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Description

This presentation will focus on the lived experience of a librarian who recently moved into a large middle management role at a sizable R1 institution, while adjusting to a new discovery of their neurodiversity. Through discussing their lived experience, the presenter hopes to illustrate some of the lessons about neurodiversity in their current leadership role. They will also discuss their new journey into understanding their life as a neurodivergent person and how it intersects with their career. Finally, while this presentation will provide tips that the presenter has found helpful in their experience with neurodiversity and library leadership, it will also stress that part of neurodiversity is a lack of universality to our experiences. The presentation will address the importance of discovering what works on your own path. It will also discuss how to work with your neurodiverse colleagues to discover what will help them best succeed in their roles in their own institutions.

Learning Objectives

• For anyone who may work with neurodivergent librarians, you will learn how neurodivergent librarians might struggle in neurotypical spaces and how you can better support or understand neurodiverse ways of being in the workplace.

• For individuals at the higher levels (dean/associate dean/ branch manager/director) you will better understand the importance of your role in supporting neurodiverse librarians in middle management positions as advocates and mentors.

• Neurodiverse individuals in attendance will learn techniques for better adjusting to a management position in libraries directly from a neurodiverse librarian who has been through the process.

Who Should Attend

Library management, neurodiverse librarians, any librarians that work with neurodiverse staff

Presenter

Michael Holt is the Head of Research and Instruction Services at Louisiana State University.Accessibility Information.

Accessibility Information

If you have questions or requests regarding accessibility, contact ce@ala.org or at 312-280-5100.