Jessica Olin is the Director of the Robert H. Parker Library at Wesley College. Her professional interests include incorporating popular reading materials into traditional academic library collections, building communities at liberal arts college libraries, and bridging the gap between library science graduate programs and professional practice. In her limited spare time, she likes to cross-stitch, watch Doctor Who, spend time with her geriatric cat, and read lots of comic books.
SHOW NOTES:
Steve chats with Dolly Moehrle, director of Ventura County Law Library.
Dolly Moehrle is the director of the Ventura County Law Library in Ventura, California. A 2012 Eureka! Leadership fellow, she received her MLIS from San Jose State University in 2012, and worked primarily in public libraries before moving to the law library. She blogs at dollymegan.com and tweets @loather.
Valerie J. Gross has served as President & CEO of Howard County Library System (HCLS) since 2001.
An educator and attorney for 30 years, Gross holds a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a Master of Library Science from San Jose State University, and a law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law. She is a member of the ALA, PLA, MLA, and the California Bar Association.
Developing a new vision for libraries, Gross worked with the HCLS Board, staff, funders, elected officials, and the community to implement the “Libraries = Education” approach. She led the transformation of HCLS to its current prominence as a renowned educational institution, alongside the region’s schools, colleges, and universities.
As the philosophy evolved, HCLS became well known in the U.S. and overseas. Gross was invited to speak and write about the strategy.
Gross has delivered 60+ keynotes, workshops, seminars, and webinars on “Libraries = Education,” drawing the participation and input of thousands of library professionals from 45 states and more than a dozen countries around the world. Combining these experiences, she authored Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand: The Education Advantage published by ABC-CLIO.
For living this game-changing vision, HCLS was recognized in 2013 as Library of the Year by Gale and Library Journal. The most prestigious award a library can attain, this placed HCLS among the top of the continent’s 21,000 public and academic libraries.
As part of the award, Library Journal hailed the “Libraries = Education” equation “a 21st-century model worthy of study and consideration by every library in America, if not the world.”
The growing movement is ushering in a new era for libraries everywhere.
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On the eve of the 2015 code4lib conference, Circulating Ideas presents some thoughtful insight recorded at last year’s code4lib conference by Lisa Rabey from attendees J. Gubernick, Rachel Vacek, Vanessa Lucas, and Karen Coombs.
SHOW NOTES
Guest host Thomas Maluck attended the 2014 South Carolina Library Association Annual Conference and chatted with some librarians about the great work they’re planning for their communities.
Erin Washington, John Kennerly, Anna Zacherl, Rebecca Mack, Jessica Herzog, Matthew Steinmetz, Mark Mancuso, Cathi Mack, Sarah Wilson, Zach Frazier, Amy Ditolla, Jason Broughton, Nathan Flowers, and Sam Hastings contribute.
Steve chats with Scott Bonner, director of the Ferguson Municipal Public Library in Ferguson, MO.
Scott Bonner has been the director of the Ferguson Municipal Public Library since July 1. The library has been doing a lot of programming for the people of Ferguson, and hosting other organizations that needed space to do their work. Other professional library jobs include 7 years as Adult Services Provider and Technology Librarian at Richmond Heights Memorial Library, and a short time in charge of the Julia Davis Branch of the St. Louis Public Library system. In a previous career, Scott worked in mental health, mostly in lock-down facilities with kids and adolescents. He’s 43, and married with 4 kids, ranging in ages from 11 years to 8 months — 3 boys and a baby girl. Hobbies include reading for the 3 minutes of free time he gets each day, and playing table top role play games when he has an active gaming group.
SHOW NOTES
Rebecca Vnuk is the Editor for Reference and Collection Management at Booklist Publications. She is the author of 3 Reader’s Advisory nonfiction titles for Libraries Unlimited: Read On…Women’s Fiction (2009), Women’s Fiction Authors: A Research Guide (2009), and Women’s Fiction: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests (co-authored with Nanette Donohue, 2013). A long-time reviewer and collection development article writer for Library Journal, she was named their “Fiction Reviewer of the Year” in 2008. In 2010, Rebecca was named both a Library Journal Mover and Shaker as well as the recipient of PLA’s Allie Beth Martin Award. Prior to her career at Booklist, Rebecca spent 10 years as a Reader’s Advisory librarian and Adult Services manager with various public libraries in Illinois.
SHOW NOTES
Monica Harris is the Deputy Director at the Schaumburg Township District Library and an instructor for San Jose State University’s iSchool. A former teen librarian with an affection for user experience and participatory services, she has been named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker and a PLA Leadership Academy Fellow. Monica is also a serious fan of umami and very slow running.
Karen Egan has worked in library development at the Illinois State Library for 20 years, the last 10 as the LSTA Grants Consultant, and truly believes that she has the best job ever! With the goal to help libraries of all types use grant funds to improve library services for patrons, she coordinates Illinois’ federal Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) grant program and teaches grant writing skills. She was awarded the Illinois Library Association Davis Cup award for outstanding services to youth services, and while under her direction, Illinois’ annual Family Reading Night was awarded an ALA John Cotton Dana Public Relations Award. She was Co-Chairman of the Illinois Library Association’s 2014 Annual Conference and is actively involved in ILEAD USA, a Laura Bush 21st Century Library Grant awarded to the Illinois State Library and On the Front Lines, an annual conference to impact the library customer’s experience.
Becky Spratford [MLIS] has been a Readers’ Advisor for patrons ages 13 and up for over 14 years at the Berwyn [IL] Public Library. She has taught at the graduate level and trains librarians all over the world. Becky runs two popular and critically acclaimed blogs, RA for All (raforall.blogspot.com) and RA for All: Horror (raforallhorror.blogspot.com) and writes content for EBSCO’s NoveList database. She is the author, mostly recently, of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror (ALA Editions, 2012) and is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association.
You can listen and learn more about Lost in the Stacks here.
Charlie Bennett was born in New York, raised in Virginia, and moved to Atlanta to study at the Georgia Institute of Technology. After earning degrees in Economics and Science, Technology, and Culture (STAC), he stayed with the school and became an academic librarian at the Georgia Tech Library. He co-hosts the “one-and-only research-library rock’n’roll radio show” called “Lost in the Stacks” on WREK in Atlanta, and produces the irreverent podcast “Consilience With Pete and Charlie” about the intersection of science and the humanities.
Ameet Doshi is head of the User Experience Department and also serves as the subject librarian for Economics at Georgia Tech Library. Ameet earned his MLS from the University of Tennessee and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He began his professional career in a library residency program at the College of DuPage in Illinois. Ameet co-hosts the Research Library Rock n’ Roll radio show “Lost in the Stacks” with Charlie Bennett which broadcasts online on WREK.org and over the Atlanta airwaves each Friday at noon on WREK 91.1 FM.
Circulating Ideas 