Career
My career has encompassed many types of librarianship. I bring a wide range of experiences and contacts to my candidacy for ALA President. Over the past 34 years, I’ve been a manager in large and small libraries and have led teams for major nationwide projects, including the National Book Festival and the Library of Congress Bicentennial Program.
As a School Librarian…
Built, from scratch, the first resource center at a BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) in New York State. It was exhilarating and challenging to be a school library/media specialist at this technical and occupational teaching program for high-school age students.
As a College/University Librarian in a Special Needs Environment…
Served as the head of the Media Services Department at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), a college of the Rochester Institute of Technology. An international model for teaching hearing-impaired students, innovation prevailed at NTID. The media services we provided were critical to its mission.
As a Public Librarian…
Directed Technical Operations at the Fairfax County Public Library (in northern Virginia), then the third largest public library in the southeastern U.S. with 21 branch libraries and a population of 650,000 (now more than 1 million). Technical Operations included materials selection, cataloging, acquisitions, media and cable services, and the evaluation of library services for the entire system. To get a sense of the scope of its operation, the budget for materials in 1985 (my last year there) was $3.3 million.
At the Library of Congress and as a federal librarian…
The Library of Congress is the largest research library in the world. Over my nearly 24 years here, I’ve served in positions involving high-profile and national/international programs and collaborated with ALA on a range of activities.
I’ve seen ALA from the viewpoint of an exhibitor as the manager of the Library’s exhibit booth at Midwinter Meetings and Annual Conferences for nearly a decade.
I coordinated the programs at the Library for the 1997 Midwinter Meeting. For the 1998 Annual Conference, the first in Washington in nearly four decades, I again organized tours, presentations, programs and the All Conference Reception (attended by 15,000 conference participants, in the newly renovated public spaces and reading rooms in the Thomas Jefferson Building).
As the Library of Congress Bicentennial Program Manager, I oversaw a multi-year effort that involved Library staff, Members of Congress, the general public, ALA and libraries throughout the country. With ALA, I headed up development of a Bicentennial Toolkit distributed to all 16,000 public libraries throughout the country. With the support of ALA’s chapters and state libraries nationwide, more than 230 libraries in 43 states were second-day issue sites for the Library of Congress commemorative stamp. Libraries were also involved in the Bicentennial’s Local Legacies Project documenting the local traditions and events of their communities. Ninety-two Senators and nearly 80% of the House of Representatives worked with 5,000 of their constituents on 1,300 Local Legacies projects, which were the precursor and inspiration for the Library’s Veterans History Project.
Today as Outreach Projects and Partnerships Officer and the National Book Festival’s Project Manager, I manage this popular annual event that brings more than 70 widely-recognized authors and 120,000 people to the National Mall in Washington, DC. Millions more share in the festival through the Webcasts of the authors’ presentations on the Library of Congress Web site. More than 440 of America’s most celebrated writers and illustrators have appeared at the National Book Festival over the past 8 years. They are a rich resource for ALA’s visibility and for the support of libraries, library employees and librarianship as a career.
Honors
Beta Phi Mu
First former student of the School of Information and Library Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo invited to be the commencement speaker.
ALA Resolution at the 1998 Annual Conference in Washington expressing appreciation for the tours, presentations, programs and All Conference Reception at the Library of Congress.
Proclamations from President Clinton and the 106th Congress honoring the Library of Congress on its 200th birthday and the ALA Resolution at the 2000 Midwinter Meeting commemorating the Library’s Bicentennial.
First Place for Special Communications/Promotional Campaigns from the National Association for Government Communicators.
Numerous meritorious and special achievement awards at the Library of Congress.