most important lessons I have learned through association service is that strategy does not begin at the Board table. It begins in conversations.
Section committees, interest groups, and discussion forums are where emerging issues are first identified. They are where members test ideas, surface tensions, and share practices that later inform broader priorities. Over time, those conversations coalesce into frameworks, programming, professional development initiatives, and—eventually—strategic direction.
When this process works well, it reflects a healthy association ecosystem:
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Members identify challenges.
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Committees refine and explore them.
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Leadership synthesizes and aligns them.
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Staff operationalize them sustainably.
This cycle requires structure. It also requires communication and trust.
Sustainable association leadership depends on recognizing both.
Leadership as Infrastructure
We often speak about leadership in personal terms—vision, mentorship, influence. Those qualities matter deeply. But in associations, leadership also functions as infrastructure.
Leadership is the practice of:
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Creating psychologically safe spaces for members to contribute.
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Ensuring that ideas from across institution types are surfaced and heard.
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Aligning initiatives with available resources and staff capacity.
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Translating values into policies and programs that endure beyond any one individual’s term.
Executive leadership in an association context is not about control. It is about coordination. It is about building systems where distributed leadership can thrive.
I have long believed in what I call “leadership from the middle”—the idea that influence and initiative are not confined to title. In association work, this principle becomes especially powerful. When members feel empowered to lead within committees, sections, and working groups, the association becomes more adaptive and more representative.
Strong executive leadership does not diminish that distributed energy. It channels it.
Moving Beyond the Echo Chamber
Professional associations must continually guard against becoming echo chambers—spaces where familiar voices dominate and certain institution types shape the conversation disproportionately.
Academic librarianship includes research-intensive institutions, regional universities, community colleges, small private colleges, and highly specialized libraries. Each context experiences our profession differently.
Strategic planning that reflects only one segment weakens the whole.
When associations intentionally elevate perspectives across institutional size, geography, and role, they build more resilient frameworks. Challenges faced by small libraries often anticipate broader systemic shifts. Innovations piloted in large research environments can inform scalable adaptation elsewhere. Specialized libraries frequently navigate resource constraints that require creative collaboration.
A healthy association integrates all of these insights—not as symbolic inclusion, but as strategic necessity.
Values, Technology, and Intentional Change
Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, present both opportunity and complexity. Associations play a critical role in ensuring that innovation remains aligned with professional ethics—privacy, equity, intellectual freedom, and access.
The question is not whether change will occur. It is how intentionally we shape it.
Professional associations can:
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Provide forums for thoughtful exploration.
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Develop adaptable guidance rather than rigid mandates.
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Offer peer-learning environments that reduce isolation.
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Ensure that implementation conversations include ethical considerations from the outset.
When guided by shared values, technology becomes a tool for creativity and critical inquiry rather than a source of fragmentation.
Steady Leadership for Shared Progress
At their best, professional associations are places of belonging and forward movement. They allow us to step outside our individual institutions and see the profession as a collective endeavor.
This requires steady leadership—leadership that listens carefully, aligns thoughtfully, and acts deliberately. It requires transparency in decision-making, respect for staff capacity, and recognition that sustainable growth depends on both structure and trust.
Associations are not strengthened by urgency alone. They are strengthened by clarity of purpose and a commitment to shared progress.
The future of academic librarianship will be shaped not by any single leader, but by how well we build systems that allow many leaders to emerge. Professional associations provide the architecture for that emergence.
When structure and community reinforce one another, the profession advances with confidence, resilience, and integrity
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