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).
Courtney L. Young is currently Head Librarian and Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Penn State Greater Allegheny. She is an active leader in the American Library Association (ALA), serving on the ALA Executive Board (2009-2012) and as a past President of the New Members Round Table (2009-2010). In 2011, Courtney was named a Library Journal “Mover& Shaker”, recognized as a Change Agent for her ability to successfully make connections among a diversity of duties in her library, on campus, and in the profession. She graduated from the College of Wooster in Ohio with a B.A. in English and minors in Black Studies and Women’s Studies. She received her M.S. in Library Science from Simmons College.
Before coming to Penn State Greater Allegheny, Courtney worked at The Ohio State University, Michigan State University, where she received a Staff Achievement Award as the assistant instruction librarian, and Penn State’s University Park and Beaver campuses. Courtney frequently presents and publishes on issues related to academic librarianship, diversity, virtual reference, and professional development.
Barbara Immroth has worked as a free-lance indexer, an instructor for the State Library of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh, an assistant in the Brown University Library, a librarian for the University of Denver Library, a children’s librarian at Carnegie Library, and a high school librarian in Pittsburgh. Her research interests center on children’s services, children’s health and children’s literature. She is the author of Texas in Children’s Books and co-author of Teaching Texas History: An All-Level Resource Guide. She edited, with Viki Ash-Geisler as co-editor, Achieving School Readiness: Public Libraries and National Education Goal No. 1; and Library Service for Youth of Hispanic Heritage with Kathleen de la Pena McCook. Her most recent books, written with Bill Lukenbill, are Health Information for Youth: The Public Library and School Library Media Center Role and Health Information in a Changing World: Practical Approaches for Teachers, Schools and School Librarians. She is a past President of the Association for Library Service to Children, a former Trustee of the Freedom to Read Foundation, a past President of the Texas Library Association and a past national President of the Beta Phi Mu LIS honorary society. She is the P.I. for two grants that received IMLS funding: “Youth, Community, Libraries: Empowerment for Success” for Ph.D. student recruitment and “Promoting Information Literacy & Teacher Collaboration through Social Marketing Strategies” for a study of librarian-teacher collaboration. She was the first woman in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, now School of Information, at The University of Texas to direct a dissertation.
This was my first time doing interviews face-to-face. The audio quality isn’t always the best and I apologize for that, but hopefully the quality of the speakers will make up for it!
Andy Woodworth and I discussed ebooks and the digital divide.
Barbara Stripling spoke with me about her role in Molly Raphael’s “Empowering Voices, Transforming Communities” initiative.
Gina Millsap spoke about using market segmentation to find new library users and how to better cater to your current ones.
Lindsey Levinsohn and Annie Seiler spoke with me about using Twitter at library conferences.
Maurice Coleman and I talked about his excellent podcast, T is for Training, and other sundry topics.
Barbara Stripling has recently joined the faculty at Syracuse University as an Assistant Professor of Practice. Prior to Syracuse, she was Director of Library Services for the New York City schools for seven years. Stripling brought to New York City schools the experience of a thirty-year career as a classroom teacher in Colorado and North Carolina, a school library media specialist and school district director of libraries in Arkansas, a library grant program director in Tennessee, and director of library programs at a local education fund in New York City. She received her Doctorate in Information Management from Syracuse University in May 2011 and has written or edited numerous books and articles. Stripling is a former president of the American Association of School Librarians, a former member of the American Library Association Executive Board, and a current member of ALA Council.
Gina Millsap is the Chief Executive Officer of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. She leads an organization of 225 incredible employees serving a library-loving community of 177,000. She served as the director of the Ames (Iowa) Public Library and at the Daniel Boone Public Library prior to making Kansas her home. She’s worked in libraries for 30+ years and received her Masters of Library Science from the University of Missouri, in the previous century. Her degree may be an antique, but her outlook isn’t; she’s been recognized as a Library Journal Mover and Shaker and is Past President of the Library Leadership and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association. She presents and writes on a variety of current topics, including market segmentation, public library trustee education, 21stcentury librarianship and process improvement.
Circulating Ideas 