I’m a little late in posting this week, but it’s been a little more hectic than usual—end of the semester, end of the fiscal year, my mother was visiting, and, oh yeah, I got the news this week that I have been elected vice-president/president-elect of LITA!

Before first running for LITA Board, I had only ever held one other elected office. I was the school treasurer in 6th grade. My elementary school had a “superior learner” program and my two opponents were both in it. I had an early lesson in the power of splitting the vote. I still have a vivid memory of being ridiculed on the playground—”Kenneth is 100 times better than you at math!” It’s 6th-grade treasurer, I recall thinking. How good do you have to be to add and subtract very small numbers?

Now, I have stepped into something much more daunting than adding and subtracting, but it’s something a lot more exciting too. I hope I can muster all of my passion for libraries, information technology, and my strong belief in the importance and power of ALA and its divisions to provide something meaningful to LITA. I hope I will have success in recruiting my friends and colleagues to join me in that effort. I promise not to make this blog a pulpit for that effort.

I’m humbled by the voters who supported me and I hope I can earn the confidence of those who did not. I’m humbled by the accomplishments of my very worthy opponent, Diane Bisom.

It’s nice to think that I have come a long way since 6th-grade treasurer. That guy Kenneth went on to be valedictorian of my high school, graduated from Harvard Medical School, and is now head of gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital. His glory days didn’t end in the 6th grade. I hope mine didn’t either.

[This post originally appeared as part of American Libraries’ Hectic Pace Blog and is archived here.]