Are you interested in moving MLA forward? Do you love where MLA is going? Do you not love where MLA is going? Do you want a voice in the direction of our profession and be able to have your concerns heard, voiced, and addressed? The 2013 MLA Nominating Committee is excited to identify potential candidates for the 2013/2014 election, but we need your help! If you would like to recommend someone to be nominated for President or the Board, or would like to be considered yourself, please send a current curriculum vitae and a paragraph outlining why the recommended person would be a good candidate to Julia Kochi (julia.kochi@ucsf.edu) by April 3rd.

The 2013 Nominating Committee members have reviewed the job descriptions for President Elect/President/Past President and Board members, and have discussed key attributes needed for candidates, including: a passion for the profession; the ability to articulate a vision; excellent people skills; political awareness at the local, regional, association, national, and international levels; proven record of leadership in MLA over a range of contexts; and the ability to motivate and build consensus. We also discussed the importance of diversity in selecting the slate – key issues to consider are geographic region, scope of experience, and library or information service type.

The process for selecting candidates and electing the MLA President-elect and members of the MLA Board is described on pages 2–3 of the MLA Bylaws (log in to MLANET to read this document). The slate will contain at least two candidates for President-elect (president for 2015/2016) and at least six candidates for the three vacant Board positions (2014/2015 –2016/2017). Job descriptions for President and Board members are available on MLANET. The Nominating Committee will meet at MLA ’13 to finalize the list of potential candidates.

I strongly encourage NCNMLG members to either nominate another member or to self-nominate so our region can be represented in the pool of nominees.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.