CALA: A Path to the Future Library Leaders

In the past 50 years, CALA has demonstrated its efforts and achievements. At the 30th and 40th anniversary, publications have recorded CALA’s achievements with many individual stories. At CALA’s 50th Anniversary, we would like to highlight the outcomes of CALA’s efforts in supporting professional development, especially leadership development, through some successful examples. The examples will be focused on individuals who grew up as leaders with CALA and CALA presidents of the past ten years since 2013, the CALA’s 40th anniversary.

The Public Relations and Fundraising Committee (PR&F Committee) of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) is commemorating CALA's 50th anniversary by curating a collection under the theme of "CALA: A Path to the Future Library Leaders" in CALA's institutional repository. This interview protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Texas Tech University. The interviews were conducted with nine CALA presidents who served from 2015 to 2023 between November 2022 and March 2023. The interviews focus on the leadership experiences of these past, present, and future CALA presidents and their advice to new Chinese American librarians and CALA members. This collection includes nine transcriptions of interviews.

All interviewees expressed that their leadership roles were inspired and encouraged by previous leaders or members of CALA and that they had taken service opportunities to grow professionally with CALA. Many interviewees encouraged new librarians to get involved, as it broadens their network, develops friendships, and facilitates collaboration.

Overall, this collection provides an invaluable resource for those interested in leadership within CALA and beyond. It highlights the importance of mentorship and service opportunities in shaping successful leaders and the value of networking and collaboration within the profession.

• Wu, Jingjing; Liu, Weiling