2026 Kenya Flash Virtual Lecture Series

Uh we'll just wait we'll just wait for a few minutes for uh additional people to enter the room and then we'll get started. And perhaps just a minute or so more. I still see some people entering. I never know when to get started, when to wait. Perhaps just another minute or two. Well, I see we have uh 64 um members in the room and that sounds like a good number to me because that is the age I plan to retire. But anyway, uh yeah, I'm Jim Church. I'm a member of the committee and I'd just like to welcome everybody to the Kenya s flash virtual lecture series in Librarianship which is a free online annual speaker series dedicated in honor of our beloved colleague the late Kenya flash. The series is sponsored by the ACRL politics policy and international relations section or pippers and the ALA government documents roundtable go. Today's lecture will address the design and evolution of the Kenya s librarian residency at Yale University highlighting the relationships mentorship structures and opportunities that have shaped the resident's growth as a librarian colleague and community member. Our presenters will reflect on the residency's impact not only on the resident but also on colleagues, mentors, collaborating organizations, and the communities engaged through the work. They will examine the opportunities and challenges of intentionally designing a residency grounded in exper experiential learning, leadership development, and community partnership. But before they begin, we'd like to say a few words about Kenya, her legacy, and what she meant to us as a colleague and as a person. Kenya earned her bachelor's degree in government and law from Lafayette College, an MA in political science from East Strawsburg University, and an MS in library and information sciences from Drexel University. She was a librarian at Kings College and the University of Tennessee Knoxville before joining the Mark Science and Social Science Library at Yale University in 2017 where she served as the librarian for political science, global information, and government information until her untimely passing in December of 2021. Kenyon provided instruction, research support and collection development for the department of political science and global affairs and for the programs in ethnicity, race and migration and ethics, politics and economics. Her passion and expertise was demonstrated in the research guide she created and the glowing testimonies of the students and faculty she helped. Kenya was a passionate advocate and educator about government information. She was a lecturer at the University of Illinois School of Information Studies where she co-taught a class in government information with Scott Mat currently serving as the US superintendent of documents. Advocacy for an interest in government information from the state and local to the international was instrumental in her professional calling. Kenya was also a productive author and speaker. Among her many published works was the book ethnic studies and academic and research libraries edited with Raymond Pun and Melissa Gardianis Dao published by ACL and assumed identity realities of AfroCaribbean librarians in the black librarian in America reflections resistance and reawakening. Kenya presented at the International Federation of Library Associations or ILA in 2017 and was instrumental in reaching out in introducing NPR's Hanzi Lo Wong who speak who spoke at the counting on trust trusting the count census 2020 sponsored by God and the social responsibilities roundt at the ALA annual conference in 2019. But above all, Kenya was a beloved colleague, friend, and community member. She was an active member of both Pippers and God, was elected to the Pipper executive board, and served exceptionally on the Pipper's professional development and membership committees, where she was instrumental in the creation of the webinar series, Fundamentals of International Law. She was also sponsored by God in ALA's emerging leaders program. Served as the coordinator for the international documents task force was a go to representative to the ALA equity diversity and inclusion assembly and leaison to the social responsibilities round table. In all of her professional activities, Kenya was an expert whose council was widely sought and an inspirational leader who tirelessly inspired and forged relationships among her colleagues. There are no words to adequately summarize the creative energy, positivity, grace, kindness, humor, and brilliance she brought to every group she joined and every person she touched. We count ourselves so fortunate to be among the many people who have known her. And with that, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our speakers. Rhysa Nelson serves as the director for staff development engagement at Yale University Library. In this inaugural role, she provides strategic leadership to enhance the staff experience and foster a healthy workplace climate across the library system through initiatives that promote learning, connection, and collaboration. A collaborative and consultative leader, Nelson works across the library and university to cultivate a workforce that is engaged, empowered, and resilient. Prior to joining Yale Library, she served as assistant dean of Yale College and director of the Afroamerican Cultural Center at Yale. Earlier in her career, she held positions at Cornell University, Mercy College, Loyola University Chicago, and the University of Notradam, St. J St. John's University, and Columbia University, where she also earned a master of arts in higher and post-secary education from Teachers College. Throughout her career, Nelson has partnered with students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members to create more equitable and accessible learning in communities. Next, I'd like to introduce Nick Wsala, who is a librarian with more than a decade of experience in access services and currently serves as Yale Libraryies inaugural Kenya as Flash resident. He previously worked at the Robert F. Woodruff library at Emory University where he held roles including library coordinator for access services, student supervisor and research specialist. His commitment to librarianship began during his undergraduate years at the University of Cincinnati where he worked at Langom Library as a technical and equipment specialist. Nick earned his master of library and information studies from the University of Alabama. During graduate school, he was active in the Society of American Archavists and helped develop archives and communities, a podcast series featuring archivists from across the country sharing their pathways into the profession. Passionate about librarianship, student success, and community engagement, Nick brings creativity, curiosity, and a collaborative spirit to building connections within and beyond the library. And finally, I'd like to introduce Diane X. Brown, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, who serves as the manager of the Stson branch of the New Haven Freedy Public Library. A 2003 recipient of the Bill and Meinda Gates Fellowship Award, she earned a master of arts in information technology and library science from Southern Connecticut State University in 2004. From 2005 to 2011, Brown served as an adjunct professor in Southern Connecticut State University's Department of Information Technology, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses both online and on campus. She assumed leadership of the Stson Branch Library in 2006 and played an integral role in the development of the branch's new facility, participating in every stage of the project from design through its opening in 2022. through her leadership, she has remained deeply committed to serving and strengthening the New Haven community. And so that's all I have to say. Uh for that, I'd just like to hand it over to our speakers and thank you again for everybody joining us. >> All right. And you all can hear me. Okay. Awesome. So, thank you so much. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you again for joining us uh today. Before we fully begin, we want to express our appreciation to the ACRL politics, policy, and international relations section and the ALA government documents roundt for inviting us to participate in this year's lecture series and for your continued commitment to honoring Kenya's life, work, and enduring contributions to our profession. We're also grateful to you all, our audience today, for choosing to spend part of your day with us. And um today we're going to explore intentional approaches to leadership development to mentorship and community partnership through the story of the of the Kenya Siana Flash residency at Yale Library. Along the way, we'll reflect on the residency's origins and design, the experiences that shaped its evolution, its impact on our resident mentors, colleagues, partner organizations, and our community, and what we believe this experience may offer to broader uh conversations about cultivating the next generation of librarians. So, Nick here, Diane, and I are excited to share this journey with you on Kenya's birthday, and we look forward to hearing from you all at the end of the session. All right. So before we uh begin, we wanted to dedicate this presentation to Kenya whose life and legacy inspired the residency we'll be discussing. Kenya served as librarian for political science, global information and government information at Yale Libraries Mark Science and Social Science Library from 2017 to 2021. She was a brilliant scholar, librarian, a generous mentor, a passionate advocate for students and colleagues, and someone who is deeply deeply committed to expanding opportunity within this profession. In 2022, after her very untimely passing, Yale Library uh established the three-year Kenya s Flash residency to honor her legacy by investing in the growth and development of an early career librarian. Uh those who knew Kenya speak not only of her remarkable enterprise but also the care, integrity and encouragement she brought to her work and to the people around her. Among the various committees she served, Kenya's leadership on Yale Library staff advisory committee on diversity and inclusion helped pave the way for the creation of the library's inaugural director for a diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility position whose work whose work this residency supports. Another reminder that her influence continues to shape this library in meaningful ways. As you'll hear throughout today's presentation, we sought to create an experience that reflected that values uh that the reflected values that Kenya embodied ongoing learning, mentorship, advocacy, meaningful community engagement, and excellence in librarianship. And although today's presentation focuses on the residency, we hope that you'll come away seeing that in many ways the residency itself became our effort to honor Kenya's legacy. Not only by remembering her, but by carrying forward the values that she lived by every day uh through the ways that we intentionally designed this experience. Um so before we dive in, I'm going to briefly share how we'll spend our time together. Uh we'll start by sharing the philosophy behind its design and the intentional choices that shape this residency. Uh we'll then bring the residency to life by sharing our experiences and perspective uh from Nick's experience and u professional growth and our inaugural uh resident the community um apprenticeship the partnerships that have shaped the residency along the way. And then we're also going to reflect on the residency's broader impact not only on Nick but on mentors, colleagues, our organizations and the communities we engaged throughout the process. Um we'll conclude by sharing lessons that we learned uh that we hope will be helpful to you all if you are designing um or overseeing any residencies or early career development efforts. Um but uh we'll then open the um floor for reflection discussion any questions that you all have. So in terms of designing the residency, um as I began designing the residency, I found myself asking a different set of questions than I might have for uh a more traditional position. Um but before I could answer those questions, I first spent time reflecting on Kenya herself. Um although I didn't know Kenya deeply, I was connected with her several years before I joined Yale Library through my work uh as assistant dean of Yale College and the director of the African-American Cultural Center uh where I created the history keepers program. So I partnered with Yale Library and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture to familiarize through this program um and prepare um under reppresented students for careers in archival and uh academic research careers. Um we did mentorship, experiential learning, paid research opportunities. Uh and Kenya served as one of our mentors and through that experience I came to not only know her work but also the values that shaped the way she approached librarianship and student success. Uh several years later after joining Yale Library I had the opportunity to design the inaugural Kenya Slash residency. And as I reflected on those earlier experiences and learned more about Kenya from her family, her friends and colleagues, I came back to the values that defined both her work and the way she moved through the world. A commitment to ongoing learning, mentorship, and advocacy, meaningful community engagement and excellence in librarianship. I wanted the residency experience itself to reflect not just Kenya's name, but the values that she embodied. uh my hope was that every major design decision would intentionally translate those values into the resident's experience. So those values became the lens through which I approach my design decisions. And instead of only asking uh what responsibility should this position have, I found myself asking a whole set of different questions. What experiences, relationships, and opportunities best support an early career librarian's continuous learning and growth? How do we intentionally surround the resident uh with guidance? the encouragement and the support needed to thrive. How do we help the resident establish roots within uh both the university and the broader community that foster meaningful relationships, genuine integration, and a lasting sense of belonging? And how do we help cultivate the knowledge, skills, and professional networks that prepare the resident to contribute to the profession through leadership, scholarship, service, and a lifelong commitment to learning? So those questions shifted my focus from designing a position to designing a real developmental experience. And once that philos uh philosophy was clear, every major design uh just served its purpose. So I'm going to go into community of mentorship here. One of my uh earliest design decisions was to create an advisory committee. Um to me meaningful professional development has um never been the responsibility of just one manager or supervisor. Uh throughout my career, I've believed that people learn best when they're surrounded by colleagues who bring different perspectives, um expertise, experiences, connections, relationships. Um so that philosophy naturally shaped the residency. Um there was another reason that I felt this was especially important. Um beyond her work at Yale Library, Kenya also served as liaison to the ACRL diversity alliance and cared deeply about expanding pathways into librarianship for emerging professionals. Um, at the same time, she was thoughtful and at times very understandably and necessarily critical of residency programs that treated residencies as inexpensive and uh largely unsupported labor rather than opportunities for comprehensive professional development and real investment. She believed residency experiences should honor the residents uh expertise and their dignity while genuinely preparing them for a successful career in librarianship. So this was also core to my own philosophies on staff development. And as I reflected on my own experiences with Kenya and learned more from uh her loved ones and um different colleagues, I kept coming back to that principle. Um if we were going to create a residency in Kenya's name, it had to reflect those commitments. So the resident wouldn't simply support the work of the library. The library would make an equally intentional investment in the resident's learning growth and their future. So as I continued uh researching residency models, I was encouraged to find the ACRL diversity residency toolkit, recommended a similar approach through residency planning and steering committees. Um so that affirmed my thinking and provided practical guidance and uh helped strengthen the model and later on I'll I'll add in the link for um this and other resources that we'll mention here. Um, one aspect of that was especially meaningful, uh, one of the toolkits co-authors, Michelle Peralta, is also a Yale library colleague, and I invited Michelle to serve on the advisory committee because of her experience as a resident, her expertise in residency design, and her thoughtful um, perspective on supporting early career librarians. So together, this group became much more than an advisory committee. It was a community of mentors, of colleagues, of advocates who shared a genuine investment in the resident's growth and uh their success as well as a sounding board and support to me as a resident's um supervisor. Um and this is a picture here of uh the advisory comm some of our advisory committee members and Barbara Rekenbach, university librarian uh with Kenya's family for the first advisory committee meeting. I am now going to go uh into the residents um advisory committee. So I I want to start off by recognizing uh the colleagues the amazing colleagues who serve on the advisory committee each of whom played an important role in shaping this experience. So uh Mary Caldera Adiva Nabis Michelle Peralta and Mike Rush and you can see their titles here and in the first uh the first year of the u residency also Jeremy Geritano um I assembled this this group very intentionally um together they brought the experience as former um library residents or residency supervisors. They were colleagues of Kenya. Uh they were leaders with deep knowledge of librarianship and professional development. uh their collective perspectives helped ensure the residency remained grounded in both the values that we hope to honor and the realities of preparing an early career librarian for the profession. Each committee uh member brought their own unique expertise and experiences but uh definitely a shared common commitment to um to Nick's success. Um and collectively they provided mentorship, uh created opportunities for reflection, um offered career guidance, facilitated, uh connections to different professional networks, um and folks, uh especially up here. Um identified meaningful experiential learning opportunities and remained a consistent source of encouragement and support throughout the residency. And looking back, uh one of the things that I'm most proud of is um Nick never had to rely on one single mentor or perspective. um instead he instantly became a part of a community that was genuinely invested in his growth from the beginning. So now I'm going to go into the framework. Um so once those questions became clear and after um consulting with Barbara Rakenbach again our university librarian uh our advisory committee our colleagues who knew Kenya and Kenya's family um I began translating those ideas into the overall framework of the residency which of course informed the position description the recruitment process national search uh the resident's experience from beginning to end. So um rather than designing a collection of disconnected opportunities, I wanted to create a coherent um developmental framework in which each component reinforced the others. Um at a high level, the residency came to rest on five interconnected design um elements. So I intentionally designed a bounded portfolio that balanced meaningful contributions with opportunities for stretch and growth and reflection. As I mentioned, I created a community of mentorship um through the advisory committee and a broader mentoring um ecosystem so that Nick's uh development would be supported by many colleagues rather than just me, the single supervisor. I built an an iter iterative learning cycle in which experience, reflection, and professional development continuously informed one another. We were able to adapt and be flexible with all of the pivots that we've had to take over the past few years. Um, I intentionally uh emphasize professional social socialization by creating opportunities to participate in committees on campus and off uh uh professional associations, conferences, um presentations, scholarship, networking. So, experiences that would help an emerging librarian begin to see themselves as a truly an active um contributor to the profession. And then um I've uh designed what would be um one of the residencies I think defining features. So, a dual embedded experience that intentionally integrated the resident into both the Yale community and the broader New Haven community where I'm also from here. Um, if there's one idea that I hope you'll take away from this portion of the of the presentation, it's that the residency was not designed necessarily around the work that Yale Library needed the resident to do. It was designed around the experiences, the relationships, and the opportunities that would prepare an emerging librarian for the next stage of their career while meaningfully contributing to both our organization, our institution, and the broader community. So, for me, the the the measure of this opportunity was never just what Nick accomplished during the three years at Yale. Um, it was whether the experiences we designed would prepare him for a successful career while simultaneously strengthening our organization and the communities with whom we partnered. I'm going to talk just a little bit about learning and leading through experience. So, um, it was really important to me that um, learning and leadership developed through authentic practice rather than just the observation. So, Nick became, uh, an active contributor across many aspects of, um, staff development and engagement. you might hear me call it um SDE for short. Um he helps support staff learning, engagement, um communications, assessment, community partnerships. Um and so you'll uh hear a little bit more about those uh from Nick directly in a little bit. And the goal was not simply to complete a project. Uh it was to invite Nick into the thinking behind the work. Um to understand how decisions are made and to help make those decisions. um to understand how relationships are built, how competing priorities are are balanced, and how leadership is exercised in practice. Um my role as as the supervisor and designer of this this um experience wasn't simply to to delegate work out. Uh it was to intentionally create opportunities that stretched Nick's thinking um while ensuring that he was supported and challenged and encouraged every step of the way. So beyond our department, I also wanted Nick to experience librarianship from multiple perspectives both uh across the institution and the profession. And so that included again serving on different library and university uh committees um contributing to crossf functional initiatives um attending and going uh and presenting at conferences um and the uh New Haven Free Public Library apprenticeship which again he's going to tell you about um all of all of these things. Um all to say every opportunity served a developmental purpose. So uh together these experiences helped build not only the the knowledge and the skills but also the confidence the professional identity and a growing network of um colleagues and collaborators so that Nick could thrive in this role and um beyond it once he moves on from here. Um, so now that I shared uh the philosophy behind the residency and the design um uh decisions that shaped it, I'm going to pass it over to Nick who will share a little bit more about the opportunities, relationships as he experienced them himself. >> Thank you, Risa. Um, I'll start off again to kind of uh reiterate my library experience up until this point. As mentioned earlier, uh I began at the University of Cincinnati back in 2011 where originally um as I've spoken to a lot of librarians. It's not the first field that I thought about going into college. I was actually trying to be a sports journalist uh because I love sports and I love writing. Uh but that quickly changed after my work study uh program um position that I had at the library at Lenom Library where I was uh took on a mentorship of my boss, the director who's still there, Ben Klein, uh the director of user services at the University of Cincinnati Lenom Library. He saw a big interest in me as far as like you're he was like you are really talented at uh understanding what we do here, understanding the resources that we have available, but also basically spreading that out to the students. I see how you talk to your friends. I see how you talk to other patrons and you're really good at communicating that in a way that applies to them and exactly what they need. Um so I kind of took that on and um switched careers uh based off of that uh encouragement and uh as I was still working at the University of Cincinnati. I took on more leadership positions after I graduated. I ended up becoming a technical equipment specialist. Uh but then I wanted to kind of pursue more of myself on a personal level. So I uh I left Cincinnati and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia. But I still had the pursuit of being in li in libraries and doing librarianship. So I ended up working at Emory University libraries in Atlanta, Georgia. And during that time, it was around 2018. So I was still a staff member, but I saw based off of that uh label, I was limited to the positions that I could apply for in the library and I was not as aware of what the MLIS degree would open up to me as far as options. So during the pandemic where um if you were you know blessed to have the opportunity to kind of reflect on not only your life but your career that's something that I did uh which made me say okay this is the best time to kind of lock in and get this degree. So that's what I did. I applied uh to the University of Alabama. I saw this EPCO scholarship program was more for about upcoming uh preservation digital archiving uh which is something that I was familiar with doing because in the city of Atlanta I was working with a local media company that was in uh podcasting. So I was always working with audio and visuals and doing some editing also uh producing and hosting. So it was something that I felt like I had the skill set for and I just married the two together and uh I completed that degree program with the help of that scholarship uh in the spring of 2023 which at that time I had a colleague at Emory send me a link for this residency saying I heard you got your degree I think this would be a great opportunity for you uh in your next phase and it kind of took off from there. Mhm. >> Um and as you've heard, Rhysa's designed the residency around learning, mentorship, and meaningful contribution. From my perspective as the resident, that initially was evident from the very beginning. Uh basically from our conversations before I before she even knew who I was and vice versa, she was very adamant about saying, "Well, I'm here to help you however it is whether you want to stay at Yale or go." And uh based off of that, rather than observing from the sidelines, I quickly became an active uh contri uh contributor uh to the work of the staff development and engagement. Working alongside Rhysa, I support a rise range of initiatives, including staff learning and engagement programs, our learning and development opportunities, help manage staff development, engagement li uh resources library, and help coordinate communications and assessment efforts, as well as community engagement initiatives. What stood out to me wasn't simply the variety of work. It was the opportunity to understand that uh to understand the thinking behind it. It wasn't just learning what we were doing. I was learning how organizational decisions are made, how relationships are built, how priorities are balanced, and how staff development engagement can strengthen the organization over time. At the same time, the residency initially extended beyond my day-to-day responsibilities. I had the opportunity to continue developing as a librarian through archival processing projects, committee and task uh task force service, conferences, presentations, publications, participation in national professional associations, and helping coordinate leadership development experiences, including the association of research libraries leadership and career development program. One aspect of the residency that I especially appreciated was that it wasn't a fixed experience. While the overall framework remained consistent, there was flexibility for me to identify new learning opportunities, pursue emerging interests, and help shape aspects of the residency as I grew professionally. That meant I wasn't simply participating in thoughtful design experience. I was an active partner in my own professional development. Together, these experiences helped me build new knowledge and skills, expand my professional network, strengthen my confidence, and develop my identity as a librarian. They they reinforce that librarianship extends well beyond any single role and or department. It is strengthened through collaboration, service, scholarship and community. Two experiences in particular became very transformative because they initially extended the residency beyond Yale. The first was serving as a resident fellow in the Davorn College here at Yale University, meaning I lived on campus in one of the residential uh uh colleges, their community housing. uh something that Rhysa was uh uh kind enough to arrange prior to my arrival. Uh through this opportunity, I was uh became very deeply connected to Yale's campus community and student life. And the second was my apprenticeship here at the New Haven Free Public Library, specifically the Stson Branch Library, which introduced me to community center leadership or librarianship in entirely new ways. Um, and I'll pass this on to my mentor, Diane Brown, uh, to share more about her work, our partnership, and the important role that it played in my development as a librarian. >> Thank you, Nate. Good. That was good. Right on target. Um, good afternoon, everyone. Um, I'll start by sharing a little bit about my journey. Um, Nick said, you know, wasn't his first career, so it's probably like my fourth career. Um, so I've had quite a few careers prior to becoming a librarian, but my career as a librarian began u with a conversation with the former Mr. James C. Wellborn. Um, he was the first and only black library director of the New Free Public Library to date. Um, who would become my mentor. That's another whole story in itself. Um, I was granted a Bill and Melinda Gates Fellowship scholarship 2003 and I completed my MLS in 2004 at Southern Connecticut State University. I was hired at the New York Free Public Library in 20 in 2004. I served in several departments including reference cataloging and I was the first young adult librarian in the system. Um and I've been in my current role um as branch manager here at Stetton um for going on 20 years. In 2005 I was hired as an adjunct faculty at SCSU Selenega State University where I remained for six consecutive years. Um, I want to add in that time I had the opportunity to mentor several dozen librarians. And as many of you may know, um, the percentage of African-American librarians or librarians of color is, uh, is is sparse is is very sparse. And in those years and and coming up to to date, Nick is probably the third person of color. in my uh 23-y year career as a librarian that I was able to actually mentor someone of color. So, um it was it was not saying that I won't mentor anyone, but to mentor a black male is was was very special to me. Um when working with Rhysa and Nick um to design the apprenticeship, we agreed that we wanted to include the following purposes. It would be a community embedded apprenticeship to complement campus-based fellowship work. We wanted Nick to experience librarianship within a branch that intentionally centers black history and the African diaspora through its collections and community partnerships. We wanted to we wanted to support development of early career competencies, operations, collection stewardship, community engagement and program design. We wanted this to provide apply We wanted this to provide applied learning in public librarianship grounded in local context and relationships and to offer career exploration and mentoring. In terms of the of the design, Nick and I work to build in the following public librarianship operations to focus on fluency and branch workflows, manager and staff roles and service delivery. collection development to ensure that they are culturally responsive and to focus on strategic selection and collection stewardship, community connections. It was critical for us to focus on relationship building and outreach with community stakeholders. Um I'll add in there, STSON um has is is a nationally recognized library. We are one of five branches in the New York free public library system and our success is because of our uh building and sustaining community partners. That that's that has been our success. um community informed program development, collaborative design, coordination of community informed programs um including the Martin Luther King citywide read um Junth celebrations and the Elm City Freddy Fixer parade which is one of the oldest African-American parades in the country. Um and Nick participated in in all that and he's going to be missed. In fact, they missed him at the parade this year. He was traveling but they missed him. So, I'm going to turn it back over to Nick. >> Thanks, Diane. Um, we've shared so far uh how the residency was designed and what the experience looked like in practice. Uh, we would like to reflect on its impact now across several levels. From my perspective as the resident, the impact has been both uh developmental and professional. The residency paired meaningful contribution with opportunities for stretch, reflection, and support. That combination accelerated my growth while allowing me to develop a broader professional identity across librarianship, staff development and engagement, community based work, and organizational leadership. The experience also increased my confidence and visibility through committee service, professional associations, presentations, publications, conferences, and relationships across Yale and the broader field. I develop a much stronger professional network and clear understanding of how I hope to contribute to librarianship moving forward. >> And from my perspective as the supervisor and designer of the residency, Nick's contributions increased our capacity to advance important work uh within staff development and engagement. Um but the impact obviously extended well beyond having just additional support. Uh the residency strengthened my own practice as a developmental supervisor and coach. Um it required me to be even more intentional about connecting assignments to learning goals. Uh creating opportunities for increasing responsibility um providing meaningful feedback and uh making space for reflection. It also uh reinforced the importance of documenting both uh progress and learning so that um our development could be recognized, assessed and uh carried forward. Um at the library level, Yale library level, um the residency contributed to staff learning and engagement initiatives, which this is again a new uh department. Um new resources, community partnerships and outreach uh communications, assessment and committee work. So the whole shebang. Uh it also demonstrated what can be possible when an early career development um uh and and the librarian um are treated not just at an ancillary um activity or level but really as a collective and um even an organizational investment. So for me uh one of the the most important outcomes is that the residency offered a concrete model for cultivating talent while also strengthening the work of um the department and of our organization and uh those outcomes were mutually reinforcing but um again the the residents learning and development remain central to all of this and Diane >> um from the perspective of the New York free public library and the local community. The apprenticeship deepened an important institutional relationship and created opportunities for sustained engagement over time. The work supported programs and outreach strategies that responded to community interests, histories, and priorities. It also strengthened connections between university resources and community- based work in ways that were reciprocal rather than onedirectional. The work wasn't simply conducted in the community. It was developed with with the community through relationships that require trust, consistency, and an understanding of local contexts. >> From the broader professional community, we believe there is value in sharing what can travel beyond our particular setting. This residency cannot and should not be replicated exactly everywhere. Institutions differ in their resources, structures, communities, and capacity, but many of its design principles are adaptable. Beginning with the resident's development, creating a community of mentorship, connecting meaningful work to reflection, supporting professional socialization, and allowing the resident to shape the experience. By sharing the framework, our reflections, and what we've learned through the presentations and publications, we hope to contribute to broader conversations about how libraries can create responsible developmental pathways into profession from prospective employers. I also hope to work I hope I hope the work makes visible not only what I've accomplished, but how I learned, collaborated, exercise leadership, and developed as a librarian through the residency. As we've reflected on the residency, we've also spent time thinking honestly about some of the challenges that is accompanied by. For me, one of the biggest was learning how to grow without trying to do everything at once. Because the residency offered so many opportunities, there was consistent need to balance professional stretch with realistic workload expectations and to remain clear about my role as both a learner and a contributor. Another challenge was simply learning to navigate the complexities of a large research university as an early career librarian. Like many institutions, Yale experienced organizational, financial, and broader political changes during my residency. Learning how to work through uh thoughtfully through that complexity became part of my development experience itself. And because much of my work centered on staff development, organizational culture, and community engagement, there were times when the work also carried emotional weight. Having a strong network of mentors and colleagues made an enormous difference in helping me process those experiences while continuing to grow. >> And again, from my perspective as the supervisor and um designer of this, one of the greatest challenges for me was protecting the residents uh uh the residency's developmental purpose. Um meaningful coaching and sponsorship require time um investment, real intentionality and organizational support. Um development doesn't happen alongside the work. It happens like through the work which means that supervisors must create the space for reflection, for feedback, and for progressively increasing responsibility if there is the capacity for it. Um, another ongoing uh consideration was maintaining the residency's original purpose while remaining responsive to the changing organizational priorities. Um, every new opportunity had to be considered through the question, does this contribute to Nick's development rather than simply asking whether it would be helpful to the organization or not. Um, at an institutional level, um, sustainability is perhaps the greatest challenge. Uh, one of the questions we've continued asking ourselves is how we preserve the intentionality of this model. be beyond a single residency or a single um supervisor. This is a residency that is that was supposed to rotate um every 3 years. And so these are the things that we are thinking right now. And obviously um every institution and and every library um has different cultures, priorities, uh partnerships, resources as Nick mentioned. Um so the goal isn't to replicate this exactly but to carry forward the principles and again um Kenya's values that made it successful while allowing for future iterations to reflect uh their own contexts. Um I'll also say that measuring impact remains complex. um professional growth, mentorship, um confidence, uh organizational learning are amongst the most um meaningful outcomes of the residency, but they're also the most some of sometimes the most difficult to um quantify. So that reminds us that um responsibility for developing early career librarians must be shared across the institution or organization rather than just again resting on a single resident or a single supervisor or program. Um, from the from the perspective of the New Haven Free Public Library and the community we serve, um, from my years of experience, um, I can confirm that one of the biggest lessons is that meaningful partnerships are built through relationships and relationships take time. Trust cannot be rushed and it certainly cannot be transactional. It develops through consistency, mutual respect, shared purpose, and a willingness to learn from one another. Those qualities became the foundation of this apprenticeship and our partnership with your library. Partnerships between institutions also require public libraries and academic lies lines organizational cultures those different Did we lose you? Can you hear us? Can you see us? >> We can hear you now. >> Awesome. >> Okay. So, I I'll go back just a little I'll go back just a little bit. Um, I was talking reflecting on the challenges and the opportunities. Um, I don't know what part I cut out at, but I'll go uh I'll I'll start here. From the perspective of the New Free Public Library and the community we serve. From my years of experience, I can confirm the biggest lesson is that meaningful partnerships are built in relationships and relationships take time. Trust cannot be rushed and it certainly cannot be transactional. It develops through consistency, mutual respect, shared purpose, and a willingness to learn from one another. Those qualities became the foundation of this apprenticeship and our partnership with Yale Library. Partnerships between institutions also require flexibility. Public libraries, academic libraries often operate with different missions, timelines, organizational cultures, and resource constraints. Rather than viewing those differences as barriers, we approach them as our opportunities to learn from one another and to build something stronger together. Finally, community responsive work requires sustained investment. Programs and partnerships are most meaningful when they grow out of genuine relationships with the communities we serve. Not simply because they're good ideas, but because they're good grounded in local because they are grounded in local voices, histories, priorities, and strengths. For me, that's one of the most rewarding aspects of this residency. It demonstrates that community engagement isn't an is is not an additional component of librarianship. It's one of the ways librarianship fulfills its purpose. And from the perspective of the broader profession, I think one of the biggest lessons is that there isn't a single model for designing a successful residency. Every institution has different resources, organizational structures, staffing models, governance, and community relationships. The goal isn't to replicate this residency exactly, but to thoughtfully adapt the principles behind it to fit it uh to fit your own context. I also think it's important that residencies not be viewed as quick solutions to institutional challenges. They represent long-term investments in people, in organizational learning, and in the future of our profession. The resident's development has to remain at the center of the experience. Finally, I think our profession continues to face an important challenge, creating stronger pathways for residency experiences into meaningful long-term careers. My hope is that the conversations like this and residencies designed with intentionality and care can help us move forward and closer to that goal. >> And as we reflected on the residency over the past three years, almost three years now, um we've also spent some time asking ourselves what lessons might be useful beyond Yale Library. Uh the first is to let the values guide the design. So rather than beginning with a position description or a list of responsibilities, uh we began with Kenya's values uh and asked how they could be reflected in the resident's experience. Those values became the foundation for every decision that followed. Um secondly, intentionally designed experiences uh not just positions. Professional growth doesn't happen by accident. And it develops through very thoughtful opportunities for learning, for um creating meaningful uh contributions and increasing um responsibility bit by bit and authentic relationships. Um building communities of men uh mentorship. Again, no single supervisor can provide every experience, perspective or connection, nor should they um that an an emerging librarian needs. And so development is just strengthened when mentorship becomes a shared commitment across colleagues, departments, um institutions and even communities. Um create opportunities for meaningful contribution. So truly meaningful contributions. Um work that is challenging that allows them to grow that helps them uh understand how librarianship is practiced in real organizational and community contexts. Um I think a really important lesson though is this that we have to invest in people. Um again, not just the positions or the needs for that role um or organizational capacity. And when we intentionally cultivate professional identity um and support ongoing learning, encourage um engagement and well-being and and create pathways for leadership. Um we strengthen not only individual librarians, but we strengthen our institutions, our communities. We're stronger as supervisors. Um, we also strengthen the future of this profession. >> And from the resident's perspective, one of the most meaningful aspects of this experience was being trusted to help shape my own learning. The framework gave me direction, but also gave me room to explore emerging interests, pursue new opportunities, and grow in ways that reflected my own professional goals. That flexibility transformed the residency from something I simply participated in into something that I helped shape. For me, I'd add one more I'd add one more um lesson from the community perspective. Community shouldn't be viewed as an extension of learning. It should be recognized as one of the richest environments. Some of the most meaningful growth happens when emerging professionals build relationships beyond their own institutions, listen to communities, and learn alongside the people they hope to serve. Those experiences don't simply strengthen individual librarians. They strengthen the profession's connection to the communities that libraries exist to support. >> And as we close, I I just want to share a couple of uh quick reflections. Um when we began designing this residency, our hope was never to simply create a a job, a position. Um, our hope was to create an experience and one that honored Kenya's legacy by investing intentionally in the growth of an emerging uh career librarian um while strengthening relationships across our library, university, and our community. Um, over the past almost three years now um that vision has been shaped not only by thoughtful design um but also by the generosity, the wisdom and the commitment of many many many people who believed in its purpose. Um, and I think that's one of the greatest lessons that we've learned. When we again intentionally invest in the people, we don't simply strengthen individual careers, we strengthen our organizations, we enrich our communities and um again sustain the future of this profession um in in different and new ways. Um before we open the conversation, I would like to invite Nick to share um some final reflections on the uh Kenya Shauna slash residency and some really really great news. >> Um I believe you all saw earlier the the first photo I think we all took together with it was me, Rha, uh and Kenya's family. And during that dinner, uh, of course at that time Reese has already informed me about who Kenya was, but during that dinner I got to experience the legacy she left behind. And I actually spoke to one of the family members and I said, "I hope I can live up to, you know, uh, your uh, how great Kenya was as a person." And they were like, "Don't worry about that. Kenya's legacy is Kenya's legacy. Make something of your own that will go in partnership with that." So at first I was very much concerned about like am I doing the things that she would do or am I you know making choices and and doing things that would shed more light onto her her life and what she embodied. But as I grew into this and I as I met a lot of different people who she's touched and she touched a lot of people. I went to a bunch of different conferences my first couple years in this residency and everyone knew her. everyone knew and the one thing that was very much in unison of when they talked about is how much she made them feel comfortable and how much she made them feel like a family friend or or someone that they've known all their lives specifically at the uh Black Caucus American Library Association annual conference the last one I met uh one of her close friends Toana Haj and we end up being able to you know communicate and and and speak to each other and she's shed more light on who she was but she also really just again showcased how much librarianship is not just it's a profession, but sometimes it's a life calling, which is what I felt like she was into. Um, and that's something I will always be grateful for because that's kind of what I've used in my own personal uh professional kind of philosophy and mantra. Um, and one of the things I'm especially uh grateful for is is that this residency has prepared me for the next stage of my career, which I'm excited to share. I'll be joining Texas A&M uh as a teaching, learning, and curriculum librarian. um this opportunity, this position is more about helping uh integrate library resources into the courses that are taught uh at an institution like uh a research one institution like Texas A&M. So, I'm excited to do that kind of work. And uh while this opportunity represents an exciting professional milestone, I also see it as a reflection of what this residency was dedicated and designed to do. provided experiences, relationships, mentorship, and opportunities that prepared emerging librarians like myself for meaningful careers and continued service to our profession, which so I'm deeply uh grateful to everyone everyone in this room. And there's a hundred of people I could shout out to as well. And some of them are actually, you know, watching this live who invested in my growth and and and my career path. So, I want to continue to do the same for others as well. Before we open it up for um any questions, discussions, um thoughts, uh thank you again, gracious host. Thank you so much for inviting us to um share this work and also for again your continued um stewardship of Kenya's remarkable legacy. Um to our colleagues in leadership at Yale Library and to our partners at the New Haven Free Public Library, thank you all um for believing in this residency in me and Nick um and investing uh your time, your expertise, uh your encouragement, and your your deep deep care um throughout it all. This really has been a very uh shared effort and experience. Um to Kenya's family, thank you for entrusting us with the privilege of carrying forward Kenya's legacy and your generosity, your insights, your encouragement have really helped shape this residency in profound and lasting ways. And finally to Kenya, uh Kenya shown a flash. Uh her career was far too short. We all know this. Um but I hope she knows that her example continues to inspire so many people. um her commitment to mentorship, advocacy, community, learning and and excellence and integrity um challenged us to imagine something worthy of her legacy and continues to challenge us all, I think, to be better colleagues, um better leaders, and better stewards of this profession. Um so, thank you again uh for joining us, um for honoring Kenya's legacy with us here today. Um thank you for the work that you all do to cultivate learning, leadership, and community in your own libraries. And at this point, I think we have like 15 minutes or so. Um, we can open it up for questions, comments, thoughts. >> Yeah. Well, hold on one second. Let's go back to the share. We'll go on to last. >> Um I I don't have any qu uh questions in the chat yet, but my one of my questions was can you tell me a little bit more about the MLK citywide reads program that you guys um participated in? What did that entail? I assume it was with New Haven Public Library, but it did it have also a campus component? Yeah. So, I used to um coordinate I served as the chair for the university's MLK um commemoration. And so, this uh we grew. It's the largest um event outside of commencement. And when I came over to the library, I said, you know, we can do something kind of tap into that. Um and uh we wanted to focus it on youth um literacy, empowerment, um engagement, and so um I mean, I'll I'll let you talk a little bit about it, but that was that was the the roots of it. >> We wanted to extend it out. Um it was something that re it was one of those uh very much uh early career experience for me as far as overseeing a project an initiative. Uh Rhysa wears a thousand hats. So she gave me one of them to wear. So I was blessed that she trusted me with that. But I also I was I didn't do it alone. A lot of the stuff that I've done in this residency was all mostly collaborative. Even if it was my idea, I was able to work with others. Um, so I was able to take an idea that was already formed, but the help that Diane gave me and still does is probably one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful thing that I've got out of this experience. What I was able to do was uh we pretty much looked at different uh letters levels of literature, mostly focused on uh youth literature uh to kind of talk about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. or the ideas that he shared with during his life. And we wanted to kind of bring that to a young audience to kind of, you know, introduce them to not only li the library, but just also just ideas that they should be thinking about as they get older. And Diane is great as far as creating space for those kind of programming. Um, she's always someone who's big in the community. So, she's like, "This is a community event. This is great, but you got to do the work. You got you got to set it up. You got to organize it. I'll give you the space." And that was so I was so blessed to have that kind of support because one it's hard to find a space for certain events like this because you know again during this political times you don't really know what uh institutions organizations to trust but because Rhysa whoever Rhysa vouched for I trusted. So when once I met Diane I was like oh I got I get why you trust this person. So we were able to kind of uh again do an onampus and off-campus. That's something that we my uh position was all about as far as connecting the university Yale to New Haven because there's been some disconnect over the last few years. So, or even more than that to be honest. Um so, this was something that I was able to host online. Um we did a book author talk. The most recent uh literature we did was a book called That Flag, which is um about a conversation between a young black girl and a young white girl about the history of the Confederate flag in America. And since this is America 250, we felt that it was a really good way to kind of talk about an honest look and viewpoint of American history. Um, so we were able to have an author book talk with author. So that was a more like an adult, you know, conversation. Um, but then also we were able to talk with the kids about it, which is where Diane would came in and gave us the space to kind of do that. Uh, uh, I guess what is it called? Uh, learn to share. What was the the >> We gave the books away. >> Yeah. Learn to share program. And we gave books away. And there was a lot of the kids. I still have videos and pictures of it. A lot of kids really loved it. They actually asked a lot of great insightful questions as well too to follow up from the conversation that brought about from the book. So that was one example of what we do when it comes to the MLK city read. We usually do like a different book every year, but this is the most recent one that we did and that was really uh impactful. >> And I want to add that the children love Nick. He would come to many of the programs that he partnered with us or that he designed. And one little girl one time, Nick came in, she walked and she said, "Oh, no, you again." But she stayed with Nick the whole time. So I say that to say, you know, children are real. Children don't fake. Children either like you or they don't like you. But the children came to know Nick as one member of the community. And so I I feel blessed with that, especially with him being a black male, a black male librarian from Yale. Um, and it was important for me to let the children know who he was. Um, that he was a part of our village. And so, uh, that was that was very heartwarming. >> That was so good. So, I'm going to read out one of the next questions. Um, and this is from Trip. One of the things I'm fanboying about is the way that you made aspects that are often treated as luxuries into the loadbearing pillars of this program. room to explore employee employee centeredness and thoughtfulness. Nick talked some about this, but I was hoping you could expand on how you think the experience you've fostered could get approximated at an institution with stronger pressures about the aspects of these like luxuries rather than being the central part of what they can do. Um but it so it seems like staff and funds pressures may make it more difficult for or um institutions or organizations who are moving away from uh the sort of extractive approach to this kind of position. So like exploitive or extractive versus supportive. So, um, gosh, that's a long question, but go ahead. >> Yeah, I'll I'll just say it it that never crossed my mind because that's not how that's not my approach. That's not within my heart. That's uh I I designed this um again to honor Kenya and and to to do that to to kind of ex just extract or have it be like a transactional experience where the library or I supervisor, you know, I'm I'm getting more out of it. That's kind of uh it's wild to me. It it just wouldn't make any any sense, especially um I mean, I've never been that way as a as a supervisor in my, you know, now decades in higher education. But it also was not Kenya's way, right? Um in in her work um as a resident liazing um you know with the diversity alliance like it's I wanted to make sure that this experience was something that would speak to her as well um and that would be aligned with her vision for what this could or should be as well. And I I think um it's important to note that these resources, these connections, these uh initiatives, all of that happened because I made it so because I used my connections and not necessarily resources, but my my connections. Oh, Nick is interested in community librarian. That came from from our first conversation. You know, I really would like to explore community librarianship. I said, "I know the person." That requires um both the the commitment and the the knowhow and just the the connections of the supervisor to say, "Okay, this is your interest. I'm going to find somebody who can give you this, who can fulfill this either need, um you know, skill, learning that that kind of thing that I could not. Um I'm not a librarian, right? It was very important uh to me to make sure that we were um partnering very very closely with and consistently with librarians both on campus um also library workers but also off-campus too um and so I think it really it it comes down to your commitment um and the connections that you are are willing to explore um build and again going back to the issue of of trust that takes time. So my hope would be that uh any any person working at a library trying to create a residency experience like this, they will have already done the work to build those relationships before they bring someone in. Um are they ready for it? Is the organization ready for it? Those are some of the questions that I think uh people would need to ask first and do the work first before they they bring folks in and making make sure that there is really a a commitment there. um even if it's you know so there's the supervisory uh commitment as I mentioned the community of mentoring that was really important that the advisory um you know committee and and whole network that um I work to build around Nick um that was super super important so that now as you know he heads off to Texas is leaving us um which no I'm very I'm very very excited about and that was the whole point of it right um you know that you still have people and you have people to to that you can count on that you have people you can depend on um when you do go down there. I assume I hope you're going to have people there too. If you don't, you know who to call and we'll still, you know, we'll still be there for you. >> And and what I don't like about what Rhysa said in that in that statement was that she says she's not a librarian, but she has the spirit of a librarian and she has the mindset of me and Diane are trying to get her to go to get her MLS degree right after this, but >> she just needs the paper. Yeah, she just need a piece of paper. That's all she's missing because >> else paper. >> So, I say that because um networking and collaboration is I feel like a fundamental disregard in our profession sometimes because a lot of us feel siloed in our work or siloed in our units and departments. But Rhysa is someone who's very much, you know, outside with the people and she knows how to not only work a room but also know how the room should operate efficiently if we're trying to have a a center a center goal. And I that's one of the things I've took from her leadership is that you should be able to not just as a profession, but just especially as a librarian like you should be able to know what's going on in the public libraries. You should be able to know what's going on around the other surrounding universities. That way, if you do have an idea that your university or your department or your job isn't allowing you to do, you can funnel that to other opportunities and make it work. You know, there's there's a lot of people who want to do similar work and they're always asking how do I do this who like where do I go? And I feel like if we talk more amongst each other and create time to actually do collaborations, we can kind of get that job done. So, when it comes to like financial restraints or political restraints, there's other ways to navigate that. just because I think we talked about this a lot cuz we had to change a lot from the DEI, you know, uh, kind of, uh, initiative that was attacked. We had to change a lot of our wording, but the work never really changed. We just found different ways to navigate. So, I think if you're really open to doing volunteer work or doing uh, unique collaborations, you'll be able to find ways to help support your staff or even yourself. I wanted to add really quickly that um Rhysa kept referring to commitment and sacrifice. Um I know when I first became a librarian, no one wanted to mentor me public library, I could not get one librarian to mentor me. They basically told me it was not their job to mentor me, to teach me. I think in part um I think a little bit of it was selfishness, but then I think in part of it had to do with race. But with all that aside, I was grateful that the former library director, the first black library director, he became my mentor because he understood what that felt like because he's he had been through it. So, imagine being a firsttime black library director and now you have to mentor one of your only black librarians because the rest of your staff refuses to mentor that individual. Um, and he one of the things he said to me got very sick and he said, "You promise me that you will teach what you know to anyone that comes along." I was the last person that he mentored before he got sick. Very sick. So when Risa called me and asked me that I want to do this, of course I want to do this, but I can't teach heart, I can't teach care. One of the things when I was teaching um in library school, I don't understand why people go to library school that don't like people. They don't want to talk to people. I don't want to be out in the public. Well, you're a public servant. Whether you're in academic libraries, no matter what library, you're still providing a service to individuals that come from the outside in. But in my career, I meet so many librarians who don't like people. I'm sure there's people on here you if if you don't like people, how are you going to be an effective librarian? So, I've done a little bit of research and studying over the last few years. The most successful librarians, no matter where you come from or where you're at, there are people that are people persons. There are people that get out in their community. They know their community outside of their college campus, outside of their public area. Even if you work in a in a town, you drive over to the next town you work. The most successful librarians are those that get out and they tour around their community. So any librarians on here, anybody else, you got to get up and get out and get out into the community. That's that's the success. You can't teach that. You got to want to do that. >> Great. All right, we've got a few more questions. Um, this come this is from Naen. As a Canadian, my institution is specifically looking for ways to encourage people to become future librarians and to mentor early career indigenous librarians. I'm particularly interested in mentoring for the emotional work. Did you have plans to publish about the apprenticeship journey or structure? on the Friday. I'll see you there. >> Diane, I don't know if you can hear her. She said she's going she's going to Canada on Friday. >> See you on Friday. I I'll meet you there. I mean, we we've actually talked about it uh quite often u about uh discussing this more nationally or regionally. Talking to whoever needs this information um so that we can help them create something like this that works for them and for their their their residents in their communities. Um I would love to to publish. I have a very full plate yet. >> Or I'll take a phone call or an email if I can offer up some ideas. Um, you know, to do that. Um, we have a nice Native American um, museum. The Peekquats have a nice library. >> That's beautiful. And library too. >> And library. It's very It's beautiful. Um, >> so yeah. So I'd be I would be willing to offer some suggestions. Um but publishing we should think about that at some point because uh >> retention is something that's a part of my mindset moving forward too as well. Well, not just retention but recruitment. I think we've talked about this amongst ourselves as well is that >> starting with Risa. >> Risa is great at that. But um >> trying to be cooler. >> Um what I see the field is lacking is being something that is an accessible field for people who are really passionate about librarianship or just about access to resources. Again, library the scope of libraries is so huge that I feel like a lot of people don't understand how far and reaching it can be when we're talking about museums, archiving. Archiving could even be in film and television. um >> law. >> It could be law library, the medical libraries. There's all kinds of ways you can get into different fields through libraries. So, I feel like that is something like to lack of a better term, try to make it more sexy so people can can find like you can do what you want to do even here. And I and I feel like that is lacking in the profession. So, that's something that I've been actively trying to uh help assist with. It's like the recruitment as far as like seeing people like us, seeing people like it's diverse. Like it's it's inclusive. It's it's acceptable. You can even be creative. Like there's things that people want to do that doesn't have to just go into a box with certain fields that you're in. I feel like libraries gives you the most broad scope you can be in in a field to kind of play around and collaborate and do all kinds of things that not only please you personally but also of course professionally. >> Thanks. Um, next up we have one from Tana. Will there be more residents? And then to Nick, what advice do you have for MLIS students or current residents fellows? >> You want to go first? >> Okay. Um, the advice that I have for an MLI student or current residents is something I've always said even uh before I took this position when I was working as a student supervisor at Emery. take advantage of everything that you have to your at your disposal. Uh especially if you're at a university. Uh once they remove that student tag or that resident tag from your name, they kind of treat you like everybody else. So to me, I I I emphasize that and and that's what I spoke about in in the presentation is that I I kind of sometimes bit off more than I can chew because there's so many things that are available to me. So take advantage of all that you can, but also make sure that you're making meaningful connections outside of your job, outside of repression. Again, meeting someone like Diane who's not connected to Yel means that I can have different conversations with her that I couldn't have on campus with somebody who's working there. Um, and you can kind of, you know, understand what I mean by that. So I feel like when you enrich your experiences also outside in your surrounding area, go outside, get get involved, meet different people, uh uh collaborate with different people. Again, I keep on speaking on collaboration because that enriched my experience. If I just relied on Yale, if I if Rea was just doing her job and sticking to the, you know, the bullet points of the residency and not going above and beyond like she did for me, I would have a very different experience that was not as enriching as the one I have now. The fact that she encouraged me to go outside and the fact that I took advantage of that is why I feel like I've had the opportunity to get other employment or other people asked me, we would like to see what you're doing here. So, I I think uh my main thing is just make sure that you are a part of the community as much as possible that is surrounding the university or wherever uh you work at um professionally. And I I know we're out of time just really quickly because I did want to answer the other question, but also Tana has put a lot of different resources uh call for proposals, conference information. So definitely check that out in the in the chat and I have a meeting with Barbara Rakenbach, our university librarian, I think it's next week to talk about the possibility of uh what this to talk about the residency for next year or the next iteration. But again, it's going to uh it was supposed to rotate every 3 years. So, it it wouldn't be um most likely would not be reporting to me, although I would love that. So, stay tuned. We'll we'll see what what things are going to look like. Oh, on behalf of the family of Kenya, Shauna Flash, special thanks to the organizers of this annual event, Rhysa Nick, and the rest of the Yale team. Many thanks. I appreciate that. >> Nice. >> Appreciate that. >> Um I I'll thank you so much. I don't um I'm looking for some more questions. Oh yeah. Um one of my other takeaways that I I've always reflected on as a member of the federal depository library program, which is a government documents um network that includes public and academic libraries, is that they don't have to be silos. They don't have to be um one or the other. I I actually really appreciate the fact that you've done this work in the community with the public library audience as well as the campus audience and then you're going to be going to Texas in an academic position, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you're still going to be siloed in there, right? Like you can you'll you'll still have this this um experience um impacting what you're going to do next, right? because it it is they're they're not they're different but they they talk to each other, right? That that they're related. Um so if if we don't have any other questions popping into the the chat, I have um I have a small slide. Oh, I have to request to be to show this. Okay, let's see if that works. So, um I did want to say from the ACRL politics, policy and um international relations section and ALA goore government documents round table just please join us next year. We we've love that the that we've gotten to hear about this residency this year. We've now been able to part on this lecture for um several years and um we invite anybody to join the um the planning committee so that our next July will have an equally um incredible lecture to put on. And then um I also have my final slide which is these lovely yellow carnations. And I I do want to thank everybody for for joining us and um remembering um this this is um my final slide because yellow carnations were Kenya's favorite and um yes please um we we um really appreciate everybody who has come together for this presentation and um Yeah, this has just been wonderful. And Robbie mentioned in the chat that this um recording will be available um so that we will uh if if you've missed something or want to go back, we can you'll be able to um access the uh potentially also through these ALA websites that um the organizations manage. So um yeah, let me stop the share now. Is there do we have anything else for today? >> Thank you again. >> Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. >> Thank you all. >> See you. >> Bye now.