Board Candidate

CLA’s mission ( http://www.cla-net.org/?page=A3 ) emphasizes community, leadership, advocacy, and learning. I want to help CLA achieve that mission and provide maximum value to our members and not-yet-members for the benefit of our whole state.  

The landscape for continuing education and leadership development in the state is experiencing a major shift, and there is a big opportunity for CLA to take on a greater role in training and professional development for the library community. We need to be able to help resource-strapped libraries and staff continue to learn, develop, and innovate. This is a passion of mine and I’m excited by the opportunity to help CLA meet this challenge and take a leadership role in the transition.

The California library community is diverse and dynamic, and needs CLA to be an organization that can help libraries and their stakeholders meet the needs of their communities and thrive. Great work has been done in recent years to improve CLA’s financial stability and to increase the benefit of CLA to its members, but there is more to do:
    ·  We can improve our advocacy efforts to provide greater benefit to libraries throughout the state.
    ·  We can make it easier to get involved, and provide meaningful opportunities for involvement for differing levels of
       experience and commitment.
    ·  We can provide quality leadership development opportunities that serve the needs of more people and      
       organizations.
    ·  We can position CLA to address future challenges, even as we work to meet current needs.
    ·  We can have fun and celebrate the great work that libraries do every day!

Biography

Genesis Hansen is the Director of Library & Cultural Services for the City of Mission Viejo, Vice Chair of the Executive Committee for the Santiago Library System, and a member of the Infopeople Advisory Board. She has been involved in many aspects of library service over the course of her career, beginning as a Reference and Young Adult services Librarian, and eventually overseeing Circulation, Technical Services, Reference and Web Services. She was a Eureka! Leadership Institute Fellow and Mentor, and has been involved with CLA in various capacities, serving on the Conference Committee in 2010, 2011, and 2013, and on the Leadership Development Committee for a 3-year term ending in 2015.