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.
Steve talks to staff from the Chattanooga Public Library, including Library Director Corinne Hill.
Thanks to my guests Corinne Hill, Justin Hoenke, Rebecca Dunn, Megan Emery, Geoff Millener, and to Downtown Branch Manager Mary Jane Spehar for the tour of the branch.
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.
Steve speaks with Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner from the Awful Library Books blog.
Mary Kelly received an MBA and an MLIS from Wayne State University, after which she has spent years irritating co-workers with grand plans for collection development and/or world domination. She is currently working as a Youth Services Librarian at the Lyon Township Public Library, molding young minds through Toddler Disco. Mary’s OCD tendencies have turned into a crusade for collection quality and a clean shelf list (which she carries in her purse).
Holly Hibner also received an MLIS degree from Wayne State University. She can be found heading up the Adult Services Department at the Plymouth District Library. Hibner struts her stuff around the library looking super cool while bending technology to her will. She is still riding high and pulling every ounce of glory out of her 2007 Loleta Fyan Award from the Michigan Library Association.
Holly and Mary managed to publish a charming little tome called “Making a Collection Count: A Holistic Approach to Collection Management.” (The second edition is available now!) Reading it will surely change your life, along with their popular web site “Awful Library Books.”
Guest host Leah White chats with Naomi House, founder, editor and publisher at INALJ.com.
Naomi House is the founder, editor and publisher at INALJ.com and a former reference, marketing and acquisitions librarian for a federal library. She and her 180+ volunteers work to add over 7,000 jobs a month and tons of great articles to the website. She believes well sourced quantity is quality and ‘squees’ each and every time someone shares that they found a job. Along with her husband, Sana, she flips houses in New Orleans. Naomi is a well known international presenter (over 60 presentations in the past 3 years) and most recently presented at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa, at the National Press Club in Washington DC and in Dubai at the American University in the Emirates.
Guest host Leah White is the Head of Popular Materials at the Ela Area Public Library and a member of the Adult Reading Round Table Steering Committee. Leah graduated from Dominican University with her MLIS in 2008 and won the Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award in 2012. Her forthcoming book on innovation in libraries will be out this Fall. She enjoys reading comic books, Instagramming pictures of her pets, and spending too much time reading the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. You can find her on Twitter @leahlibrarian or check out her website.
Emily Lloyd lives in South Minneapolis and works as an Associate Librarian for Hennepin County Library. In addition to most things librar*, she’s interested in participatory public art and other ways to build connection and community in public spaces (sample project: 6 Words Minneapolis). You can find Emily on Twitter @poesygalore.
SHOW NOTES:
Shelf Check
ToonDoo
Being Visibly Queer-Friendly: Please Consider It
StrengthsFinder
Creative People Must Be Stopped
“Why Did You Come to the Library Today?” participatory display
Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Librarianship
Be Proud @ Your Library pin
Emily’s Slideshare
