Keith Michael Fiels has served as Executive Director of the American Library Association since 2002. Under his leadership, ALA has established a new Office for Library Advocacy, dramatically expanded the Association’s professional publishing and professional development program, brought thousands of library Friends groups into the Association worked on a major community engagement initiative for libraries and, most recently, established a new ALA Center for the Future of Libraries.
Prior to coming to ALA, he served as Director of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, where he was in charge of state and federal programs for libraries. In Massachusetts, he led efforts to secure over $500 million in state funds for public library reconstruction and access for libraries of all types to shared online resources and networks.
He has also served as President of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, as the founding director of a library consortium in New Jersey, and as a planning consultant for the New York and New Jersey State Libraries. He has worked as a public and school librarian and as an independent library consultant. He is co-author of a number of books on planning and technology, and has spoken about libraries at hundreds of conferences, workshops and other public events.
Cecily Walker is a librarian at Vancouver Public Library, where she focuses on user experience, community digital projects, digital collections, and the intersection of social justice, technology, and public librarianship. It was her frustration with the way that software was designed to meet the needs of highly technical users rather than the general public that led her to user experience, but it was her love of information, intellectual freedom, and commitment to social justice that led her back to librarianship. Cecily can be found on Twitter (@skeskali) where she frequently holds court on any number of subjects, but especially lipstick.
Michael Schofield and Amanda L. Goodman host the LibUX podcast.
Kristin LaLonde is the Manager of the Health Sciences Library at MidMichigan Health in Midland, 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 and most recently worked as an Adult Services Librarian at the Chippewa River District Library before her current position at MidMichigan Health. She has presented about Comics in Libraries at various conferences and conventions for several years. Most librarians from the Internet probably know her as @shinyinfo on Twitter. Her hobbies include watching Murder, She Wrote, reading comics, 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 Panels.net, and regularly blogs graphic novel recommendations on Richland Library’s website.
Together, Kristin and Thomas host Secret Stacks, a podcast about comics and libraries.
Starr Hoffman, PhD, is the Head of Planning & Assessment at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries. She is the author of the book Dynamic Research Support for Academic Libraries (Facet Publishing / ALA Editions, 2016). Starr speaks and writes on assessment, research support, and academic library leadership. When she’s not researching, she travels around the world, scuba dives, partakes in various geeky pursuits like cosplay, and embarks on complex home improvement projects with her husband. You can find her online at http://geekyartistlibrarian.wordpress.com and on Twitter @artgeeklibraria.
Glenn Fleishman is a technology journalist with decades of writing experience. He’s written dozens of editions of books in the Take Control series and for other publishers, penned thousands of articles for the Economist, the New York Times, Macworld, TidBITS, and many other publications, and run his own editorial operations at Wi-Fi Networking News and The Magazine.
Megan Emery is an L2 at the Chattanooga Public Library though she prefers the title Experience Designer & Coordinator. She shares her time between the Teen/Tween Department and the 4th Floor creating unique programming opportunities and building community partnerships that aim to blend art, technology, green living and the quirks of her community. She is the author of Cooking Up Programs Teens and Tweens Will Love: Recipes for Success, she blogs at www.meganfemery.com, and on Twitter she goes by @bibli. In her spare time she can be found laughing, dreaming about libraries, experimenting with vegetable juice recipes, and trying to throw another party.
Dolly Knight 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, podcasts at #withdrawn, and tweets @loather.
Meredith Farkas is a faculty librarian at Portland Community College and a lecturer at San Jose State University’s iSchool. She is the author of the book “Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online” (Information Today, 2007) and writes the monthly column “Technology in Practice” for American Libraries. Meredith was honored in 2009 with the LITA/Library Hi Tech award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology, and in 2014 with the ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award.
Christine Lind Hage has been a full-time public librarian for 45 years and has
been responsible for five major library construction projects. Recognized as
Michigan’s Librarian of the Year in 1997 she has published and presented widely
on various public library subjects both nationally and internationally.
Christine has been a frequent contributor to PUBLIB and is the author of THE
PUBLIC LIBRARY START-UP GUIDE published in 2004 by ALA. Within ALA
Christine is a past president of the Public Library Association and is the past
president of United for Libraries, an ALA Councilor for 12 years, Chair of the
Office of Information Technology’s America’s Libraries for the 21st Century
Committee.
She knew she would be a librarian since she was 8 years old and has never
worked anywhere but a library. She is currently the director of the Rochester
Hills (MI) Public Library.
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Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe is Professor/Coordinator for Information Literacy Services and Instruction in the University Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. At Illinois, she has also served as Acting Head of the University High School Library, Head of the Undergraduate Library, Acting Coordinator for Staff Development and Training, and Coordinator for Strategic Planning in the University Library. Previously, she was the Library Instruction Coordinator at Illinois State University and Reference Librarian at Parkland Community College.
Lisa served as the 2010-2011 President of the Association of College and Research Libraries, which launched the Value of Academic Libraries Initiative during her presidency. Along with Debra Gilchrist, Lisa is the lead designer for ACRL’s training program for theStandards for Libraries in Higher Education and the IMLS-funded Assessment in Action project. In addition to her work in ACRL, Lisa has served on numerous ALA and division committees, including the International Relations Committee, School Library Implementation Task Force, and the Digital Literacy Task Force of the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy. She was a member of the National Expert Panel for the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services’ Libraries, Literacy, and Gaming Initiative and serves on external review panels for the ALA Office of Accreditation and portfolio evaluator for the ALA-APA Library support Staff Certification. Lisa has also served on various committees and groups in ILA (llinois Library Association), IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations), ARL (Association of Research Libraries), NISO (National Information Standards Organization), and LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange Clearinghouse).
Lisa has presented and published widely on information literacy, teaching and learning, the value of libraries, library assessment, program evaluation, and organizational innovation. Her most recent book is Environments for Student Growth and Development: Libraries and Student Affairs in Collaboration (co-edited with Melissa Autumn Wong). She is an internationally sought after speaker and has also conducted workshops and trainings on five continents.
Lisa was the recipient of the 2015 ACRL Instruction Section Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award as well as the 2009 ACRL Special Presidential Recognition Award for Information Literacy Immersion Program. She was also awarded the University of Illinois GSLIS Library School Alumni Association Leadership Award in 2003 and the University of Illinois GSLIS Jane B. and Robert B. Downs Professional Promise Award in 1995.
Lisa received her Master of Education in Educational Psychology and Master of Library and Information Science degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently a PhD student in Global Studies in Education in the Department of Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
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Jim Neal served as the Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University during 2001-2014, providing leadership for university academic computing and a system of twenty-two libraries. His responsibilities included the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, the Copyright Advisory Office, and the Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research. Previously, he served as the Dean of University Libraries at Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University, and held administrative positions in the libraries at Penn State, Notre Dame, and the City University of New York.
Neal is a member of the OCLC Board of Trustees. He serves on the Council and Executive Board of the American Library Association, and recently completed a three-year term as ALA Treasurer. He has served on the Board and as President of the Association of Research Libraries, on the Board and as Chair of the Research Libraries Group (RLG), on the Board and as Chair of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), and on the Board of the Digital Preservation Network. He is on the Board and serves as Treasurer of the Freedom to Read Foundation, and on the Board and serves as Treasurer of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). He has also participated on numerous international, national, and state professional committees, and is an active member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).
Neal is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, consultant and published author, with focuses in the areas of scholarly communication, intellectual property, digital library programs, and library cooperation. He has served on the Scholarly Communication committees of ARL and ACRL and as Chair of the Steering Committee of SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. He has served on the university press boards at Columbia, John Hopkins and Indiana. He has represented the American library community in testimony on copyright matters before Congressional committees, was an advisor to the U.S. delegation at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) diplomatic conference on copyright, has worked on copyright policy and advisory groups for universities and for professional and higher education associations, and during 2005-08 was a member of the U.S. Copyright Office Section 108 Study Group. He is chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2017 National Conference, and is coordinating the fundraising for the IFLA 2016 scholarship program.
He was selected the 1997 Academic Librarian of the Year by the Association of College and Research Libraries and was the 2007 recipient of ALA’s Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award and the 2009 ALA Melvil Dewey Medal Award. In 2010, he received the honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta. And in 2015, he received the ALA Joseph W. Lippincott Award for “distinguished service to the profession of librarianship”, and the Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award.
Circulating Ideas 