Via press release
The ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) has selected John “Mack” Freeman, marketing and programming coordinator at West Georgia Regional Library, as its representative in the 2015 Emerging Leader program. In his position at WGRL, he is considered “a ‘Mack’ of all trades,” focusing on project management, outreach, and marketing.
Freeman is the chair of GLBTRT’s News Committee and the 2014 Gordon Conable Scholarship winner from the Freedom to Read Foundation. He is also is an active member of the Georgia Library Association, serving as vice-chair of its Scholarship Committee after winning the 2013 Charles Beard Scholarship.
Freeman brings a long and ongoing history of community involvement and spirit of volunteerism to his library experience. “Leadership isn’t always glamorous work,” said Freeman. “I have found that if I am willing to do whatever comes my way, larger opportunities will arise. I have found that I have to work in the trenches before I have the ability to lead or the know how to achieve goals. Thus, I have a developed a go-getter attitude that does not shrink from responsibility. Instead, it relishes in helping organizations achieve more all the time. Being involved is my hobby and my passion, and I don’t think that I will ever shy away from it.”
“We’re extremely excited to welcome Mack as the 2015 GLBTRT Emerging Leader,” said GLBTRT Chair Ann K. Symons. “Mack has brought to the RT a willingness to seize opportunities, or in other words, to look for a way to say ‘yes.’ He looks for opportunities to match his skills with what he sees as needs. In the case of the RT, this has mean a total overhaul of the way we distribute news and information. We expect big things for Mack in his career in his library system and within ALA.”
As GLBTRT’s representative for the 2015 Emerging Leader program, Freeman will attend the 2015 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago, as well as the 2015 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco. The Emerging Leaders program enables newer librarians from across the country to participate in workgroups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA’s structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. As an Emerging Leader Freeman receive $1,500 to participate in the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference.
GLBTRT is a round table of the American Library Association (ALA). With a network of more than 1,000 members, GLBTRT is committed to serving the information needs of the GLBT and allied professional library community, and the GLBT information and access needs of individuals at large. To learn more about GLBTRT, visit http://www.ala.org/glbtrt/glbtrt