Bios of 2014 Candidates for GLBTRT Chair-Elect, Secretary, and Executive Board

ALA 2014 voting begins on March 19, 2014 at 9:00 am. GLBTRT members are asked to vote on the proposed GLBTRT bylaws amendment and Executive Board members Chair-elect, Secretary, and Directors-at-Large. In the case of more than one candidate for an office, their names are listed below in alphabetical order by first name. Voters are to select one name for secretary and no more than three names for directors-at-large. The information about each person is abbreviated from the full ballot, and the photos were submitted by each person. Please note that additional information may be on the official ballot. Voting closes at 11:59 pm on April 25, 2014. Don’t forget to vote!

Chair-elect Candidate: Peter D. Coyl

Secretary Candidates: Melody Ann Townley, Robert Ridinger

Executive Board Candidates: Ana Elisa De Campos Salles, Larry Romans, Matthew P. Ciszek, Sherry Lynn Machones

 

POPOSED BYLAW AMENDMENT: Motion to place the following bylaws amendment language on the 2014 ALA Election ballot regarding board quorum:  “A majority of the voting members shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Board.” Background Information: Source of the proposed change is the ALA Constitution, Section 4 of Article VII. Executive Board.

 

PeterChair-elect – Peter Coyle: Branch Manager, Dallas (TX) Public Library; previously librarian, Hsinchu International School (2010-2011); Reference Intern, Hershey Public Library (2010); and various positions, Rochester Hills Public Library (1998-2000; 2003-2006).

Education: Drexel University, MSLIS (2010); Oakland University, BS Public Administration and Public Policy, (2006); study at China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing (2004) and Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (2007-08).

ALA Member since 2009; affiliation – PLA.

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities: Stonewall Committee member (2012-13); chair (2013-14); Celebration Committee (2014).

Major Accomplishments: Presentation on Children/YA Book Award and Rainbow Booklist selections at the 2013 Texas Library Association Annual Conference; also scheduled for similar panels in 2014 and at the PLA conference.

Professional Concerns/Aspirations: I would like to see the GLBTRT reach out to ALA members who are not GLBT to increase the allies in our ranks as well as to the GLBT members in ALA who are not members.  We need to encourage our current members to be more active. We have a number of programs that could use fresh ideas and voices. I’d like to hear those voices so we can increase the energy in the roundtable with new perspectives. I would like to increase our Stonewall Book Award endowment so that we can also start an endowment for other purposes: helping to subsidize author travel to Annual so they can attend the Stonewall Book Award Brunch, sponsoring emerging leaders as we have just begun to do, starting a scholarship program for GLBT students in Library Science Graduate Programs to help increase the number of GLBT Librarians in the profession.

Secretary Candidate – Melody Ann Townley:Melody Educational Media Specialist, Woodbridge Township School District (NJ); Information Assistant, Mabel Smith Douglass Library, Rutgers University (2012-13); Field Experience, South Plainfield Public School District (2013); Children’s Department Volunteer, New Brunswick Free Public Library (2012).

Education: Rutgers University, MLIS, Specializations in School Media and in Youth, Information, & Digital Media (2013); Rutgers University, BA, Information Technology & Informatics and Comparative Literature, (2011).

ALA Member since 2011; affiliations, AASL, YALSA, Games & Gaming Round Table (GAMERT), New Members Round Table (NMRT), REFORMA.

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities: ALA Student to Staff Representative (2012).

Honors and Awards: New Jersey Association of School Librarians Future Leaders Award, 2013; Outstanding Leadership from a Masters Student Award (Rutgers University), 2013.

Major Accomplishments: Currently a librarian among three schools, two middle schools and one high school, spending three days a week at the high school and one day each at the two middle schools; in the process of a complete redesign of the high school library and district approval for a new therapy pet program for her special education and ESL populations. In her spare time she loves organizing food and library related Pinterest boards, live tweeting conferences, and will be beginning soon as an I Need a Library Job blogger. She has a passion for cooking and Disney World. Further information: www.linkedin.com/in/melodytownley/; http://melodytownley.weebly.com/; http://www.pinterest.com/librarianginger/; https://twitter.com/librarianginger.

Professional Concerns/Aspirations: As a newer member to the sphere of school librarianship and as a brand new member to the LGBTRT, I hope to add my energy, enthusiasm, and sense of motivation to this round table. As a middle & high school librarian and an active ally, I aim to garner skills which can be used to serve my LGBTQ student and staff patrons at all levels and provide a welcoming and safe library environment. I am eager to help this organization continue to reach its fullest potential and engage in productive round table discussions with colleagues while also growing professionally and personally. I seek a chance to act as a liaison between the school communities that I serve and the people in the LGBTRT that make it happen!

 

Secretary Candidate – Robert B. Ridinger:Robert Social Sciences and Area Studies Librarian, Founders Library, Northern Illinois University.

ALA Member; affiliation – ACRL.

 


Ana Elisa

Director-at-Large Candidate – Ana Elisa de Campos Salles:
Adult and Teen Librarian, District of Columbia Public Library; Library Associate, District of Columbia Public Library (2009-12).   

Education: Catholic University of America, MSLIS (2013); Institute of Archaeology, University College London, MSc., Forensic Archaeological Science (2004); Boston College, BSc, Environmental Geoscience, (2000); Boston College, BA, History, Archaeology (2000).

ALA Member since 2012; affiliations – LITA, LLAMA, PLA, YALSA, Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT),  Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT), Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT), Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT), Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association  REFORMA.

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities: GLBTRT Representative to YALSA (2013-2015).

Offices in state/regional library associations: Vice-President/President-Elect/Past President, Catholic University of America Department of Library and Information Science Alumni Board (2013 – 2016); Director-at-Large, Catholic University of America Dept. of Library and Information Science Alumni Board (2012-13).

Honors and Awards: ALA Emerging Leader (2013); ALA Spectrum Scholar (2011); Dorot Foundation Travel Grant for archaeological fieldwork in Israel (2000); Boston College Theology Department Endowment for Judaic Studies for archaeological fieldwork in Israel (2000).

Major Accomplishments: I co-facilitated the Adult Services Working Group, a working group for librarians and other information services staff at the DC Public Library, for one year prior to facilitating it for two years. I continue to be an active member of the Adult Services Working Group, as well as the Teen Services Working Group. I was also a director-at-large from October 2012 – 2013 on the Board of Alumni of the School of Library and Information Science at Catholic University, where I helped the board take on a more active mentoring role by organizing and hosting mentoring events for student and alumni every semester, and made the association more visible by organizing social events in Washington, DC as well as the annual conferences. This in addition to hosting the holiday party for students, faculty, and alumni and the Elizabeth Stone Lecture and Raymond Von Dran Award for Excellence in Librarianship presentation. I am currently serving on the board for the next three years as Vice-President/President-Elect/Past-President until October 2016.

Professional Concerns/Aspirations: The GLBTRT is a wonderful organization, well-liked by all the ethnic caucuses and round tables, and is currently even in a sound place financially. Now is the time to increase its visibility and strengthen its ties. I will work toward this by promoting the following:

GLBTRT 101: With the programming committee, come up with a program where new members to the round table can learn the ins and outs of the RT, how things work, which committees do what, etc. It would be low cost, interactive, fun, and very necessary.

Permanent Emerging Leader Sponsorship: Make sponsorship of an Emerging Leader a permanent fixture on the GLBTRT agenda.

Increase of Dues: $10.00 for regular members, $5.00 dues for students, the unemployed, and retired. This will help cover costs such as Emerging Leader sponsorship and programming.

Increased, effective communication between the various round tables, ethnic caucuses, and relevant ALA offices.

 

DiLarryrector-at-Large Candidate – Larry Romans:Political Science and Communication Studies Specialist (1983-2014), Vanderbilt University Library; Head, Government Information and Media Services, Vanderbilt University Library (1987-2014).

Education: Stetson University, DeLand (FL), BA, Economics & Political Science (1967); Tulane University, MA, Political Science (1978); Vanderbilt University Peabody College, MLS (1983).

ALA Member since 1984; affiliations – ACRL, Government Documents Round Table (GODORT).

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities: ALA Executive Board (2007-10); Finance and Audit Committee (2007-10); At-Large Councilor (2000-present); Chapter Councilor for Tennessee (1992-2000); [check ballot for more information about other offices in ALA affilations]; GLBTRT Executive Board (2012-14), Membership Committee Chair (2010-12), Over the Rainbow Project, 2010-12; ALA Executive Board Liaison (2007-10).

Offices in state/regional library associations: Tennessee Library Association (TLA) Executive Board (1989-90, 1992-2003, 2009-present); Chapter Councilor (1992-2000), Chair, Government Documents Round Table (2001-03), Legislation Committee Chair (2009-11), Parliamentarian, 2013-present.

Honors and Awards: ALA Government Documents Round Table (ALA/GODORT) / ProQuest Documents to the People Award (1995) for “outstanding leadership as an advocate of effective public access to government information” and James Bennett Childs Award (2008) for “a lifetime and significant contribution to the field of documents librarianship”; Tennessee Library Association (TLA) President’s Award (2011) for “outstanding service” and Honor Award (2014) for a significant contribution to further librarianship on a national level”; Stonewall Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, 2011-.

Major Accomplishments: Initiated resolutions that led to GLBTRT having a seat on ALA Council; crafted successful resolutions to expand ALA bylaws and policies to include lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders;

worked to get ALA Conference Services to require sensitivity training among convention-site employees as a first step to avoid discrimination against transgenders; sponsored resolution passed by ALA Council that opposed civil marriage inequality; promoted GLBT issues while on ALA Council and Executive Board; helped endow the Stonewall Book Awards.

Publications: A History of the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, 1992-2002. (with Sandy Peterson, Yale University). Bethesda, MD: LexisNexis, 2002; “Report of the ALA Special Presidential Task Force on the Membership Meeting Quorum” (principal author), Atlanta, GA. American Library Association Convention, June 2002.

Professional Concerns/Aspirations: My professional concerns are to make GLBTRT more useful to our members, to promote cooperation among its leaders, and to publicize GLBT issues to the rest of the Association and to readers and librarians everywhere. Specifically, I want GLBTRT leaders

  • To publicize the Round Table and its activities;
  • To lead in promoting and publicizing gay issues to all ALA members;
  • To expand a successful mentoring (“buddy”) program;
  • To support the proposal for a new-member online discussion group;
  • To connect new members to the committees;
  • To increase leader contact with individual members;
  • To increase the sense of community among members;
  • To promote compromise to decrease conflict;
  • To increase the growing cooperation among leaders;
  • To raise funds for the Stonewall Book Awards;
  • To raise awareness of the Rainbow Project and Over the Rainbow Project and of other GLBTRT finding aids such as bibliographies.

 

DMatthewirector-at-Large – Matthew P. Ciszek:Head Librarian, Penn State Shenango; Access Services Librarian, Georgetown University Law Library (2005-07); Circulation Librarian, University of the District of Columbia Law Library (2004-05); Systems Librarian, Golden Gate University (2003-04).

Education: University at Buffalo – SUNY, MLS (1996); University at Buffalo – SUNY, BA, English (1994).

ALA Member since 2006; affiliations – ACRL, LLAMA, Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT), Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT),  Library Research Round Table (LRRT)

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities: ALA Councilor-at-Large (2012-14); LLAMA Membership Committee (2010-12; LLAMA Diversity Task Force (2010-11; GLBTRT Steering Committee (2008-10, Membership Committee Chair, 2008-10).

Honors and Awards: Penn State University Libraries Diversity Award (2013).

Major Accomplishments: Tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Librarian in the Penn State University Libraries; nominated to the Commission on LGBT Equity, a presidential level advisory commission at Penn State University; served in library management positions for over 10 years, including managing two separate renovation projects at separate institutions.

Publications: Ciszek, Matthew P. “Diversifying Diversity: Library Services for Underrepresented Groups”, College & Research Libraries News, Volume 73, Number 9, 2012; Ciszek, Matthew P. “Out on the Web: The Relationship between Campus Climate and Web-based Resources in Academic Libraries”, Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 37, Number 5, 2011; Ciszek, Matthew P. and Young, Courtney L. “Diversity Collection Assessment in Large Academic Libraries”, Collection Building, Volume 29, Number 4, 2010. Further information: http://about.me/mciszek

Professional Concerns/Aspirations: As a member of the GLBT Round Table for nearly 10 years and a former member of the Steering Committee, I look forward to serving the round table membership as a Director-at-Large by increasing the profile of the round table in the wider association, working to locate and encourage new members to join the round table, and striving to ensure that ALA meets the needs of both LGBT patrons and LGBT librarians and library workers. I see many opportunities for the round table in next couple of years, including advocating for LGBT rights on a national and local level; creating, collecting, and distributing LGBT-related information sources; and working to connect the library and information community with the LGBT community.

 

DSherryirector-at-Large Candidate – Sherry Lynn Machones:Library Director, Edgerton (WI) Public Library; Senior Library Assistant, Milton Public Library (2006-08); Archivist, Milton Historical Society (2005-06); Circulation Assistant, Beloit Public Library (2004-06).

Education: UW-Milwaukee, MLIS (2008); UW-Madison, BA, Theatre and Drama (2005); UW-Rock County, AA (2003).

ALA Member since 2008; affiliations – ACRL, LLAMA, PLA, YALSA,New Members Round Table (NMRT)

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities: ALA Emerging Leader (2012); LLAMA Nominations Committee (2012-13); GLBTRT Membership Promotion Committee Chair (2012-14).

Offices in state/regional library associations: Chair-elect, Wisconsin Library Association Small Library Section (2013-14); Director, Wisconsin Library Association Small Library Section (2010-13).

Honors and Awards: Alumni Awareness Award, University of Wisconsin Rock County (2008); GLBT Student President, University of Wisconsin Rock County (2000-03).

Major Accomplishments: I was the only Wisconsin candidate chosen for ALA’s Emerging Leader program in 2012. I participated in the second year of the LLAMA multi-year initiative aimed at discovering data on LIS students’ knowledge of LLAMA, leadership training, and benefits of LLAMA student membership. The data we collected assisted the 2013 Emerging Leaders Project Team as it collaborated with ALA units to further analyze the data and create strategies for engagement and recruitment of LIS students. Further information:

http://weetzie79.tumblr.com/

Professional Concerns/Aspirations: I hope to continue to add my enthusiasm and energy to the GLBTRT. With all of the various divisions/sections/etc within ALA, I have always been most interested in working with this Round Table. As a public library director in a rural area, I am most concerned with outreach to GLBT children and teens. I hope to build on my experience as GLBTRT Membership Promotion Committee Chair and continue to work on a GLBTRT Emerging Leader Project and attract new ALA members in GLBTRT activities.

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