2009 Eureka! Leadership Institute: Stacey Aldrich

I didn't know that I wanted to be a librarian when I was 5, but I did know that I wanted to live the good life.

What is the good life? It's doing something that makes a difference and contributes positively to the world around you. Being a librarian is part of living the good life. Everyday you have an opportunity to make a powerful impact on the daily lives of those you serve. It is creating relationships and providing information that empowers people to make better decisions in a fast changing world.

I've had an interesting career so far; working in academic, public, and state library agencies. My latest adventure started in February 2009 when I was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Acting State Librarian of the California State Library. For a little over a year before that, I had been the Deputy State Librarian, working with the Library Development Services Bureau, Information Technology Bureau, and on the rethinking and retooling of statewide information services. It's been an exciting adventure leading transition in the State Library.

Before California, I was the Assistant Director of the Omaha Public Library System. There I had an opportunity to work with my mentor, Rivkah Sass, and help to lead organizational change. Before Omaha, I was the Deputy State Librarian at the Maryland State Department of Education, where my primary responsibility was to oversee the implementation of statewide projects. While in MD, I played an active role in developing programs, conferences, and discussions to help public libraries generate ideas, conversations, and innovative programming around future thinking.

I also spent six months working with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a futuring think tank in D.C., honing my futurist thinking skills. I have consulted and participated in speaking engagements nationwide around libraries and future thinking.

I have an MLS from the University of Pittsburgh, and am a member of the Association of Professional Futurists. In 2003 I was selected as a Library Mover and Shaker.

I love hanging with my hubby, movies (especially about the future), music, shopping, and baseball. Go Sox! I aspire to learn to play the piano I inherited from my grandmother, and play One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces by Ben Folds Five.