Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz

Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz is the associate dean for the Teaching, Learning, and Engagement sub-division at New York University Division of Libraries where she partners with library staff to inform reference, Shawnta Smith-Cruzinstruction, faculty course support, and multi-scaled engagement, including the Palmer-NYU MLIS Dual Degree. Shawn is co-editor for forthcoming titles, Grabbing Tea: Queer Conversations in Libraries & Grabbing Tea: Queer Conversations in Archives with Litwin Books. Shawn is a visiting assistant professor at Pratt School of Information teaching reference and instruction. She is a co-lead for the METRO Reference and Instruction Special Interest Group. She is a 2020 recipient of the ACRL WGSS Award for Significant Achievement in Women’s & Gender Studies in Librarianship for Black lesbian archival work as a co-coordinating volunteer archivist for the Lesbian Herstory Archives. Shawn has a BS in Queer Women’s Studies from CUNYBA, an MFA in Fiction, and an MLIS, both from Queens College. Find her at https://shawntasmithcruz.com/.

Speakers

Alison Lehner-Quam Alison Lehner-Quam

Alison Lehner-Quam is an assistant professor and the education librarian at Lehman College. Alison teaches information literacy sessions, creates research guides, develops and maintains children’s and education book collections, and provides individual research support for students. Her areas of research include explorations into the information literacy experiences of teacher education students as well as inquiry into the impact of culturally and linguistically relevant children’s book experiences on children and teacher candidates. She is vice-chair of the Instruction for Educators Committee (ACRL EBSS) and serves on the Maxine Greene Institute board and the New York City School Library System Library Council.

Bethany Sewell bethany sewell

Bethany Sewell earned her MLS from Indiana University, as well as undergraduate degrees in philosophy and visual arts from the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to joining the faculty at TCNJ as the Access Services/Reference Librarian, she served as the Access Services Librarian at the University of Denver. Her research agenda is focused on best practices for user-centered access services and she has presented and published on topics such as interlibrary loan, document delivery, and managing library access services departments.

Clay Williams Clay Williams

Clay Williams has a BA in Classics from Grinnell College and received his Library Science degree at the University of Illinois. For the last 22 years, he has worked at Hunter College in NYC, where he was first Coordinator of Library Instruction and subsequently as Deputy Chief Librarian and, for four non-consecutive years, as Interim Chief Librarian. He has served on various committees in ACRL, including the Executive Committee of the Instruction Section. At Hunter, he is liaison to the Classics and History Departments. He has taught at least one section of Hunter’s credit course for a decade, and was involved in that course’s development and implementation. His research interests include information literacy and Jim Crow travel, and more recently, Hunter College history.

Emily Hector Emily Hector

Emily Hector is Liaison Librarian, Education, at the OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) Library, University of Toronto Libraries. In this role, she is responsible for providing information literacy instruction to OISE programs and coordinating collection development for the OISE Library. She hold a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English from the University of Manitoba, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Victoria, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia. Among many interests, she is enthusiastic about instructional design and critical pedagogy in library classrooms.

Georgina de Roché Georgina De Roche

Georgina is currently a member of the Community Engagement team at Ajax Public Library. She formerly worked as a student library assistant at Innis College Library while she was earning her Master of Information from the University of Toronto’s iSchool. She had the opportunity to assist in the planning and facilitation of two speed networking events for the eLearning in Libraries Symposium in 2019 and 2020 respectively. As a new grad who completed her education and began her job search during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgina became acutely aware of the networking gap she and her peers experienced due to the infeasibility of in-person events. She maintains that online networking events are crucial for bridging that gap by allowing emerging professionals to gain exposure and meet people in their field.

Kate Johnson Kate Johnson

Kate Johnson manages the University of Toronto’s Innis College Library. As a College Librarian, she provides support to undergraduate students and the research activities of UofT Cinema Studies Institute and Writing & Rhetoric Program. Kate earned her Master of Information Studies with a focus on Library Science at University of Toronto’s iSchool. Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Education and an undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of Guelph. Kate has coordinating speed networking events at Ontario Library Association Super Conference, University of Toronto’s Science Literacy Week, and eLearning in Libraries Symposium. She believes speed networking programming is a great method to build community within professional circles and is always happy to discuss strategies on host in-person or online speed networking events.

Katie Cohen Katie Cohen

Katie Cohen earned her MLIS from Rutgers University, and her BA in History from the College of New Jersey. She is the Interlibrary Loan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College of NJ, and serves as the co-editor of the NJ Library Association – College and University Section / ACRL-NJ Newsletter.

Katrina Rouan Katrina Rouan

Katrina Rouan (she/her) has served as the Wayne State University Library System’s Coordinator for Reference Services since 2014. Additionally, she supervises eight graduate assistants and works with several science departments as their subject specialist librarian.

Malin Abrahamsson Malin Abrahamsson

Malin Abrahamsson is the Acquisitions Manager and Copyright Assistant at Hunter College Libraries, a position she has held for 10 years. An inter-disciplinary artist and occasional writer, Malin has completed several public art commissions in and around NYC and published writings on new media art, and copyright and fair use. The common theme that runs through her wide range of interests is a deep fascination with transformation as an unscripted process of uncovering possibilities.

Maria Guallpa Maria Guallpa

Maria Guallpa is a Stacks Manager at Hunter College library, CUNY. She enjoys providing excellent service to both students and faculty as well as organizing library study spaces.  She values her colleagues and is readily available to help them in any way possible to better assist patrons.

Matthew Wisotsky Matthew Wisotsky

Matthew Wisotsky (he/him) is the Associate Director for Classroom Support and Design at Wayne State University. He earned a Masters in Urban Planning to help “save” the city of Detroit but focuses most of his time implementing new services and spaces that cater to the changing needs of our patrons.

Meshaw Browne Meshaw Browne

Meshaw Browne is the circulation manager, at Hunter College Library, CUNY. Meshaw, has 6+ years experience in circulation role. She is very professional, passionate, great team player and take pride in her work.  She inherently understands that the students are one of the most valuable asset, a learning intuition can have, and is driven by the students focus, satisfaction, and experience. Look forward to sharing more about myself on the panel along with my colleagues.

Rebecca Arzola Rebecca Arzola

Rebecca Arzola is Government Documents-Student Engagement Librarian at Lehman College’s Leonard Lief Library. She has published articles on cultivating belonging through diversity and inclusion initiatives, document accessibility for students, supporting academic needs of student veterans, as well as adapting to a mobile environment in libraries. Her research interests include diversity efforts for students in libraries, electronic government information access, and Universal Design in libraries. Rebecca has collaborated with Campus Life, Lehman’s Assistive Technology Center, Office of Veterans and Military Affairs, and the Counseling Center to support students’ library research. Professor Arzola also initiated New York City’s first iteration of the Human Library®, an interactive dialogue platform to challenge stereotypes and prejudice.

Sarah Laleman Ward Sarah Laleman Ward

Sarah Laleman Ward is a tenured Associate Professor and Outreach Librarian at Hunter College, CUNY.

Sarah Rodgers Sarah Rodgers

Sarah Rodgers is a Library Associate at Oglethorpe University. She has a passion for access services, outreach, and programming. As a recent Valdosta State University grad, she hopes to use her skills to continue the work that others in the Library and Information Science field have done to further diversity, equity, and inclusion. To that end, she is very involved in the Georgia Library Association and other organizations. In her free time, Sarah loves to crochet, read, and watch old cartoons. https://sites.google.com/view/sarahrodgerseportfolio/home

Stephanie Margolin Stephanie Margolin

Stephanie Margolin is a tenured faculty librarian and the Instructional Design Librarian at Hunter College, CUNY.  She deeply values working with her colleagues to build a better library and a more equitable workplace. She is pleased to dig more deeply into this topic and learn more from her colleagues in today’s panel.

Susan M. Frey Susan Frey

Susan M. Frey, Ph.D., is Professor of Library Services and University Librarian at Marywood University where she provides leadership and strategic planning for the University Library and oversees all library faculty, staff, budgets, strategic initiatives, processes, and procedures. Dr. Frey’s thirty-five years as a librarian spans a broad range of progressive experience in academic libraries and corporate research centers serving diverse populations worldwide. Her research interests center on management, higher education administration, and organizational behavior. Dr. Frey’s work appears in leading library journals, and in monographs published by the American Library Association, Neal-Schuman, and the Association for College & Research Libraries. She has presented at conferences and workshops in the US, Europe, the UK, and Asia.

Vanessa Arce Senati Vanessa Arce Senati

Vanessa Arce is Head of Reference at the Leonard Lief Library at Lehman College (CUNY). In addition to coordinating reference services, Vanessa is the subject librarian for Spanish, French, and Latin American and Latino Studies. She provides both general and subject-specific research support and library instruction. Vanessa also manages the Lehman instance of the university-wide institutional repository. Her areas of interest include reference services, information literacy, and scholarly communication. She is a native of Puerto Rico and lives and works in the Bronx.