It is not enough that you have big dreams and plans. I should be able to communicate with my co-staff and co-volunteers the essence of why are we doing such activities and the importance of their contribution to our end goals.The quote above appears on "Leadership Lessons," one of the projects of ALA's Emerging Leaders. But no, the speaker is not an American. Instead, he is the only non-American among the 72 American librarians featured on the site. His name is Troy Lacsamana, a Filipino librarian.
Lacsamana has been featured on this blog before, primarily in connection with his role as founder of Aklatang Pambata. But as the "Leadership Lessons" interview reveals, he is now a multimedia librarian at the Quezon City Public Library, which I suspect owes its impressive website and online catalog to Lacsamana's efforts. In spite of his numerous professional responsibilities—and that he is newly married—he continues with his personal advocacy of building community libraries and reading centers.
I don't quite know how PRC's Outstanding Librarians of the Year are chosen (does anyone?), but I certainly think Lacsamana at least deserves to be nominated. Or, if he's too young, maybe there should be another award for librarians forty years of age or younger. This is something that the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation instituted in 2001 with its awards for "Emergent Leadership." Perhaps an award like this will show that you don't have to be the director of a library or close to retirement to be an outstanding librarian.
