BCALA Partners with Skilltype to Improve Member Services

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NEW YORK, New York, Apr. 27, 2021 – The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) today announced that it is partnering with new library technology company Skilltype to improve member services at the 50-year old professional association.

Skilltype

Skilltype is a free app for information professionals to design personalized career development experiences. Starting today, BCALA members can sign up and create a profile listing their expertise and interests to design a learning and development feed. By connecting to BCALA on Skilltype, members can share their expertise data with BCALA to receive more relevant resources and opportunities from the association.

Shauntee Burns-Simpson, president-elect of BCALA, said: “When Skilltype approached us to learn more about our professional development initiatives, we were seeking new approaches to understanding our members needs, and delivering resources and opportunities that are relevant. We considered the traditional survey and focus group. But with limited resources and bandwidth, keeping these up to date proved to be a challenge. We look forward to Skilltype’s Organization Insights to learn more about what our members can do and are interested in learning how to do.”

“I’m honored to help take BCALA to the next level with its membership. Since its inception in 1970, the Caucus has been committed to improving the lives and careers of Black information professionals. As a Black software entrepreneur, I take personal pride in ensuring we offer the best experience possible for advancing their careers and missions. This is bigger than software,” said Zanders.

Zanders is the founder and CEO of Skilltype. Prior to founding Skilltype, he served for 9 years on the leadership teams at library software companies such as Ex Libris, concluding his career as the Vice President for Global Customer Development at EBSCO. During his career as a vendor, he was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create Applyful – a software platform for first generation college applicants to manage their application research. While serving as CEO of Skilltype, he became the inaugural Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Boston University Libraries.

About BCALA

The Black Caucus of the American Library Association serves as an advocate for the development, promotion, and improvement of library services and resources to the nation’s African American community; and provides leadership for the recruitment and professional development of African American libraries.

About Skilltype

Founded in 2018, Skilltype’s mission is to future-proof the profession of librarianship. Information professionals and their teams use Skilltype’s apps and technologies to analyze, develop, and share their expertise.

Contacts

Shauntee Burns-Simpson
[email protected] / BCALA.org

Tony Zanders
[email protected] / Skilltype.com

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