Sarah Strahl is the Assistant Director of Technology and Technical Services at Ela Area Public Library in Lake Zurich, IL. She received her MLS from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2008. She currently serves on the Program Planning Committee for Electronic Resources and Libraries. She enjoys trying to figure out the whodunnit in a wide variety of mysteries and can be found on tumblr @detectiveinspectorlibrarian.
Leah White is the Head of Popular Materials at the Ela Area Public Library in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and the author of The Library Innovation Toolkit. She graduated from Dominican University with her MLIS in 2008 and won the Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award in 2012 for her work on building community engagement. You can find her on Twitter: @leahlibrarian or check out her website: www.leahlwhite.com.
Jessamyn West is a librarian and community technologist. She helps run the Internet Archive’s Open Library project and writes a column for Computers in Libraries magazine. She works with small libraries and businesses in Central Vermont to help them use technology to solve problems.
Sari Feldman is Executive Director of Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), a position she has held since 2003. Under her leadership, CCPL has become one of the nation’s best and busiest public library systems, earning the Library Journal 5-Star recognition for five consecutive years (2010-2014).
Prior to joining CCPL, Sari was Deputy Director of Cleveland Public Library, the nation’s third largest public research library. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from State University of New York at Binghamton and a Master’s in Library Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She previously served as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, teaching graduate courses in library management, reference services, policy and grant writing for more than 20 years. She was honored in 1995 with the Vice President’s Award for Teacher of the Year.
In May 2014, Sari was elected president of the American Library Association for the 2015-2016 term. She is a past president of the Public Library Association (2009-2010).
Marissa Lieberman is a children’s librarian at the East Orange Public Library, NJ. She has worked at multiple libraries in the Nassau County, NY library system before relocating to New Jersey. She reviews books for School Library Journal, VOYA, and No Flying, No Tights. She is a contributor at Cosplay, Comics and Geek Culture in Libraries and has presented at New York Comic Con and other professional development events.
Kristin LaLonde is an Access Services Librarian and Circulation Department Manager at the Chippewa River District Library in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Kristin received her MLIS from Wayne State University in 2011. She began her library career as a Special Librarian at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, MI and has worked in multiple kinds of libraries throughout her life. Most librarians from the Internet probably know her as @shinyinfo on Twitter. Her hobbies include watching Murder, She Wrote, giving people a hard time and bro-ing out.
Thomas Maluck is a teen services librarian at Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina. He has presented at various fan-culture and professional conventions about graphic novels, manga, and teen services, including the American Library Association’s Annual and Midwinter conferences, DragonCon, NashiCon, and New York Comic Con. He served on YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels For Teens committee for its 2014 and 2015 lists, and has published articles in Library Trends, Public Libraries, Strategic Library, and The Hub. He currently reviews for No Flying, No Tights, writes about comics for Comics, Cosplay, and Geek Culture in Libraries, and regularly blogs graphic novel recommendations on Richland Library’s website.
Together, Kristin and Thomas host Secret Stacks, a podcast about comics and libraries.
Gwyneth Stupar is an Adult Services Librarian at the Barrington Area Library. Gwyneth received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in 2006, and currently serves on the board of the LACONI (Library Administrators Conference of Northern Illinois)technology section. Gwyneth’s favorite quote? “No matter how successful you become, someone always helps you.” Check out her website at http://www.gwynethstupar.com or @gwynonite on Twitter.
Barbara Alvarez has been working libraries for 4 years. She received her Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign in May 2012. Currently she is the Resource Guide Coordinator for iREAD Committee through ILA, is completing Synergy, a grant-funded leadership opportunity through the Illinois State Library and ILMS, and writes regularly for Public Libraries Online. Stay in touch at barbaralvarez.com and @the_barbrarian.
Leah White is the Head of Popular Materials at the Ela Area Public Library in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and the author of The Library Innovation Toolkit. She graduated from Dominican University with her MLIS in 2008 and won the Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award in 2012 for her work on building community engagement. You can find her on Twitter: @leahlibrarian or check out her website: www.leahlwhite.com.
Jennie Rothschild is a branch manager with Arlington Public Library in Arlington VA. She sometimes blogs about books at www.jenrothschild.com and she tweets a lot at @kidsilkhaze. She likes to do crafty things and binge-watch TV.
Madigan McGillicuddy is a youth services librarian at Atlanta-Fulton Public Library. She completed her graduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 and her undergraduate degree in Theatre at California State University at Northridge in 2001. Prior to landing in Atlanta, she worked with children and teens in large urban public libraries in Los Angeles and Austin. She reviews at School Library Journal and blogs at madiganreads.com. You can follow her on twitter @madiganreads.
Elizabeth Ferguson Keathley is an information scientist with over a decade of experience in digital asset management. Currently she serves as chair of the education committee for the DAM Foundation, where she also oversees the online certification program for digital asset managers. She earned her MS in Archives Management from Simmons College in 2002, and in addition to contributing to CMS Wire and Circulating Ideas, Elizabeth helps organize and podcast the Atlanta DAM meetup group and is the author of Digital Asset Management: Content Architectures, Project Management, and Creating Order Out of Media Chaos published by Apress books.
Robin Brenner is Teen Librarian at the Brookline Public Library in Massachusetts. When not presenting programs and providing reading guidance, she writes features for publications including VOYA, The Horn Book, Library Journal, and Knowledge Quest. She is an active member of YALSA and has served on awards committees including the Michael L. Printz Award, Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. She is the editor-in-chief of the graphic novel review website No Flying No Tights.
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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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.
Circulating Ideas 