 |
Biography
Genesis Hansen has been the Director of the Mission Viejo Library since 2014. She has a passion for public service, leadership development, and libraries as partners in our communities’ success. She has worked with Mission Viejo staff to expand library services and capacity through grant funding, enabling expansion of early literacy programs and services, technology, local history, teen services, and more. She is currently wrapping up an LSTA grant for a Disability Needs Assessment in Mission Viejo, and working with the City Manager, Recreation Director and community members to develop a City framework for equity, diversity, and inclusion.
|
|
She has been involved
in CLA in a variety of capacities over the years, including serving on
the Board from 2016 – 2019; Leadership Development Committee; Conference
Program Committee (currently serving for the 3rd time);
Conference Sponsorship Chair. She also helped develop and lead CLA’s
grant-funded program Developing Leaders for California Libraries. She
was a Eureka! Leadership Institute Fellow in 2008, a mentor in 2010 and
2014, and served on the Infopeople Advisory Board.
On a personal note, she lives in Orange County with her husband, Eric, and her sons, Calvin and Henrik. She enjoys getting out in nature and forces herself to run for the health and stress-relief benefits, but at heart is a couch potato and is happiest when curled up with a good book (a total librarian cliché, but it’s true!).
Candidate Statement
The California Library Association is facing a time of tremendous challenge and tremendous opportunity in the coming years. As a professional organization, we have to reckon with the unprecedented and still largely unknown long-term impacts of the pandemic and resultant economic fallout on our membership, the organizations we represent, and the communities we serve. We have to reckon with our relevance and financial viability as an organization when some of our traditional revenue streams are severely diminished. And we absolutely must reckon with systemic racism and inequity in our society and in our profession. It’s natural to be intimidated or overwhelmed by these challenges. But they also represent a huge opportunity for positive change. I believe that if we face these issues with commitment, courage, and humility we can capitalize on good work that has already been done, bring about needed change, and continue moving our organization and profession towards a more positive, equitable and sustainable future.
Questionaire
1. How do you define leadership? In simple terms, leadership is the ability to motivate people to work together towards a shared vision or goal. However, I believe GOOD leadership also means doing so with integrity, empathy, and accountability towards the people you lead and the people you serve.
2. Why are you interested in this position? I care deeply about our profession and the work we do in our communities, and I care deeply about CLA and its role in supporting and furthering that work. This is a critical time and I want to be involved in making sure that we continue to move forward as an organization and a profession while facing unprecedented challenges.
3. How would you describe your personal leadership/communication style? I approach leadership from a coaching and mentoring perspective, trying to help people work from their strengths while encouraging personal and professional growth. I want to help people be and do their best.
4. What strengths would you bring to the position? I see opportunities within challenges, and I’m not afraid of change. I’m good at listening to different perspectives and synthesizing information in a way that helps people hear and understand each other better. I’m good at shifting between big picture perspective and immediate day-to-day reality.
5. What experience do you bring to this position? I have been a part of CLA in a variety of capacities, so I have a lot of familiarity with the organization and how it works. My recent term on the Board was particularly valuable in understanding the finances and internal operations of CLA. I have many years of experience of direct service to the public, both inside and outside of libraries, and many years of leadership experience in Libraries and in other professional and non-professional capacities.
6. What issues or trends are particularly informing your work at this time?I listed some of the key issues in my candidate statement: the pandemic has already had huge impacts on our capacity to serve our communities, and will continue to affect us for a long time. Finding creative ways to continue to support and serve in constantly changing circumstances is taxing work, but necessary to our continued viability.
I think it’s really important for organizations to do some difficult reflection on our role in perpetuating systems of inequity. We have to move away from a defensive posture centered on our good intentions, and look at the actual effects of our actions and the systems we work in every day. It’s vital that those of us who are in positions of relative privilege step up and do the hard work of equity and inclusion so that the labor doesn’t fall solely on those who are already subjected to inequities on a daily basis.
7. Who are the thought leaders (in libraries or in other fields) who interest you?I’ve had the great privilege this year of working with one of my heroes in Disability justice, Alice Wong. She’s a fierce and passionate advocate and thought leader in that space, and also (as it happens) a lover of libraries. She has really challenged me to examine my areas of thoughtlessness and the things I take for granted, and has done it a level of empathy and compassion I don’t deserve. I’ve learned so much from her.
Brene Brown is one of my leadership touchstones. Her work on shame, vulnerability, and courage is key to my understanding of leadership and my role as a leader.
Education is also top of mind right now, and an area I’m starting to dig into in more depth: it intersects with so many other issues like racial justice and equity, the role of government in society, and how to best support learners. Libraries have always had a place in the educational ecosystem, but I think we will have new opportunities due to pandemic-related changes and I’m looking for people who are seeing and capitalizing on those opportunities.
8. Who are the regional and statewide stakeholders libraries need to be in communication with? I think we need to continue advocating with our state, regional, and local officials – not just asking for what we need but demonstrating the value we provide and that we are a key player in developing vibrant communities.
We need to connect in a deeper and more meaningful way with professional and community organizations that are addressing big issues: with limited resources available, we have to be smart about how we work, and that means finding ways to support and maximize work that’s already being done rather than trying to re-create the wheel. Who are the local community organizations that are already working on equity, on homelessness, on food insecurity, and how can we partner with them to maximize the benefit to our communities?
What do you feel are the most critical challenges and opportunities facing California libraries right now?
I’ve addressed this is previous answers, so in this one I’ll focus a bit more on the question of sustainability as individual organizations and as a profession. Libraries are organizations that are in highest demand when we have the fewest resources, because during difficult economic times our budgets get cut but our communities’ needs increase. I think it’s critical for us to position ourselves as an essential instrument of community vitality in order to carve out the resources we need to do our best work. As an organization CLA needs to find new revenue streams beyond conference attendance to ensure our continued viability and enable us to do more for our membership.
9. Describe your experience serving on Association committees and/or interest groups. I’ve been on the Conference committee 4 times, once as Sponsorship Chair, and am currently serving on the Program Committee for the 3rd time. It’s been a great way to get to know people from around the state, learn about the needs and desires of all of our stakeholders and work to meet those needs within the framework of a conference. I’ve interacted with people at all levels, including vendors, to help build our offerings and make the conference a rich and rewarding experience for those who attend.
I also served on the Leadership Development Committee, working to identify and recruit candidates for CLA offices, and helped implement the Developing Leaders for California Libraries grant program to provide ongoing leadership development opportunities statewide.
10. Describe your network of connections with library professionals and library stakeholders in California. I have been incredibly fortunate over the course of my career to build relationships with people around the state. Through my work in CLA, serving on the Infopeople Advisory Board, and involvement in the Eureka! Leadership Institute and the DLCL grants, I have been able to collaborate with people at all levels in libraries and library-adjacent organizations. I’ve also worked with a great many library vendors throughout the course of my career, which came in handy when I was working on conference sponsorships!
|
Translate
Print Page