10/1 Speakers

Began my library career in 2008 after years in the Information Technical Services department at Yale University. My library career started as a Department Head for a Tech Services department, working on updating the technology, such as bringing in wireless, time management software, updating the website,
and joining social media, along with diving head first into cataloging and weeding projects. I became library director in West Haven in 2015. I've chaired a number of committees; such as the LION consortium's Bibliographic Committee from 2009-2015. Since 2015, I've chaired the LION consortium, FLAG (Fairfield Library Administrators Group), the local Rotary Club, and served as liasion to CLA for the Commission on Educational Technology (CET). The CET appointment for CLA showed me all the hard work that CLA accomplishes as an all volunteer organization. CT librarians are committed to ensuring our organization thrives and continues to  help people in the CT library field.

Sessions:

• Chapter Leaders Forum

Andrea Bunker joined the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners in 2018 after serving as the director of the Woburn Public Library during the renovation of its historic Richardson building and its expansion with a LEED gold addition. As a librarian, she has worked in almost every department of a public library and been involved in smaller scale renovation and redesign projects throughout her
career.

Sessions:

• Library Space: A Planning Resource for Librarians

Beth Crowley is the Director of the Cheshire Public Library in Cheshire, CT.  She has worked in public libraries for 23 years including 14 years in middle and senior administrative positions.  She is a Past President of the Connecticut Library Association and served on the NELA Board as the CT State Representative.  She is a 2008 alumni of the New England Library Leadership Symposium and returned to NELLS In 2011 as the CT Mentor.  Beth has a passion for helping others achieve their career goals and she has regularly presented on related topics including: “The View from the Hiring Desk,” “Professional is an Adjective, Not a Noun,” and “From Storytimes to Board Meetings.”

Sessions:

• Coaching 101

Elizabeth Dill (MFA, MLIS) is co-editing a book on OER and OER-enabled pedagogy entitled, "Intersections of OER and Information Literacy" for ACRL Publishing. Dill also co-edited the Fall 2020 special edition of the academic journal, Library Trends, entitled "OER and the Academic Library." Her co-authored article, "Managing self-imposed leadership transitions during unprecedented challenges: Here's your new office! Don't ever come here" was published in the May 2021 edition of ACRL's C&RL News.

Sessions:

• New Directors/First 100 Days

Brandie Doyle is the Assistant Director of Administrative Services at the Russell Library in Middletown, CT. She graduated from Simmons College with a Masters of Library and Information Science in 2011 and joined Russell Library immediately upon graduation. She worked her way up through the ranks from Business and Career Resources Librarian to Circulation Services Department Head and, finally, Assistant Director (including a brief stint as Acting Director). Brandie operates "behind the scenes:" managing hiring, onboarding, and library-wide scheduling; administering grant applications; arranging professional development for 50+ staff members; coordinating an overhaul of the Library's policy manual; preparing our CT State Library annual report; and providing future-focused strategic input. Beyond libraries, her passion is music (mostly listening, occasionally writing) and literature (which she hopes to read more often as her two-year-old grows into greater autonomy).  

Sessions:

• You got a grant! Now what?

Ed Garcia is the Library Director at the Cranston Public Library in Cranston, RI, a position he has held since 2012. Ed is a proud graduate of the University of Rhode Island and received his MLIS in 2008. He is a former ALA Emerging Leader and Library Journal Mover & Shaker. Ed was a candidate for ALA President 2022-2023 and recently completed a 3 year term on the ALA Executive Board. In 2018 he was a member of the ALA Eliminating Library Fines as a form of Social Equity Working Group.  Ed is the current chair of the Rhode Island Library Association Legislative Action Committee and a member of the ALA Committee on Legislation.  The Cranston Public Library first went fine free for children's and teen materials in 2018.

Sessions:

• Fine-Free Frenzy: New England Libraries are going fine-free and you can, too

Julie Holden is the Assistant Director of the Cranston Public Library and is the immediate past president of RILA.  As RILA President, she worked extensively on the issue of fair access to ebooks and helped institute a new professional development platform for RILA members. Previously she was a reference librarian at the Pawtucket Public Library and technical services assistant at Nixon Peabody LLP in Boston. She is a proud Eagle from Boston College and received her MLIS from Simmons.

Sessions:

• Fine-Free Frenzy: New England Libraries are going fine-free and you can, too

Dawn is currently the Director, Division of Library Development for the Connecticut State Library. Under her leadership the Division provides leadership, consulting, funding, professional development training and statewide services that enhance Connecticut libraries abilities to deliver high-quality library service through innovation and strategic partnerships to their communities. The Division has launched several initiatives for CT libraries including the EDGE Initiative; EXCITE Innovation Transformation for Libraries which was awarded an IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant; health and legal literacy initiatives; veteran's and military families program initiatives and CT's National Transformation for Libraries: The Futures School project. Dawn currently serves on CT's Access to Justice Commission (ATJ), Co-Chair on ATJ's Working Group on Public Libraries and CT's Commission on Educational Technology's Digital Learning Council.  She served as a consultant to the Dubai Public Library System, in the framing of a strategy to re-envision the future state of libraries as 21st Century anchors of the community and innovation destinations.

Sessions:

• How to Create a Robust, Resilient, & Transformative Library Organization using a Strategic Foresight Framework as an Operating System

Sarah has been working in libraries since joining the Sixth Grade Library Club at age 12 and, aside from a brief post-college hiccup, hasn't looked back. She has been a page, library assistant, cataloger, reference librarian, accidental archivist, assistant director, and is currently the director of the Canton (CT) Public Library. Sarah has served as the president of the Library Connection consortium and is currently a CT Library Association board member.  She earned her MLS at SCSU, is a 2013 NELLS graduate, and was a NELLS mentor in 2017.

Sessions:

• Fine-Free Frenzy: New England Libraries are going fine-free and you can, too

Karen Mellor is the Chief of Library Services for the State of Rhode Island, serving as the executive officer of the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) since 2013. In her two decades at OLIS, she has coordinated grant and other programs such as library construction, services to the blind and visually impaired, continuing education, electronic resources, workforce development, adult education, and library development. She is especially interested in integrating emerging technologies with traditional library services to develop local libraries as critical community centers for learning and discovery. Karen is involved in regional and national initiatives for the advancement of libraries and serves on the Executive Board for the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA). She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Semiotics at Brown University and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Simmons University.

Sessions:

• State of the States

As a newly-appointed middle manager, Allison is learning to anticipate and exceed the goals of her manager, while  coordinating and understanding the needs of those she manages. Allison has extensive experience with chaos and creativity as she's worked as a teacher, children's book publisher, and children's librarian.

Sessions:

• Managing in the Middle: Working Successfully with Your Manager & Those You Manage

Mary Beth Rassulo is the Assistant Director/Head of Youth Services at the Easton Public Library in Easton, Ct. She joined the EPL team in 2016. Mary Beth holds an MLIS from Long Island University. Her passion for STEAM programming (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) was sparked while she worked as the Children’s Services Librarian at Ridgefield Library.

Sessions:

• Managing in the Middle: Working Successfully with Your Manager & Those You Manage

James Ritter (Jamie) was selected by the Maine Library Commission in December 2014 to serve as Maine State Librarian. In that role, he is the chief administrator of the Maine State Library and works to ensure the agency fulfills its mission to advance and promote library services and collection resources for all of Maine, as well as extend the library’s services relating to emerging technologies and research & development initiatives.

Sessions:

• State of the States

Dr. Curtis Rogers is a library consultant and has been working in the library and information science field for more than 30 years. He has worked at the Union (SC Carnegie Library, the Charleston County (SC) Public Library, and retired as the Communications Director of the South Carolina State Library. He has also taught courses at the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Geography, Master of Library and Information Science, and Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Carolina. In 2001, he completed the University of the Azores Summer Study Course in Azorean Portuguese Culture and Language and in 2002 completed the Certified Public Manager credential. In 2008, he was President of the SC Library Association. Rogers developed a national library survey on library use of social media for public relations and has presented this survey's results at the 2009 German Library Association Conference and at the State and University Library of Hamburg. He currently serves on the board of the Library Marketing and Communications Conference and has served as secretary of the SC Academy of Authors, as well as serving as chair of the USC School of Library and Information Annual Literacy Leaders (ALL) Awards committee. He is a recipient of the 2015 F. William Summers Outstanding Alumni Award from the USC School of Library and Information Science.

Sessions:

• Library Signage: The Good, The Bad, & the Ugly

Michael Roy is the Dean of the Library at Middlebury College.  Currently the President of the Vermont Library Association, he has been involved in a wide range of library, technology, and publishing project, ranging from serving as president of the Oberlin Group of Libraries and co-founding the open access Lever Press. Along with David Lewis, he is currently the editor of the Journal of Electronic Publishing.

Sessions:

• Chapter Leaders Forum

Beth Ruane is currently the Library Director at Northfield Mount Hermon in MA. Previously, she was the director of the Rice-Aron Library at Marlboro College in Marlboro, VT. She has additionally held positions at Skidmore College, DePaul University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Beth first earned her M.A. in English from NCSU before attending school at GSLIS at the UIUC, where she also worked in IT as a User Services Specialist until transitioning into librarianship.

Sessions:

• Shut It Down: Lessons Learned from Closing a Small College Library

Deborah Schander began her tenure as State Librarian in 2021. Prior to joining the Connecticut State Library, she was an educator and law librarian, serving in library administration at Seton Hall University and Vanderbilt University as well as working at law libraries in Georgia and California. She holds a JD and an MLIS from Florida State University (2007). She writes and speaks on a variety of topics including legal research instruction, leadership development, personnel management, technology, and library outreach. Deborah is past chair of the Professional Engagement, Growth, and Advancement special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries as well as past president of the Atlanta Law Libraries Association.

Sessions:

• State of the States