During the month of April, I’ll be participating in the 2017 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. For this year’s theme, I chose to look at leadership qualities as I’ve just recently (within the past 6 months) become the director of my public library. We have about 50 staff members, most of whom are part-time employees serving a 30,000 resident community by providing high-quality programs and resources. Each day, I’ll look at one trait and how it’s helped me to become a better director. I’ve been a member of my national and state associations since I graduated almost ten years ago. It allows me to connect to colleagues across the country and even the world – which means any time I have a question about what to do, I have a host of librarians who are more than willing to share their opinions with me. I also think that my volunteer work with these associations have helped me become the person I am. I’ve done a number of different things – Publicity Committee for the State Annual Conference, Youth Services Division Chair, member of the Cruise Into Kindergarten steering committee, and member of the ALA – Children’s Book Council. Although this often adds more work to my already busy schedule, the connections, friendships, and information I have gained from these positions has really helped me so much to become the leader I am today. I’m taking a little bit of time off of my volunteer work to really focus on my new position, but I doubt that I’ll spend much time away, as I enjoy giving back to these associations and I feel that I really gain some valuable knowledge in each position that I volunteer for.