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This is from the strategic plan I drafted at the Prairie State College Library:

I have officially tendered my resignation as Associate Dean of Library & Instructional Services at Prairie State College effective August 2, 2013.  It has been a pleasure working with an outstanding Library faculty, staff and students.  We have accomplished much in the time that I have spent at PSC.  I leave the Library at a good time.  Many of our current initiatives are coming to a close, and the Library is well-tuned for the next dynamic leader.

While it is sad for me to leave the Library, I am very happy to announce that I will be joining the faculty of St. Catherine’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership in their Library and Information Science program.   St. Kate’s LIS program is one of the newest, but best library schools in the country.  The students are outstanding.  They have a drive and dedication to not only improve the profession, but to pursue issues of social justice.  I have spent time with many of the faculty members at St. Kate’s LIS program, and they are simply some of the finest faculty I have met.

I am really looking forward to teaching in LIS, and I can think of no better place than at St. Kate’s.  This position will really allow me to live out my mission “My mission is to inspire and nurture a generation of imaginarians and information activists whose deepest desire is to create an environment where library members can explore and discover their world, relate and connect to their community, develop and foster their identity, grow and expand their mind, and find and inspire their creativity.”

I have been thinking a lot about the concept of an Imaginarian. I wrote about it back in April, 2011 and thought I should revisit it here.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my mission to inspire a generation of imaginarians and information activists. Many have told me that they like the term imaginarian. Others have asked what it means. So, like a good doctoral student, I thought I would define my terms.

An imaginarian is built on the concept of imagineer from the Disney Corporation. The term imagineer is the blending of imagination and engineering. So I define the term imaginarian as the blending of imagination and librarianship. Imagineers are tasked with designing and building Disney’s parks, resorts, etc…

Imaginarians are tasked with designing and building the human imagination. We focus on the creative and learning processes that take place in the human brain and soul. We help people construct realities and worlds that meet their desires. Imaginarians help people find their voice, identity and creative-self. We foster an environment in which these can soar.

Libraries are the only place anyone can go to become anything they want. Whether this is manifest only in their mind or becomes a reality in the physical world, the library can truly take people anywhere they want to go. And imaginarians help people get “there”.