The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) Scholarships and Awards Committee is proud to announce member Michelle Lee as APALA’s 2019 American Library Association (ALA) Emerging Leader.
APALA will provide funding to support Lee’s attendance and participation in the Emerging Leaders program at the 2019 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle and 2019 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. The Emerging Leaders program is a leadership development program that enables early career library professionals to participate in work groups, network with peers, gain insight into ALA structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity.
Lee is a Young Adult Librarian at the New York Public Library (NYPL) Riverside Branch. She led the launch of NYPL’s Grow Up program, which offered workshops focused on issues such as work attire, healthful eating on a budget and money management. The program grew into a small lending library of handbags, briefcases and ties for teens and adults to borrow from the library to use for job interviews or other formal events, such as graduation, performances or prom. The Grow Up program and lending library was featured in an October 2018 New York Times article “Need a Handbag or a Tie to Land Your First Job? Borrow One with a Library Card.”
Lee also published a chapter in the 2017 book Asian American Librarians and Library Services: Activism, Collaborations and Strategies. Her chapter focuses on the 37-year history of APALA and the impact the organization has had on diversity in the profession and advocacy efforts to increase resources and support for Asian-American communities. Lee’s research included interviews with key APALA members and reviews of news articles, scholarly papers, and APALA published newsletters and articles.
Lee has already had a positive impact on her local community and the APALA community, and APALA is proud to sponsor her for the ALA Emerging Leaders program.