movers09 It is that time of year again. The time when Library Journal comes out with it’s annual list of people within our profession that are recognized for their leadership and ability to take our libraries to new levels of performance and responsiveness.

I look forward to Library Journal’s list of Movers and Shakers because I find it inspiring. Now so more than ever, the reason being that I actually know who some of these people are and have witnessed their impact. I also know more about how libraries run and what it takes to make things happen. A few years ago when I was still working in the K-12 system I could only imagine what these jobs must be like and what kind of world allowed these librarians to innovate and advocate in the manner that they were being recognized. The job of a K-12 teacher librarian is misunderstood at best, even Library Journal tends to pass over their leaders and that is because a teacher librarian works in a bit of a vacuum being the only one of their kind on their campus if, at this point in time, they even exist on a school campus at all. But that soap box is for another day. Suffice it to say I love being an academic librarian and I look forward to a long and productive career with further inspiration from those who do what I do in this very big international pond.

Congratulations to all who made the 2009 list! For a great rundown of each new member of this exclusive club and links to their blogs I suggest taking a look at Bobbi Newman’s blog, she did a great rundown.