Congrats to Luis Herrera, LJ’s 2012 Librarian of the Year

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/managing-libraries/luis-herrera-ljs-2012-librarian-of-the-year/

“I have a great team. My mentors all said, ‘Surround yourself with good people,’ and I did,” says Herrera.

Such humility and kindness is key to Herrera’s success in San Francisco and to winning this award. In short, he got voters to extend SFPL support for 15 years. He employed his participatory management style to create a rare alliance between management and union. He invoked an ability to build strong and effective partnerships with other city departments, while his unusual brand of courage let staff teams make major management and organizational changes and decisions. Herrera is LJ’s 2012 Librarian of the Year because of his joyous spirit and infectious optimism about libraries and his willingness to communicate that optimism to all those involved, especially the citizens of San Francisco.

I was very luck to meet Luis at the Salzburg Global Seminar (where we celebrated his birthday!). I am very glad to see him honored for his out standing work.