Member Spotlight - Leander Spearman

July 22, 2024

This week's member spotlight is on Leander Spearman. Leander is the Director of the Belleville Public Library. He has served on the ILA Executive Board, the Best Practices Committee, and the 2021 ILA Conference Program Committee.  

We asked Leander to answer a few professional and amusing questions. Continue reading to find out more about Leander.

A little background on Leander:

My career in libraries began in the Summer of 1995. My aunt, who was an administrator with St. Louis Public Library, got me a summer job as a page. I was on break from Tuskegee University where I was studying mechanical engineering. Becoming an engineer had been my career goal since my Sophomore year in high school. 

I worked as a page for two summers when circumstances made it necessary for me to transfer to Harris-Stowe to complete my last two years of college. I eventually graduated with a degree in Business Management. I maintained my employment with the library even after graduation. Upon the advice of my branch manager, I enrolled in the University of Missouri-Columbia to pursue my MLS. In my 30-plus year career in libraries I have served as a page, children's librarian,  reference librarian in both public and academic libraries, computer trainer, branch manager, and a diversity recruiter. I  was appointed director of the Belleville Public Library in October 2011. 

In 2019, the city of Belleville became the second community in the state to dissolve its township and absorb those duties into the city's operations. I was tasked by the mayor to assume leadership of this newly formed General and Community Assistance Department. I have served in this dual leadership role ever since.  

How did you get your start in libraries?

My path to working in libraries was very accidental. During summer break from college at Tuskegee University, I would come home and work as a page at St. Louis Public Library. As fate would have it, I wound up transferring from Tuskegee University to Harris-Stowe and my summer job became a regular PT job while I finished college. My field of study in college was mechanical engineering and business management so upon graduation, I started looking for employment in those fields, in the interim, I remained at the library.

As I continued my job search, various opportunities began to open up at the library and I found myself in fairly short order being employed full time at the library. I was encouraged by my branch manager to stay in the library field and pursue it as a career. I received a fellowship to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia and persue an MLS. I left the library and moved to Columbia to enroll as a full-time graduate student. One year later after completing my MLS, St. Louis Public Library re-hired me as an assistant branch manager, and I have been in libraries ever since. I have been working in public and academic libraries since 2005.

Best advice you've received since starting your career in libraries?

“Be yourself.” Early in my career, I was a children’s librarian and I struggled finding ways to relate and engage with kids, especially the younger kids, after all, a 6’6” black man doing story time with fifty 4-year-olds was a little unusual. When I stopped trying to hide behind puppet stages and Barney videos and embraced the fact that I was not your typical children’s librarian, I found that I actually enjoyed working with kids, and the fact that to this day I run into adults who were children in my story times and they still remember me lets me know that they enjoyed it as well.

Any advice to newcomers working in libraries? 

Find your passion. Being a children’s librarian isn’t for everyone. Maybe you are a history buff and being a reference librarian is more to your liking. Perhaps you are super detail-oriented and somewhat reserved, that sounds like the ideal cataloger. Librarianship is one of the few professions where anybody from the most reclusive and reserved to the most flamboyant and boisterous can find their niche and thrive.

When and why did you become a member of ILA?

I joined ILA shortly after I began working as Director of Belleville Public Library. Being a new director and new to the state, I felt it necessary to get involved in as many organizations as possible. ILA was an excellent resource for networking and mentorship.

How has being a member of ILA helped you professionally? 

Being an ILA member has given me the opportunity to take on many leadership roles within the profession. I have served on the ILA Board and served as President of the Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS) Board. As well as numerous committees. All of this started with me serving on an ILA committee.

What is your proudest professional achievement to date?

When it comes to my proudest professional achievement, like many of my colleagues, I can name several, but if I had to narrow it down to one, it would be when I was asked to serve first as an instructor and later as a mentor for Director’s University. The opportunity to teach and pass on the knowledge I have gained over my nearly 30-year career in librarianship is a responsibility I take very seriously. Being asked to help shape and mold the future library leaders of this state is an awesome privilege and a humbling responsibility.

Hardcover, paperback, e-reader, audiobook, or all?

Hardcover, I do not read much fiction. I prefer poetry and books that are focused on personal improvement, and spiritual and emotional growth.

Favorite authors?

Langston Hughes, I love poetry and short stories. I can read a book of poetry or short stories cover to cover, but if you give me a novel, I struggle to finish the first 100 pages.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what five books would you bring with you to pass the time until being rescued?

  • The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
  • The Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
  • Kingdom Men Rising by Tony Evans
  • Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
  • Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Cat or Dog?

I am not a pet person, so my ideal pet would be a goldfish.

Favorite film, podcast, or television show? 

Support Your Local Sheriff.

One person you would like to meet, dead or alive why?

Barack Obama.

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