A local librarian is receiving national recognition as a leader in the field.
Kirsten Weaver is one of 50 librarians accepted to the American Library Association’s (ALA) “Emerging Leaders” program for next year. Since 2010, she has worked at Frankfort Community Public Library. She specializes in Teen Services.
Weaver says the program involves attending meetings, collaborating on group projects, and exploring leadership possibilities.
She plans to continue working with teenagers, and hopes to refine her skills through the Emerging Leaders experience.
"You know, there's nothing better than when you have a kid come in and you've given them a book the day before or the week before and they come in so excited to talk to you about it because they loved it. This is what I wanted to do when I went to grad school, I wanted to work with the teenagers."
The program starts in January and Weaver says she is eager to start.
"In January we will meet for our first meeting. Then we will be put into groups and we will have projects that we will work on for six months. And then we'll present about those projects in a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Library Association."
The meetings will involve collaborative work among librarians from all over the nation.
Weaver also received sponsorship from the ALA’s Black Caucus for travel expenses to the events in Seattle and Chicago.