Bridger Wilson, who is Northern Michigan University’s librarian, is pictured in the Olson Library on campus. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University student was accepted into the highly competitive American Library Association’s (ALA) Emerging Leaders Program.

The Emerging Leaders Program is a leadership development program that enables early career librarians from across the country to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into the ALA structure and serve the profession in a leadership capacity.

NMU’s Emera Bridger Wilson was chosen as one of the 50 total participants for 2024.

“I’m honored,” she said. “I was surprised that I was chosen, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Bridger Wilson applied to the leadership program to learn how to best serve the campus community, meet other librarians and gain new perspectives on the library.

During the application process, Bridger Wilson addressed why she felt diversity was important for the library profession and how she would bring inclusion to her work.

The ALA Emerging Leaders program starts with a day-long session where the 50 chosen attendees participate in workshops and speak with other librarians.

After the first face-to-face session, the program continues online for six months and culminates with a poster session presentation to display the results of each group’s project planning work.

“I hope to learn more best practices in terms of academic librarians and academic libraries. I want to get to know more librarians across the country and have a group of people that you I can brainstorm with and sort of the challenges that can come with the profession,” Bridger Wilson said.

Her goal is to return with new ideas for programming and activities for the Lydia Olson Library once the renovation is complete.

Bridger Wilson began working as the collection management librarian at NMU in July 2022. Prior to becoming a librarian, Bridger Wilson pursued a career in anthropology. She has a doctorate in cultural anthropology from Syracuse University, where she was the associate director of the South Asia Center and an adjunct instructor at Syracuse and Le Moyne College.

“I decided that I wanted to stay in higher education and academia, but I wanted to do something different,” said Wilson. “So, I went back to school to become a librarian in 2019. This is kind of my second career. It’s been a lot of fun to be at NMU. I like the small size. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people here, and I love Marquette. It’s been a good fit. I’ve enjoyed the last 18 months.”

Wilson makes policies about NMU’s collection, ensures it reflects what the curriculum teaches, is diverse and inclusive, and provides what professors and graduate students need for their research. She’s also a liaison librarian for the departments of sociology and anthropology and English. Most recently, she took over the following: theater and dance; history; philosophy; languages, literatures and international studies; and communications and media studies.

Bridger Wilson’s job as a librarian liason means she curates materials for professors and students in the previously mentioned departments.

“In addition to that, I also lead the Open Educational Resources initiative at the library,” she said. “I work with my colleagues in the library, the Center for Teaching and Learning and various offices across campus to promote textbook affordability and open education resources.”