Webcast Speakers
Kassian Rye Lemke-Elznic
Library Specialist with the Papillion Public Library’s Digital Library and Project Assistant at the University of Nebraska’s Archives and Special Collections
Kassian Rye Lemke-Elznic (he/they) is a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky’s MLS program. As the current library specialist with the Papillion Public Library’s Digital Library and project assistant at the University of Nebraska’s Archives and Special Collections, they are interested in queer community archives and libraries, the civic responsibility of libraries and collections, and the intersection of gender and labor.
Melinda Borie
Collection Development Librarian at Floyd County Library in Indiana
Melinda Borie has been working in public libraries throughout Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, after obtaining her MSLS in 2015 from the University of Kentucky. She is currently the collection development librarian at Floyd County Library in Indiana, specializing in adult collections. Starting July 1, 2023, Melinda will be part of the Public Library Association’s Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice. Melinda is currently a member of the ALA Rainbow Round Table.
Elizabeth Batte
Director of the Ellender Memorial Library and the Open Education Resource Coordinator for the Nicholls State University
Elizabeth Batte (they/she) is the director of the Ellender Memorial Library and the Open Education Resource Coordinator for the Nicholls State University. They are an active member in library services within Louisiana, serving as president of Louisiana’s ARCL chapter, assistant editor for the ACRL-LA open access peer-reviewed journal CODEX, and columns editor for the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education.
Shannon M. Oltmann
Associate Professor, School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky
Shannon M. Oltmann (she/her) is an associate professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky. She obtained her Ph.D. from Indiana University. Her research interests include information ethics, censorship, intellectual freedom, information policy, public libraries, privacy, and qualitative research methods. Oltmann is the past editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy and Associate Editor of Library Quarterly. She recently published a book, Practicing Intellectual Freedom in Libraries.
Binnie Tate Wilkin
Professional Storyteller
Binnie Tate Wilkin, writer, consultant, and professional storyteller resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. She provided JUNETEENTH, online symposia for SJSU School of Information in 2022 and 2023. Ms. Wilkin has participated in professional panels regarding library services in cultural communities and presents storytelling programs live and virtually. Binnie has been inducted in the California Library Association’s Hall of Fame and has received a National Storytelling Network (NSN) Oracle Award in recognition of her storytelling.
Patty Wong
ALA President and City Librarian, Santa Clara City Library
Patricia “Patty” Wong is the city librarian of Santa Clara, California. Wong is the president of the American Library Association (ALA) for the 2021-2022 term and is the first Asian American president of the ALA. She has been on the faculty at the San Jose State University iSchool since 2006, teaching subjects such as equitable access to library services, library management, and library services to young people.
Gayathri Kanth
Director, City of Palo Alto Library Services
Gayathri Kanth is the library services director of the Palo Alto Library. Gayathri is also a MidPeninsula Media Center board member. Prior to this assignment, Gayathri was the community librarian of the Cupertino and the Saratoga Libraries. Gayathri is a fellow of the 2017 national leadership cohort in the Public Library Association and a 2020 fellow of the Palo Alto Leadership group. Gayathri believes that the library’s critical role is to provide accurate information and library resources to the community.
Jeanette Contreras
Director, Placentia Library District
Jeanette Contreras the library director at Placentia Library District, the first Asian American to hold the position in the District’s 102 years. During her 14 years of leadership, Placentia Library District has received many recognitions, including the CSDA Innovative Awards, the California Library Association PRExcellence Award, and the Chamber of Commerce Employer of the Year Distinction.
Nancy Kim Phillips
Community Engagement Manager, Skokie Public Library
Nancy Kim Phillips is the community engagement manager at Skokie Public Library, where she and her team collaborate with other library departments and partner organizations in response to community interests and needs. These efforts include programs, services, and projects around early childhood development, school services, immigrant services, accessibility, aging, economic well-being, health, neighborhood engagement, and equity. Prior to librarianship, Phillips worked extensively with nonprofit organizations in the areas of collaboration and strategic planning.
Alan Shoho
Dean and Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Education
Dr. Alan R. Shoho is the dean and professor emeritus of School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). He led the School of Education through a turbulent period of fiscal challenges, including declining enrollments for 10 years, a structural deficit of $1M/year, and a carry-forward deficit of $2.4M. The structural deficit and debt were eliminated within two years. Despite grappling with the budget challenges, the School of Education’s fundraising efforts increased significantly during his tenure.
Heidi Kim
PhD, Director, UNC Chapel Hill Asian American Center and Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Heidi Kim is a professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature and the director of the Asian American Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research ranges through nineteenth and twentieth-century American literature and Asian American studies. She is the author of two monographs about the literature by and about Asian Americans during the Cold War: Illegal Immigrants/Model Minorities: The Cold War of Chinese American Literature (Temple University Press, 2021 and Invisible Subjects: Asian Americans in Postwar Literature (Oxford UP, 2016).
Michael Lambert
Director, San Francisco Public Library
Michael Lambert is the city librarian for the City and County of San Francisco. He was appointed to the position in March 2019, by Mayor London Breed. During his tenure, the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) was named the 2018 National Library of the Year by Library Journal. Lambert has championed increased and equitable access to libraries through expanded hours and a fine-free library system.
Marti Goddard
Access Services Manager at the San Francisco Public Library
Marti Goddard was a teacher at the New Mexico School for the Deaf before curiosity took her to library school at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. With her MLS in hand, she worked as a reference librarian at Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado before returning to NMSD as the school librarian.
In 1989, Goddard became the Deaf services program manager at the San Francisco Public Library. From 1998 until March of 2022, she served as SFPL’s access services manager and ADA coordinator for public programs and services.
Danica Rice
Head Librarian, Luce J. LeBlanc Memorial Library
Danica Rice was born Deaf. She graduated from RIT/NTID in 2007 with a BS in Professional & Technical Communications. During her time as a federal government employee, she became a student at San José State University where she obtained her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science in 2017.
Rosa Rodriguez
Head of the Deaf Literacy Center, Pinellas County Public Library
Rosa Rodriguez is the head of the Deaf Literacy Center at Pinellas County Public Library in Florida. The Deaf Literacy Center provides a bilingual/bicultural learning environment for Deaf community.
Alice L. Hagemeyer
Founding President of Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action
Alice L. Hagemeyer is the founding president of Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action, whose mission is to promote library access and quality deaf cultural resources for the deaf community, and for all, nationally and globally. She was the former librarian at the DC Public Library. She spearheaded the National Deaf History Month, March 13 – April 15 and Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 3 – 10. She is the current leader of Bridging Deaf Cultures, an interest group of the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services.
Joan Naturale
Reference Librarian for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology Libraries
Joan Naturale is a reference librarian for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology Libraries. She has a BA in English from Gallaudet University; a Master’s in Education from McDaniel College; an MILS in Library Sciences from the University of RI, and an Ed.D from St. John Fisher College. Naturale has worked in the field of Deaf Education as an instructor and librarian since 1984 in a variety of settings.
Shirley Lew
Dean, School of Arts and Sciences at Vancouver Community College
Shirley Lew has been a librarian for over 20 years with a focus on library systems and leadership. Her current position is dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Vancouver Community College in Vancouver, Canada. She co-edited the collection “Feminists Among Us: Resistance and Advocacy in Library Leadership” and contributed one of the essays. She is vice-chair of the BC Libraries Cooperative and is currently pursuing her doctorate in education at the University of British Columbia.
Shana Higgins
Shana Higgins is the director of the library and learning commons, and a doctoral candidate in the Leadership for Educational Justice program at University of Redlands.
Higgins’ research interests include critical information literacy teaching and learning, social justice issues in librarianship, educational justice, and feminist leadership practices in higher education.
Janine Spears
Associate Professor at Cleveland State University
Janine Spears is an associate professor in information systems. She is on faculty at Cleveland State University in the College of Business where she teaches cybersecurity courses. She holds a PhD from Penn State University. Her research interests include IS security risk assessment; security workforce development; consumer privacy; and digital media literacy. Dr. Spears previously served on the faculty of DePaul University in Chicago. Prior to her academic career, she worked in IT at two major motion picture studios in Los Angeles.