Our professional and personal needs are changing: How should our professional organizations respond to support us -- and retain us as members?: a brainstorming discussion

As our roles as information professionals continue to rapidly evolve, how should our organizations evolve to meet our needs, and what can members do to support those changes? What strategies should the leaders of our organizations implement to improve retention of members and grow membership? This roundtable discussion will focus on questions like these. The facilitators will begin with a concise summary of the latest findings from our ongoing research (first published in the Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship in 2020) on what librarians want from their professional associations. Our spring 2022 research focuses on interviews with new business librarians. The bulk of this hour will feature small and large group discussions and brainstorming on the needs of both members and organizations. From the perspectives of members, we will ask questions like: What do you expect and need from your organization? How have you (and will you) affect change in your organization? What would cause you to cancel your membership? From the perspectives of organizational leaders, we will ask: How can leaders ask the right questions of their members about the value of their memberships? What should organizations do to engage and retain members? How can leaders make that happen? Finally, from both perspectives: What are the trends in the skills and core competencies that informational professionals need to be successful? What kinds of training, networking, and mentoring opportunities do we need? The facilitators will take detailed notes from these discussions.