Webcast Speakers
Sadia R. Khan
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for Texas Workforce Solutions-Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Sadia R. Khan is a Deaf Pakistani American and has been working as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for Texas Workforce Solutions-Vocational Rehabilitation Services for 14 years.
Evelyn Keolian
Children’s Librarian at Chicago Public Library, Founder and Co-chair of the CPL Diversability Advocacy Committee, and Adjunct Professor of American Sign Language at Oakton College
Evelyn Keolian is a Children’s Librarian at Chicago Public Library. She is the founder and co-chair of the CPL Diversability Advocacy Committee. She is an adjunct professor of American Sign Language at Oakton College. She received her MLIS from University of North Texas. Born Deaf, Evelyn has been an ASL user since adulthood. Previously, she has worked at the Pasadena City College Shatford Library (CA), Granada Elementary School (CA), volunteered with Pasadena Public Library (CA) and the Anixter Center Literacy Program (IL) for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Erin Hollingsworth
District Librarian North Slope Borough School District
Erin Hollingsworth has been a librarian in the American Arctic since 2011. She currently works as the District Librarian for the North Slope Borough School District; her position requires her to visit all eight remote communities on Alaska’s North Slope. Prior to that, she worked as the Public Services Librarian at Tuzzy Consortium Library at Iḷisaġvik College, in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Erin has experience working in academic, public, K-12 school, special, and tribal library settings in Alaska, Montana, and British Columbia, Canada.
Laura London
Branch Supervisor Rockrimmon Library, Pikes Peak Library District
Laura London has worked in libraries for over 25 years and in many capacities. She began as a volunteer when her children were small, then began subbing for several school libraries. She received a position as elementary school librarian and has also worked in a middle school library, as well as a university library. She joined the Peace Corps twice; the first time serving in the island nation of Palau where she taught English to elementary grades and worked as the community librarian.
Olena Stovba
Director of the Municipal Institution Nikopol City Centralized Library System
Olena Stovba is the director of the municipal institution “Nikopol City Centralized Library System.” She has been working at the municipal institution “Nikopol City Centralized Library System” since 1989, after graduating from the Kharkiv State Institute of Culture as a librarian-bibliographer of fiction.
Svitlana Moiseeva
Director of the Luhans’k Regional Universal Scientific Library, Vice-president of Ukrainian Library Association
Svitlana Moiseeva started her professional career in 1987 in the Luhans’k Regional Universal Library, where she still works. Over the years, she have made her professional way from a librarian to library manager. She have been the head of this library since 2017.
Moiseeva received her professional education at the Kharkiv State Institute of Culture (now the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture) in 1996.
Krystyna Tumasova
Director of the Municipal Institution Pokrovsk City Public Library
Krystyna Tumasova was born on April 16, 1977 in Abovyan (Armenia), an Assyrian, now is a citizen of Ukraine.
On December 29, 1988, she moved to Ukraine with her parents for permanent residence in the city of Krasmnoarmiisk, Donetsk region.
From the 5th to the 9th grade, studied at the secondary school No. 12 in Krasnoarmiisk. From September 1992 to June 1996, studied at the Krasnoarmiisk Pedagogical College, after which received a Junior Specialist Diploma in Labor Training.
Brenden Gilbert
Technology Leader, CEO, and Accessibility Advocate in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
Brenden Gilbert, a Deaf technology leader and American Sign Language user, stands at the forefront of innovation, seamlessly bridging accessibility gaps and tackling complex technological challenges.
As the visionary CEO and founder of Deaf Eye Consulting, Brenden’s expertise empowers companies such as VSL Labs (www.vsllabs.com), where he guides technology and product strategy, or Convo Communications (www.convo.global).
Brad McKenna
Technology Librarian, Wilmington Memorial Library in Massachusetts
In 2014, after 14 years in the IT department at Partners Healthcare, Brad McKenna became the technology librarian for the Wilmington Memorial Library in Massachusetts. His main duties center around supporting anything with a plug, including computers, printers, databases, the library website. He also digitizes old VHS tapes and 8mm reels for patrons, demystifies technology for patrons through one-on-one tech help sessions, and teaches patrons how to use the 3D Printer.
Alicia Deal
Former Librarian and Former President of DAERG
Alicia Deal was the fine arts librarian for the Dallas Public Library’s Downtown Branch. She is the co-founder and former president of the Disabilities and Accessibilities Employee Resource Group (DAERG) within the City of Dallas. She is also a former chair for ALA’s Bridging Deaf Cultures Interest Group and for the Peggy Barber Tribute Grant Committee. Alicia was a member of ALA’s 2023 Emerging Leaders Cohort and was chosen to be one of Library Journal’s 2023 Movers and Shakers.
KayCee Choi
Branch Manager, Grauwyler Park Branch, Dallas Public Library
KayCee Choi holds an MLS from the University of North Texas. They are the manager for Grauwyler Park Branch Library with over 15 years of experience in the Dallas Public Library System. Born in South Korea, KayCee moved to the United States at age four when they were first diagnosed as severely hard-of-hearing. KayCee’s first language is ASL. They also communicate in English, Spanish, and a little French.
Eryn Duffee
Certified Teacher Librarian and Library Advocacy Leader
Eryn is a certified teacher librarian at a K12 school near
Seattle, Washington. She works diligently to teach homeschooled
students research and information literacy skills. However, her
favorite part of the job is helping students who claim not to
enjoy reading find books they love.
Dr. Marika Cifor
Assistant Professor in the Information School and adjunct faculty in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington
Marika Cifor is Assistant Professor in the Information School and adjunct faculty in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. She is a feminist scholar of archival studies and digital studies. Cifor is the author of Viral Cultures: Activist Archiving in the Age of AIDS (University of Minnesota Press, 2022), as well as numerous articles on community archives, affect, and feminist data studies in leading venues in information studies, gender studies, American studies, and science and technology studies.
Dr. Rebecca Stallworth
Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University
Dr. Rebecca Stallworth is an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University. Her research examines diversity issues in academic libraries and the information-seeking behaviors of first-generation graduate students. In 2020, she received a Laura Bush 21st Century Library Program grant from the Institute of Library and Museum Services (IMLS) for her African American Undergraduates’ Use of Academic Libraries project.
Renate Chancellor
Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies
Renate Chancellor is Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at the School of Information Studies. She received her Master’s and Ph.D. in Information Studies from UCLA. Dr. Chancellor is an affiliated faculty at the Syracuse Lender Center for Social Justice. She is a leader in research on critical cultural information studies and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and social justice in Library and Information Science.
Sarah Logan
Teacher-Librarian and Washington Library Association Board President
Sarah Logan is the Teacher-Librarian at Dorothy Fox Elementary in
Camas, Washington. The recipient of Washington Library
Association School Library Division’s Elementary
Teacher-Librarian of the Year award for 2024, Sarah has a
reputation for creating an engaging, student-centered school
library program that has resulted in an authentic reading culture
at Dorothy Fox.
Carolyn Norman
Library Consultant
Carolyn F. Norman has experience in advancing initiatives at the local, state and national level. As Coordinator of Library and Learning Resources Programs for the California Community College Chancellor’s Office she led the development, implementation and management of the Library and Learning Resources Programs in the 100+ institutions in the California Community College system.
Joy M. Doan
Professor of Practice, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Joy Marie Doan is a practicing member of the faculty in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK). Prior to joining the faculty at UTK, Joy Marie held positions at University of Miami, Northwestern University, California State University, Northridge and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Music from the University of Michigan, an M.A. in Music History from Case Western Reserve University, and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from San Jose State University.
Nichelle M. Hayes
Founding Director of the Center for Black Literature and Culture
Nichelle M. Hayes MPA, MLS is the leader of the Center for Black Literature & Culture (CBLC), Indianapolis Public Library. Hayes graduated from Indiana University – School of Library & Information Science (SLIS) with her MLS.
She began her library career as a Library Media Specialist at an Elementary School in Indianapolis. Later she worked as an Adult Reference Librarian Specializing in Business.
Shauntee Burns-Simpson
Associate Director for the Center of Educators and Schools at the New York Public Library
Shauntee Burns-Simpson (MLIS) is the Immediate Past-President of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She is the Associate Director for the Center of Educators and Schools at the New York Public Library. An ambassador for libraries and youth librarianship, Mrs. Burns-Simpson enjoys connecting people to the public library and its resources. She works closely with at-risk teens and fosters a love of reading & learning with her innovative programs.