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The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) is pleased to announce it is sponsoring Catie Sahadath (MLIS 2012, University of British Columbia) as its representative for the 2017 91´«Ã½ Emerging Leaders program.

As this year's LITA Emerging Leader, Sahadath will work with a group of fellow participants on LITA's project "Building Leadership in Virtual Engagement." The team will create a documented set of best practices for managing the work of volunteer-based committees and interest groups that will be applicable in both face to face and (especially) virtual settings. Sahadath will receive funding from LITA to attend the and the .

Sahadath currently works as the Social Sciences Data Librarian at the University of Ottawa, in Canada’s national capital. Previous to that, she was the Head of Metadata Development at the University of Calgary. Her interests include change management in the face of emerging technologies, future-proofing metadata for flexible reuse, and hacking data for the public good. Currently, she is working with R to aggregate, analyze, and visualize survey data as part of a multi-institutional study team investigating research data management needs in Canadian universities. she is excited for the opportunity to connect with other Emerging Leaders, as well as with members of LITA. Her career goals involve leadership in library technology, and she is enthusiastic about the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge from the Emerging Leaders program, which she can use to help her achieve these goals. You can connect with Sahadath on , , or .

The is a leadership development program that enables newer library workers from across the country to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into 91´«Ã½ structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. The Emerging Leader experience begins with a day-long session during the 91´«Ã½ Midwinter Meeting, followed by six months of project engagement through online learning and networking environments. The program culminates with a poster session presentation to display the results of the project planning work of each group at the 2017 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference in Chicago.

Established in 1966, LITA is the leading organization reaching out across types of libraries to provide education and services for a broad membership of more than 2,500 system librarians, library administrators, library schools, vendors, and many others interested in leading edge technology and applications for librarians and information providers. For more information, , or contact the LITA office at 800-545-2433, ext. 4268 or email us at lita@ala.org.