Candidate for 2023-2025 Director: John Kromer

Nominated by petition

John Kromer is the Associate University Librarian for Research & Engagement at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He previously served as the STEM Division Head in the Arizona State University Library, the Physical Sciences Librarian at Brown University, and the Physical Science and Engineering Librarian at Miami University.

John received master’s degrees in library and information studies and chemistry, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and French language and literature from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. John was the 2019 chair of SLA’s Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics Division and currently co-leads the PAM Industry Partners Relations Committee. He has served on SLA’s Membership Advisory Council and Students and New Professionals Advisory Council (SNPAC). He was named a 2017 SLA Rising Star.

John has published and presented on information literacy and collection evaluation in chemistry and on deploying open educational resources in a first-year engineering course. His current research focuses on electronic research notebooks and early career awards in librarianship. In his free time, John plays trombone in the Montclair Community Band and hockey with the New York City Gay Hockey Association. He is “cat dad” to Bernadette and Cody.

Question #1: What are the benefits to you for being an SLA Member? What do you gain in your organization or industry as an SLA Member?
I joined SLA in 2012 on the advice of my supervisor. That year, I received a travel stipend from the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics Division (PAM) to attend SLA, and it was there that I found my SLA home. At that first conference, I was asked to co-moderate the next year’s Physics Roundtable, which I agreed to do because I knew I would have the support of my fellow moderator. This has been the hallmark of my time in PAM and SLA: someone is always there to support you, whether it’s in a role like PAM Chair (which I held in 2019), or when you need help answering a tough reference question or doing some kind of professional development.

SLA has been instrumental in helping me progress through my career. In each of my previous positions, requirements for promotion have included professional contributions, which I have fulfilled through SLA, PAM, other communities, and on various committees. Perhaps more importantly, I was able to move into a management/supervisory role because my then-boss saw that my PAM leadership would translate into management. I have gained a lot through SLA, and I hope that I can contribute that back to others as an SLA Director.

Question #2: Why are you running for the SLA Board of Directors? What do you bring to the table? How do you plan to help support other SLA members, if elected?
Since joining SLA, I have been interested in the operations of the overall organization. Over the years I have been a member of the Students and New Professionals Advisory Council (SNPAC), Membership Advisory Council, and the Branding Task Force. Each of these opportunities has helped me see a portion of what makes SLA work, but I’m ready to offer my skills and interests to helping the entire organization succeed.

In my day job, my primary responsibilities are in management, which translate directly into the role of Director. I am responsible for defining priorities and strategies to achieve them in alignment with overall University priorities. I am responsible for supporting my employees’ professional development. I have to be a good listener and advocate for my employees, and I have to be able to relay and translate directives from my supervisor and the University leadership. Each of these skills is directly relatable to the role of Director, where one must define strategies and priorities, advocate for members, listen to member input, and perhaps most importantly, communicate SLA strategies and priorities.

Question #3: SLA is a leader in its commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility and the importance of civil discourse. Share how you have demonstrated leadership or action in these areas, and how your own experiences will inform your contribution as an SLA Board Member.
So often discussions around diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility come from a very western-centric perspective, but as an international organization, we should look at the opportunities we have to learn from our colleagues not just in Europe and North America, but from across the world.

One way that we have tried to address inequity in my workplace is by reducing the barriers to application. We have drastically reduced the number of required qualifications, and in some cases even the preferred qualifications, to allow for more applicants. We have successfully enriched our candidate pool and, thus, our workforce. I would much rather work with an enthusiastic newcomer than with someone who checks all of the required boxes but brings all the same old ideas.

I also want to point out that this question is inherently problematic. Civil discourse is absolutely important, but it can also be code for tone policing, as discussed on a Connect post from last year (Lessons to be learned, July 2, 2021). While we should absolutely avoid attacking individuals and instead focus on the argument being made, the way this question is asked is fraught with problems.

Question #4: SLA is going through an intense period of change due to several challenges, and we need to work strategically and collaboratively for SLA’s future and sustainability. Share your thoughts on how we can ensure we make our future more secure and successful.
Communication, communication, communication. Something I stress in my day job is the importance of communication, both top-down and bottom-up. I can’t make intelligent decisions without the input of my employees, and my staff are unlikely to feel invested if they don’t understand why a decision was made the way it was. We have all been guilty of inadvertently withholding information, but SLA’s problems with selective information dissemination have become more and more systemic over the years. The entire organization suffers from a lack of trust at this point, and the biggest way that we can begin to rectify that is through increased communication. The Board needs to be as transparent as possible in both decisions being made AND the reasoning behind those decisions. We also need to create open and clear channels by which members can contribute ideas, and ensure that these ideas are acknowledged and (where appropriate) acted upon. At this point we literally cannot afford to ignore any input from members.

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