This week we are featuring a guest post by Ashley Krenelka Chase, author of the critically acclaimed title Millennial Leadership in Libraries.

I’m a millennial (technically the Oregon Trail Generation [or Xennial]), which is probably obvious from my work on Millennial Leadership in Libraries, which I was fortunate enough to have published by Hein in 2018. I don’t know when or why I started feeling so passionately about my generation being important to my professional identity (though it may have been when a former colleague told me that writing about generational issues isn’t worth doing), but it is. I distinctly remember turning 30 and thinking Well, maybe now people at work will take me seriously.  Six years later I’m still not sure that they do, but I figure a couple of books can’t hurt!

Law school was a wakeup call for me, and I remember calling my dad, after my first semester grades rolled in, and telling him I was going to drop out and become a tattoo artist. There were expletives exchanged, and I stayed in school, which was probably for the best. My attitude towards law school changed significantly when I started taking electives like antitrust and entertainment law, and I was taken with the idea of using my law degree to work in publishing.  Little did I know the publishing would be in the form of writing and editing law- and library-related scholarship!

Working in publishing didn’t pan out, and I started work as a law clerk in a family law firm while I tried to figure out what to do with my life. (And yes, I do realize that is a very millennial thing to say.) Working in family law was the push I needed to understand that I did not want to be a lawyer, and I was fortunate to have a colleague who encouraged me to pursue librarianship.  Once I started my Master’s program in library and information science I was hooked. Libraries are filled with the most wonderful people, and I finally loved what I was doing. I felt like I belonged.

I love working in libraries and feel strongly about the work that we do and how millennials in leadership positions are transforming librarianship. The viewpoints gathered in Millennial Leadership in Libraries are varied and passionate—and not always kind to millennials—but together they paint a picture of what libraries will look like in the future, with millennials leading in various roles. Millennials are a lot of things: tech-savvy, narcissistic, innovative, concerned with diversity, highly–educated, passionate, and curious.  We’re connected with our communities and want to make a difference in the world. We like to work together. We like to work from home, and who cares if that home is in our parents’ basement?  Like every generation before us, we’re going to change the world (including libraries), and hopefully leave it better than we found it.

My sincere hope is that Millennial Leadership in Libraries will open the door to more positive conversations about how generations can impact the library and legal professions, and I’m hoping to continue and shift the conversation with my next project, Millennial Leadership in Law Schools:  Essays on Disruption, Innovation, and the Future. Stay tuned!

It is not only important for millennial librarians to have a base of literature from which they can draw information, guidance, or inspiration, it is also important for librarians from other generations to understand what millennial librarians have to offer and how their entry into library leadership will affect the profession. This book, with chapters written by librarians from every generation and from libraries of all kinds, seeks to fill that void.

• Section I: These chapters focus on the need for a new generation of leaders in libraries. They are written by librarians of all generations who explain why librarians should embrace this change.
• Section II: In section two, the authors focus on the difference between generations and touch on how librarians must work together to bridge the gap between past, present, and future.
• Section III: This section includes chapters which detail how millennial leaders work in libraries including outreach, marketing, blogging, and collaborating.
• Section IV: The focus for this section is for current library leaders who are seeking to bring millennial leaders into the library. Current library administration may have trouble recruiting the younger generation.
• Section V: These chapters discuss career planning for millennial librarians. The authors provide information on professional development, leadership training, and alternative leadership skills to the next generation of library leaders.

Millennial Leadership in Libraries
Item #: 1006218
ISBN: 978-0-8377-4081-2
Pages: xxxv, 453p.
1 Volume……$99.00
Published: Getzville; William S. Hein & Co., Inc.; 2018

To learn more about this book and about researching Millennials in the workforce, check out these similar blogs:

• Millennial Leadership in Libraries…and Beyond
• Millennials Are Changing the World: Don’t @ Me