Noah Lenstra started Let’s Move in Libraries in 2016 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s School of Education, where he is an assistant professor of library and information science. His research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed publications, and in June 2020, his book Healthy Living at the Library was published by Libraries Unlimited. He earned his dissertation in 2016 from the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science, where he also completed his MLIS.
CALLAN BIGNOLI is the director of the library at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts. She gathers inspiration from everywhere to inform user-centered practices and push the profession forward. Callan studies and speaks about user experience design, library management, and social issues in technology, challenging students and colleagues to fight for a more just and human future. She tweets at @eminencefont and can be reached at callan.bignoli@gmail.com.
LAUREN STARA is a library building specialist with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, helping public libraries around the Commonwealth improve their physical spaces. A registered architect and a librarian, she has worked in and/or consulted for libraries in eight US states, three Canadian provinces, and three Eastern European countries. She has taught at library schools in Canada and Bulgaria, and she speaks and presents frequently on library design, design thinking, and service design. Lauren can be reached at lauren.stara@gmail.com.
Guest host Troy Swanson chats with journalism professor Jeremy Shermak, about the state of journalism, misinformation vs. disinformation, the collapse of local news, and the media literacy skills librarians need to understand.
Jeremy Shermak is a journalism professor and the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, Coast Report, at Orange Coast College. He earned his Ph.D. in journalism from The University of Texas at Austin and previously studied journalism at the University of Missouri and Indiana University. He is a former journalist, managing editor and media analyst. His research interests include sports journalism, weather and climate communication, political communication, and journalism routines. You can follow him on Twitter @JeremyShermak.
Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian and Library Department Chair at Moraine Valley Community College. He is also the President of the Moraine Valley Faculty Association. Troy is the author or editor of several books and articles including co-editor of Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think About Information which received the Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the Year Award from ARCL’s Instruction Section. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on the management of technology policy in higher education. He served on ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Task Force which issued the Framework for Information Literacy. Over his tenure as a librarian and educator, Troy has won his campuses Master Teacher and Innovation of the Year awards, as well as the Proquest Innovation in College Librarianship award from ACRL.
Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian and Library Department Chair at Moraine Valley Community College. He is also the President of the Moraine Valley Faculty Association. Troy is the author or editor of several books and articles including co-editor of Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think About Information which received the Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the Year Award from ARCL’s Instruction Section. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on the management of technology policy in higher education. He served on ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Task Force which issued the Framework for Information Literacy. Over his tenure as a librarian and educator, Troy has won his campuses Master Teacher and Innovation of the Year awards, as well as the Proquest Innovation in College Librarianship award from ACRL.
Stephen G. Krueger (he/him or they/them) is the author of the book Supporting Trans People in Libraries and the founding member of the Gender Variant LIS Network. He has been working in various types of libraries on and off since high school, when he started at an all-volunteer public library in rural Vermont. He has since earned a BA in English from Warren Wilson College and an MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he is now the Scholarly Publishing Librarian at Dartmouth College. Outside of work, Stephen is an avid knitter and baker; he also enjoys watching figure skating and reading about polar history. Learn more about his work at www.stephengkrueger.com, or follow him on Twitter (@StephenGKrueger).
Melissa Wong is an instructor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she teaches courses in instruction, e-learning, and higher education. During her career, she has served as a librarian at the University of Southern California and as the library director at Marymount California University (then Marymount College). Melissa has extensive experience developing and teaching online. She has taught for San Jose State University, designed asynchronous professional development courses for ACRL, and developed an e-learning program for the pediatrics department at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Melissa is passionate about creating online learning that is relevant and engaging through the use of authentic content and inclusive, accessible design. She is the author of Instructional Design for LIS Professionals: A Guide for Teaching Librarians and Information Science Professionals (Libraries Unlimited, 2019) and co-editor of the upcoming 6th edition of Reference and Information Services: An Introduction (Libraries Unlimited, 2020). Melissa holds degrees from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois (BA, English) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (MS, library science).
Amanda Clay Powers is dean of library services at Mississippi University for Women, email: acpowers@muw.edu, twitter: @AmandaClay
Martin Garnar is dean of Kraemer Family Library at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, email: mgarnar@uccs.edu, twitter: @MartinGarnar
Dustin Fife is director of library services at Western State Colorado University, email: dfife@western.edu, twitter: @DustinTheFife
Sarah Clark is Dean and University Librarian at La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA. in her spare time she knits, cooks, and is currently attempting to learn pottery. Sarah writes about issues in educational and library leadership at the Kind Leadership Guild.
Dr. Michael Stephens is Associate Professor in the School of Information at San Jose State University. His teaching focuses on information communities, evolving library service, and reflective practice for librarians. His teaching has garnered awards for delivery and engagement in the online environment. Dr. Stephens has delivered keynotes, papers, and workshops throughout the US and internationally on topics related to creative and open uses of technology to support and drive library services and learning. Since 2010, Dr. Stephens has written the monthly column “Office Hours” for Library Journal exploring the issues, ideas, and emerging trends in libraries and LIS education. His research focuses on the use of emerging technologies in libraries, professional development and learning programs for librarians, and innovation in information environments. He is inspired by library structures and virtual spaces that support user curiosity, encourage participation, nurture the creation of new knowledge, and encourage the heart. In 2018, Dr. Stephens spent a month in Australia visiting libraries, keynoting a multi-national conference, and serving as a visiting scholar at the University of Southern Queensland. ALA Editions has published two collections of his writings: The Heart of Librarianship (2016) and Wholehearted Librarianship (2019). Michael resides in Traverse City, Michigan.
Amie Wright is a Public History Graduate student at Concordia studying how educators use comics books and graphic novels to teach history; formerly, she was the Manager of School Outreach at the New York Public Library and has more than 15+ years experience in Canadian and US libraries. A recipient of Library Journal’s Mover and Shaker Award in 2017, Amie is the first President of the American Library Association’s newly formed Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table. Follow Amie @librarylandia for the ongoing tales of a nomadic comics librarian/historian-in-training.
Jacquelyn Whiting is a Google Certified Innovator because the fifth time’s the charm. She is dual certified in social studies and library media because the world is interdisciplinary by default. Now, in the middle of her 26th year as an educator she has accumulated multiple degrees, multiple certifications, multiple microcredentials all punctuated with multiple rejections and failures because learning requires getting out of her comfort zone. She is a local activator for Future Design School because side gigs fuel passion. You can follow her on Twitter @MsJWhiting.
Michelle Luhtala is Library Department Chair at New Canaan High School in New Canaan, Connecticut. She facilitates an online learning community for nearly 12,000 library and educational technology professionals at edWeb.net/emergingtech, where she has hosted over 80 webinars since 2010. She is an adjunct instructor in the Masters of Information Program at Rutgers University’ s School of Communication and in the Information and Library Science Department at Southern Connecticut State University and is also a contributing author to Libraries Unlimited’s Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers. The American Association of School Librarians distinguished her as Curriculum Champion in 2017. You can follow her on Twitter @mluhtala.
Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian and Library Department Chair at Moraine Valley Community College. Troy is the author or editor of several books and articles including co-editor of Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think About Information which received the Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the Year Award from ARCL’s Instruction Section. You can follow him on Twitter @T_Swanson.
