Royce Kitts - Candidate for Vice President/President
Current Position
Director of the Liberal Memorial Library
Previous Position(s)
Education Librarian, Mabee Library, Washburn University Topeka, Kansas
Library Director, Tonganoxie Public Library, Tonganoxie, Kansas
Rotating Book Van, Interlibrary Loan Librarian, and Reference Librarian Manhattan, Kansas
Education (degrees earned and from where)
Master of Library Science, Emporia State University Emporia, Kansas
Bachelor of Integrated Studies, Emporia State University Emporia, Kansas
Professional activities, especially those in MPLA or relevant to this position
Mountain Plains Library Association
- Recording Secretary, 2011-2012
- MPLA Leadership Institute Participant, 2010
- MPLA Leadership Institute Committee, 2021-current
Friends of Kansas Libraries, Board Member 2014-2017
Kansas Library Association
-President 2011-2012
-Vice President/President Elect 2009-2011
-2011 Kansas Library Conference Planner
-Chair of Public Library Section 2016-2017
Kansas Leadership Center, participant 2016-2023
MPLA member since (year)
2009
What ability, talent, interest, or strength would you bring to this position?
My current top talent is the ability to keep pushing forward through the peaks and valleys that is librarianship. I love problem solving and working towards making the organizations I am a part of the best!
I like being the person who leads a group to success and I equally like being the person who helps the group to success.
The current issues in librarianship that I am focusing on are book challenges and early childhood literacy. Basically, how do I get books into the hands of kids and how can I make sure they know how to read them when I do. Book challenges are going to be a real thing for a lot of us here soon. I'm hoping that I can be an advocate and a resource as we face the challenge.
What would you like to accomplish during your term of office?
Hmmm. That's a good question. I would hope to guide the organization through a successful year of renewed and new memberships, a wonderful shared conference, and the knowledge that we got some work done. On a more practical level, I would hope to accomplish the goal of public librarians prepared to handle book challenges. Hard to predict the future. Who knows what could be the hot button issue by the time a potential term of office would start.
Vice President/President-Elect
Recording Secretary