MEDIA, Pa. — Jane Homan, library operations supervisor at Penn State Brandywine, has completed the American Library Association’s (ALA) Emerging Leader program. The program allows 50 newer library workers from across the United States to network with peers, engage in professional development opportunities and participate in problem-solving exercises over the course of one year.

“I’m fairly new to working in libraries, and I’m hoping to be a librarian someday, so I figured this would be a great opportunity to learn more about the field,” Homan said. “It was highly recommended by so many librarians across ALA. It was also a great way to get experiences at conferences since there are two held each year.”

Over the past year, Homan has engaged with the Sustainability Round Table and Rainbow Round Table groups within ALA and has traveled to Baltimore and San Diego for conferences. To prepare for the conferences, Homan met with her Emerging Leader cohort to create presentations that would be shown at the conference in San Diego.

“My cohort made a poster and giveaways to educate people about carbon offsets and how they impact conferences, as well as what they can do at the conference to help sustainability,” she said. “What I really learned from my cohort was how many librarians are passionate about and want to make an impact on sustainability. You just have to allow them to do so in an affordable way.”

Homan was able to participate in the Emerging Leaders program and attend the conferences because she was selected to be sponsored by the Pennsylvania Library Association to represent the organization. She represented both Penn State and Pennsylvania at the conferences in Baltimore and San Diego. 

“Since Emerging Leaders are required to attend the conferences, I was able to get a sponsor through the Pennsylvania Library Association to help with the travel costs of getting to Baltimore and San Diego,” she said. “You have to be a member of the organization to get a sponsor. I was able to make deeper connections due to my sponsorship in the organization.”

Throughout her time in the program, Homan learned about her leadership style and working with a team, she said.

“I really learned about who I am, what type of leader I am and how to work with others on a team through my different cohorts,” she said.

Now that Homan has completed her tenure in the Emerging Leader program, she hopes to take the skills she’s learned and incorporate them into her job at Brandywine. She said she wants to be a resource for students not only about books but for any topic they need help with.

“As a leader at the library, I want to be a resource where people can come to me for books in the library as well as any related topics they need help with,” she said. “I also want to continue to bring awareness for the library in general — it’s not just for studying. We do a lot more here to help our students.”