ULA Annual Conference 2026

As a group of seven faculty librarians hired in the same year at a large academic library, we formed a cohort to help support one another in our new roles and navigate the oft-confusing organizational forays and multi-layered processes of our positions. As catalogers and subject specialists from across the humanities and social sciences, we have found that our group—which we have affectionately dubbed Septenarius—serves multiple functions. In this panel, we will discuss some of those purposes, which include but are not limited to, 1) building a community of support and collaboration; 2) supplementing institution-provided trainings and orientations with more local, context-specific discussions; 3) making interdisciplinary connections; and 4) sharing information and resources (e.g., information on available funding for travel, conference opportunities, clarifications on policy and procedures, technical tools and workflows, hiring and supervising student employees, etc.).

We offer our experience as an informal case study of one model of a professional development group developed and run by and for peers. We posit that teams of this kind, organized to provide a space for collaboration and support, are a powerful vehicle for inclusion, where all are strengthened by and have access to a community of professional peers, thus providing social validation, connection, and confidence. While we in Septenarius all work in different areas of the library with unique responsibilities, we have discovered a fondness and friendship in regularly convening—usually once a month—to discuss various projects, hold each other accountable for upcoming deadlines, and share casual moments of connection from our personal lives. As valuable as the support has been in our professional context of preparing for tenure and promotion, we have often commented on how meaningful it is to have a time to connect socially, to commiserate over shared struggles and celebrate individual successes. Recognizing that some of what we do in our group is specific to our own library and university situation, we believe that the principles of nurturing a collegial and collaborative work environment have far-reaching impact and application in librarianship generally and thus will be relevant to conference attendees regardless of job title or status.