Keynote Speakers
Denise Jacobs is a speaker, author and creativity evangelist who speaks at web conferences and consults with tech companies worldwide. As the founder and chief creativity evangelists of The Creative Dose, she teaches techniques to make the creative process more fluid, methods for making work environments more conducive to creative productivity, and practices for sparking innovation. Working in Web Design & Development since 1997, she is an industry veteran and regarded expert on many things web. She is the author of The CSS Detective Guide and co-author of the Smashing Book #3 1/3 and Interact with Web Standards.
John Palfrey is the Head of School at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Knight Foundation and President of the Board of Directors of the Digital Public Library of America. He also serves as a director of the Data + Society Research Institute. John’s research and teaching focus on new media and learning. He has written extensively on Internet law, intellectual property, and the potential of new technologies to strengthen democracies locally and around the world. He is the author or co-author of several books, including BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google (Basic Books, 2015).
Speakers and Presenters
Ignacio M. Albarracin is the Coordinator of Digital Services at the San Antonio Public Library in Texas. He has 10 years experience working to empower communities, particularly those that are socio-economically disadvantaged. His goal is to improve the quality of life in our society by developing library products and services that effectively cater to people’s wants and needs. He currently advocates for the adoption and use of new technologies to improve the delivery of library services and to develop better library products.
Barbara Alvarez is the Adult Services Manager at Westmont Public Library in Westmont, Illinois. Prior to that she was the Business Liaison Librarian at the Barrington Area Library where she designed and delivered continuing education tools to the business community. Barbara received her MLIS from the University of Illinois. She is the co-organizer of The Library OnConference. She tweets @the_barbrarian
Christy Barham is the Media & Technology Coordinator for Rockingham County Schools. Some of her most recent projects include: makerspace, edcamp, ebooks, reading incentive programs, blended learning professional development, badge incentive program, and global collaborative projects. Follow her @barhamchristy
Anne Bensfield is a Children’s Librarian at the Oak Park Public Library in Illinois. She strives to engage parents and kids in play and learning using technology. She also acts as a media mentor by collaborating with the local schools and area libraries to share her knowledge about technology. Some of her projects include modeling how to interact with digital resources during her “DigiTales” storytimes, instructing parents during her “Appy Hour” workshops, and collaborating with staff during “Storytime Slams.” In addition, Anne curates the app collection for OPPL’s early learning, grade school, and staff iPads. @annebensfield
John Blyberg is the Assistant Director for Innovation and User Experience at Darien Library in Connecticut and the creator of the Fairfield County Minecraft Server. He was a 2006 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, has spoken about UX and technology here and there, likes to read, code, and thinks that today’s Minecrafters will run the world someday.
Jennifer Brewer is the Library Director of the Jackson Library at Berwick Academy in North Carolina. She is also Lower School Librarian and the Coordinator of the Lower School Innovation program. As Lower School Innovation Coordinator, Jennifer organizes and oversees the four annual Innovation sessions and then mentors the 4th grade students who choose to extend their Passion Projects in the spring. Jennifer has worked at Berwick Academy since 2002.
Darcy Coffta is Director of Innovation and Upper School librarian at Berwick Academy, a PK-12 independent day school in South Berwick, Maine. Under Darcy’s direction Berwick’s Innovation program received a 2013 Follett Challenge Award and was featured as a “School That Shines” by local NBC news affiliate WCSH6. Darcy’s recent conference presentations include ISTE 2014, the 2014 Reidy Interactive Lecture Series, and Connected Librarians 2014. Berwick Innovation presented at the NAIS national conference in Boston in 2015.
Trixie Dantis is a Teen Librarian at Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Illinois. In Teen Services, her focus is STEM programming and ELL. She shares her love of making and tinkering with teens through library programs, impromptu activities, and conversation, both in person and online. She received her MLIS from Dominican University and BA in English from UIC. She tweets @trixupmysleeve
Kyle Denlinger is the eLearning Librarian at Wake Forest University’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library in North Carolina where he develops the library’s emerging platform of open online courses, teaches the library’s credit-bearing information literacy course, and helps faculty create flipped, blended, and fully online classes. His interests include massive open online courses, open educational resources, and designing authentic online learning experiences. He was a 2014 Library Journal Mover and Shaker and a 2014 American Library Association Emerging Leader. He tweets @kyledenlinger
Debby Dodds is a gerontologist who believes engaging with personal technology is beneficial to those living with memory loss and their caregivers. Her goal is to support aging in community with personal technology and novel partnerships, resulting in improved person- and family-centered care.
Laurel Eby is a graduate of the Master’s of Library and Information Science program at San Jose State University. After completing her MLIS she worked as a reference librarian at a local community college, and then at San Jose State’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, where she is now the Web Services Librarian. She tweets @jausel
Jodi Reeves Flores holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Exeter. She received a CLIR/DLF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Data Curation for the Sciences and Social Sciences, which was hosted by Arizona State from 2013-2015. While at Arizona State, she served a dual appointment with ASU Libraries and the Center for Digital Antiquity. During her fellowship, she developed seminars and workshops on data management and curation, supervised the curation of digital archaeological data into tDAR (the Digital Archaeological Record), and collaborated on digital humanities projects.
Linda Gault is the branch manager of the Scotts Valley Library, one of the busiest branches in the Santa Cruz Public Libraries system.
When the branch opened in its new location in 2011, new technology and innovative services were at the forefront of its design which includes a children’s literacy center, group study rooms, a Wii gaming wall in the teen room, and a nine screen media center in the Fireside Meeting Room.
The library became the perfect venue to try out a new program with the community, the TouchTEAM. Working with Debby Dodds and a talented group of dedicated volunteers, Linda is eager to share their success with others. She tweets @gaultenator
Janessa Hall holds Master’s degrees in social psychology and English composition. She currently teaches psychology at St. Louis Community College and does freelance writing. She is the mother of 4 young children and volunteers frequently for her congregation. She has long been interested in social media, serving as staff for an interfaith religious forum, and the G+ Writer’s Discussion Group. She began volunteering for Ferguson Municipal Library’s social media in August, 2014 and helped shaped communication with the community during the turbulent weeks and months that followed.
Karen Harker is Collection Assessment Librarian at the University of North Texas. She has more than twenty years of experience in public, academic, and medical libraries, in which she has worked analyzing systems, evaluating processes, managing research data sets, performing statistical analyses, and using qualitative and quantitative techniques to analyze collection strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Harker received her MLS from Texas Woman’s University in 1999 and her Master in Public Health degree from University of Texas, School of Public Health in 2007. She was librarian and statistician at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for over 15 years, and has been at University of North Texas since 2012
Wendy Harrington is the Director of Academic Technology at Berwick Academy in Maine and is proud to support the Innovation Center program with the technology tools and resources needed for students to pursue their fields of study. An educator for over 25 years, Wendy encourages the seamless use of technology resources for learning and to help students and teachers effectively reach their goals.
Rebecca Hyman is currently the Reference and Outreach Librarian at the Government and Heritage Library at the State Library of North Carolina, where she develops public programming for the library, coordinates the library’s outreach strategy, and assists patrons with their research needs. Rebecca earned her MLIS from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois in 2008 and her BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia in 2000. She tweets @ncpedia
Ashley D. Lowery is the Digital Collections Specialist at Georgia Southern University. In this position, she manages the institutional repository, Digital Commons@Georgia Southern, which includes SelectedWorks faculty profiles and peer-reviewed conference and journal sites. She is currently earning her MLIS degree from Valdosta State University and has a B.A. and M.A. in art history.
Joyce Martin is the Associate Librarian and Curator of the Labriola National American Indian Data Center, Arizona State University Libraries. As an advisor to the University of Arizona’s School of Information Resources and Library Science, Joyce provides input on new directions for the library profession. She is the author of several successful grant proposals and speaks at national and regional conferences about the importance of diversity in libraries and archives, and authored chapters in Library Services for Multicultural Patrons to Encourage Library Use and How to Thrive as a Solo Librarian.
Melissa Morrone is a public librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York. She is the editor of Informed Agitation: Library and Information Skills in Social Justice Movements and Beyond http://libraryjuicepress.com/informed-agitation.php and has written about libraries, technology, and privacy. Melissa is also project manager for the Digital Privacy & Data Literacy Project, a two-year IMLS-funded project to help library workers increase their knowledge of digital and data privacy concerns to better serve their patrons. She is online at @InfAgit.
Raymond Pun is the new first year student success librarian in California State University in Fresno. Previously he was a reference and research services librarian in New York University Shanghai where he implemented several gamification programs in the library. An LJ Mover and Shaker in 2012, he has presented widely at national and international conferences such as ALA, SLA and IFLA and in countries such as China, Russia, Myanmar, South Africa, The Philippines, etc. His publications have appeared in The Huffington Post, Reference Services Review, Library Hi-Tech and (forthcoming) Library Trends. Ray tweets @oboro85
Neil Richards is an internationally-recognized expert in the fields of privacy, First Amendment, and information law. His recent work explores the complex relationships between free speech and privacy in cyberspace. Professor Richards’ articles have appeared or are forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, Columbia Law Review, California Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and Georgetown Law Journal. His book, Intellectual Privacy, has recently been published by Oxford University Press. He co-directs both the Washington University-Cambridge University International Privacy Law Conference and the Washington University Free Speech Conference. Prior to joining the law faculty in 2003, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. He tweets @neilmrichards
Michael Robinson is an Associate Professor, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage and chair of the Alaska Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. He is also Chair of the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Privacy Subcommittee which recently released the Library Privacy Guidelines for E-book Lending and Digital Content Vendors.
Kathryn Rolfes is a teacher librarian in Oak Park, Illinois and serves as a liaison between the school district of 10 schools and the Oak Park Public Library. Along with other library personnel, she spearheaded the formation of a Vertical Team, which brings public and school librarians together twice a year to discuss collaborative initiatives. She also successfully negotiated the direct access of all public library databases for the students of Oak Park and recently oversaw the download of these database records into the school district library catalog, thereby giving students a seamless interface to the public library resources. Follow Kathryn @mannlibrary
Raegan Russell is an art educator, artist and Innovation Mentor at Berwick Academy in Maine. She has been an active leader in arts education and currently serves as Visual Art Chair where she is committed to expanding and developing learning opportunities for students as artists, creative thinkers and innovators. Over the past five years, she managed a diverse range of student Innovations Pursuits ranging from Sericulture (the study of silk work and silk production) to Portrait Painting and Oral History. Raegan is currently mentoring a student Innovation Pursuit in its third year of development in Game Design and has worked with the student Innovator to create and co-teach a course, Explorations in New Media which will be taught in the Spring of 2016.
Jaina Shaw has been the teen services librarian at the Westport Library in Connecticut since 2006. She holds a BA in Art History from the University of Minnesota and an MLIS from The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has served on YALSA’s Makerspace Taskforce and was the chair of YALSA’s Teen Tech Week. Jaina loves playing Minecraft in survival mode. She tweets @JainaLibrarian
Liz Phipps Soeiro is an elementary school librarian in the Cambridge, Massachusetts Public Schools. She is an advocate for inclusive libraries and active in her community to create spaces that are welcoming to all students. Some of her projects include: Cambridge Book Bike an innovative summer reading outreach collaboration and a blog which highlights strategies to support diversity and inclusion in school library collection development. She tweets @Cport_Special @ReflectLibrary
Alice Son spends her days talking through school, life, and books with young adults as a Teen Advisor at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Illinois. A former web programmer, Alice is currently a student of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focusing on youth librarianship. She tweets @alicehson
Gwyneth Stupar is an Adult Services Librarian at Illinois’ Barrington Area Library who grows the library’s incredible e-book collection. Gwyneth received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in 2006. She is the co-organizer of The Library OnConference. She tweets @gwynonite