President’s Message: Summer 2026
July/August
By Sierra Laddusaw
I’m excited to share a warm hello with the members of WAML as I begin my time as President. WAML has played an important role in my development and career as a map librarian and curator. I attended my first WAML meeting as a brand-new librarian in 2015, where the meeting was held in Redland, California on the Esri campus. Since then, WAML has provided me with the opportunity to learn from the incredible librarians who participate in the organization, match with an early career mentor, develop and present my own research, and even run the organization’s social media for a while!
This past year I’ve had such a fun time planning our 2026 annual meeting with Craig Haggit, Map and Geospatial Librarian at the Denver Public Library. Taking place at the Denver Public Library October 7th – 10th, we’ve put together what we hope you will find to be a uniquely Colorado experience – from the beautiful meeting space at the Library, to the banquet which will be held at an iconic Denver restaurant. On the final day of the conference, we will take a short journey to Idaho Springs and experience Colorado’s gold mining history firsthand! Check out the full conference website at: https://waml.org/conferences/waml-2026/
Please join me in welcoming our new Executive Board members, Kevin Dyke (Maps and Spatial Data Curator, Oklahoma State University) as our new Vice President/President-Elect and Ron Mulder (Government Documents/Maps Cataloger, Oregon State University) as the new Secretary. Our outgoing board members deserve a big thank you for their service: Meg Miller (GIS & Research Visualization Librarian, University of Manitoba) and Jack Tieszen (Geospatial Resources Librarian, George Mason University). I also want to thank you, the members of WAML, for voting in the most recent election. In addition to electing our new Executive Board members, you also approved University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as the site for the 2027 annual conference!
In this upcoming year, you will see new and continuing ad hoc committees, including the group working to reimagine the Online Guide to U.S. Map Collections under WAML leadership and a new effort to review and update our bylaws.
Finally, I chose to include a picture of me enjoying? Braving? Maybe even thriving in Michigan’s snowy winters!
Looking forward to seeing you in Denver,
Sierra Laddusaw
Curator of Maps & Graphics
William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
You must be logged in to post a comment.