Elizabeth Blake is the only librarian in her family, and when she talks with other people about librarianship, they usually don’t know what librarians actually do. So when she was accepted into the Minnesota Institute earlier this year, a program for early career librarians from traditional underrepresented groups, she felt right at home.

“It was almost like a safe place where I could just let my guard down. There were a lot of librarians that were in the same boat as me, early career librarians trying to learn their footing,” Blake said. “Some of us are the only person of color in our library, and that could be a little bit uncomfortable. But in the Minnesota Institute, I felt safe because I was around other people of color that have certain experiences as me.”

The Minnesota Institute is a biennial program launched in 1998 by the University of Minnesota Libraries. It offers 30 college and university librarians, who are in the first three years of their career, an opportunity to learn from leaders in the field, connect with their peers, and develop their own leadership skills.

“Kaetrena Davis Kendrick is doing a fabulous job in creating and developing the Minnesota Institute,” Blake said. “They have opened my eyes to how a leader should be.”

‘It’s a way for us to learn’

Blake, from the Philadelphia metro area, is a resident librarian at the University of Pennsylvania, specifically in the Holman Biotech Commons, working alongside the Perelman School of Medicine.

Her position is a three-year term designed for early-career librarians, to provide experience for future employment in academic librarianship. Blake is also an associate instructor at Indiana University Bloomington and an adjunct instructor at Dominican University.

“I love the research aspect of being a librarian,” Blake said. “We can find information, but we don’t know everything about the field. And with finding information, it’s a way for us to learn more about the field.”

Blake wants to work in a library leadership position, continue teaching in the library and information science field, and maybe become an international librarian in Europe or Australia. Her supervisor recommended applying to the Minnesota Institute so she could learn more about leadership and meet other librarians.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to get into it, but once I got into it, I was happy,” she said. “It was a great learning opportunity to hear from the guest speakers, who have been through libraries and started as an early career librarian like me, and now they’re in leadership positions at their university.”

‘What do I want to do as a librarian?’

The Minnesota Institute made Blake think about aspects of leadership she hadn’t considered before, like having a personal mission statement, or creating a self-care plan to manage stress and avoid burnout. It was also comforting to talk with other early career librarians, especially those of color, people who understand collection development and management.

“It made me think about what I want to accomplish in my career. What do I want to be? What kind of leadership do I want to perform? What do I want to do as a librarian?” Blake said. “I got more than I expected because I found out different ways to collaborate with other people.”

The Institute helped her learn about leadership without the pressures of the position, teaching her about the importance of collaboration and communication, for example, and helping her avoid future mistakes she otherwise might’ve made.

“One of the first things we talked about was communication, how a leader should be honest, how they should be transparent, but also the importance of dialogue. A leader shouldn’t just give their speech and not listen to anybody else,” Blake said. “If you want your team to grow, and you want them to have your respect, you give them time. You give them the ability to express themselves.”