Link to FAQ for Leadership Institute applicants.

2026 Call for Participant Applications

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

The 2026 NCLA Leadership Institute call for participant applications is now open. All North Carolina library employees are welcome and invited to apply. Whether a library assistant or library dean, fresh out of library school or decades into the field, supervisor/manager or not, all are encouraged to review the Institute’s learning outcomes and apply to attend. We seek applications from all types of library workers, library types, positions, roles, and responsibilities. 

The Leadership Institute is a flagship program of NCLA, a year-long adventure with a mission to create opportunities for learning and skill building in leadership and mentoring. The program kicks off in September 2026 with a four-day residential experience in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and wraps up at the NCLA Biennial Conference in October 2027. In between these events, participants work on an individual project of their choosing that will benefit their home library and are guided with formal mentors affiliated with the Institute. A mid-year in-person meeting in April 2027 provides a halfway mark to help participants keep up the momentum in the program and their projects.

This year’s Institute will be held September 29 - October 2, 2026 at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC. Applications are due by Friday, April 3, 2026 and decisions will be sent out to all applicants, regardless of selection status, by the end of May 2026.

A virtual information session will be held on January 27, 2026 from 12pm to 1pm EST. You can sign up for the session here.

If you have questions, please email leadership@nclaonline.org. 

2026 NCLA Leadership Institute Planning Committee:

• Melissa Kammerer (Wake County Public Library), Co-Chair

• Rachel Olsen (UNC Greensboro), Co-Chair

• Amanda Cain (Iredell County Public Library)

• Jen Hanft (State Library of NC)

• Michele Lawrence (Perquimans County Library)

• Beth Thompson (Western Carolina University)

• Tiffany Henry (UNC Greensboro)

• Amy Mason (Wake County Public Library)

• Laurie Lyda (Rowan Public Library)

If you have questions, please email leadership [at] nclaonline.org.