Patty Wong has been the City Librarian for the Santa Clara City Library since October 2021. Her career includes leadership roles in diverse settings, encompassing urban, rural, and suburban communities. As a seasoned part-time faculty member at SJSU iSchool, she also held the position of ALA President from 2021 to 2022. Patty is recognized for her contributions to equity, diversity, inclusion, digital equity, and youth development.
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 5Ep. 10
In this episode, we interview Tiffani N. Carter.
Nov 10, 2024•59 min•Season 5Ep. 13
Derek T. Mosley is the Archives Division Manager at Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta, Georgia. He has held this role since 2016. He has previously worked at the Atlanta University Center, Robert W. Woodruff Library and the Ernest J. Gaines Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Mosley’s enthusiastic and engaged leadership has shaped the archival profession on local and national levels. He has served on conference planning committees, ...
Oct 11, 2024•34 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Anastasia is an academic librarian interested in inclusion, retention, and representation in library workplace cultures. They work as a scholarly communications librarian at NYU and were previously a metadata librarian. Their research includes multiple topics, including applying critical race theory and relational-cultural theory in librarianship, identifying how white supremacy manifests in library institutional work cultures, and residency programs in academic libraries. They enjoy coffee, cat...
Sep 10, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Andrew Jackson is the Director Emeritus of Queens Library’s Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center where he served in that role before retiring in 2017. He is also a past president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association from 2004-2006. Andrew is currently an adjunct professor at both York and Queens colleges where he has taught a combined 23 years. A published author and essayist, Andrew wrote the Foreword to the 9th and 10th Editions of The African American Alman...
Aug 11, 2024•41 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Laquanda M. Fields is the Fabulous Librarian – mom of two amazing daughters & three classy felines, and Ms. L to her students. Becoming a librarian was Laquanda’s childhood dream and she took a leap of faith to follow that dream three years ago. She joined Dr. Charles T. Lunsford School #19 in 2022. In just under two school years, Laquanda has earned School Library of the Year from the Rochester Regional Library Council, was named Community Partner of the Year by the Rochester Imagination Li...
Jul 10, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis (Zuni/Tlingit) is an assistant professor and the inaugural Jill and Joe McKinstry Endowed Faculty Fellow of Native North American Indigenous Knowledge at the University of Washington’s Information School. She is an independent curator who engages public scholarship by working with tribal, state, federal and international institutions and organizations to promote Native artists and their work. Belarde-Lewis holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Ari...
Jun 10, 2024•49 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Conrrado Saldivar is Past President of the Wyoming Library Association and Tech Services Manager at the Natrona County Library in his hometown of Casper, WY. He received his MLIS in 2021 from the University of Washington iSchool and is a 2019 ALA Spectrum Scholar. As one of the few BIPOC librarians in Wyoming and as a leader in the Wyoming library community, he has worked to support EDI efforts in Wyoming, both for library staff and his community. In October 2023, he received the Wyoming Library...
May 10, 2024•51 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Denisse Solis is the Digital Collections Librarian at the University of Denver (DU). Prior to this position, she was DU's first residency librarian. She began her career in her alma mater of Florida International University as a cataloger and has since occupied both public and technical positions within academic libraries. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, her research is deeply personal and driven by a desire to effect change. She refers to her work as "me-search," as it revolves around seekin...
Apr 10, 2024•48 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz is an assistant curator and associate dean for Teaching, Learning, and Engagement at New York University Division of Libraries where she serves as the Faculty Diversity Search Liaison. Shawn is also an adjunct assistant professor at Pratt School of information, teaching Reference & Instruction. Shawn is a co-coordinator at the Lesbian Herstory Archives, a co-convenor of the Reference & Instruction Special Interest Group at METRO where she co-curated the Critical Peda...
Mar 10, 2024•53 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Treshani is a cataloging librarian at an academic library in the Southeast region and has been employed in academic libraries since 2014. Her research interests include critical cataloging and diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic libraries and higher education. Treshani enjoys mentoring students of color in LIS and higher education, in general.
Dec 11, 2023•35 min
Sofia is a librarian, facilitator, and educator, settled on the unceded ancestral lands of the Massachusett and Wampanoag peoples, current home of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. She's an editor at up//root and co-edited Knowledge Justice: Disrupting Library and Information Studies Through Critical Race Theory with Jorge López-McKnight. She is interested in building community and solidarity among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in libraries and beyond.
Nov 10, 2023•48 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Katrina Spencer worked as the Librarian for African American and African Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She is also an active writer whose works include “Uprooted, Nomadic & Displaced: The Unspoken Costs of the Upward Climb,” “The Comprehensive Guide to Resisting Overcommitment,” and various contributions to WOC + lib and Hack Library School. For Katrina’s tips on navigating the academic librarianship job market, check out her content on TikTok channel @katleespe. ...
Oct 10, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Nicky Andrews is the Open Education Librarian at the University of San Francisco. Originally from Aotearoa, they are of Māori and Pākehā descent and an enrolled member of the Ngāti Pāoa iwi. They graduated with a BA in Social Sciences from Auckland University of Technology, a Master of Library & Information Science from the University of Washington, and a Master of Indigenous Studies from the University of Otago. Nicky has participated in many library communities, including as an ALA Spectru...
Sep 10, 2023•53 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Crystal Chen is the Digital Educator Support Manager & Archivist at Facing History & Ourselves. She received her MSLIS from Pratt Institute and is an active member of the Chinese American Librarians Association and Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association. She also serves as a community admin for We Here (wehere. space), a supportive community for BIPOC in LIS. Nicollette M. Davis (she/her) is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is an assistant librarian. She’s a community admin fo...
Aug 10, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Isabel Espinal is a Research Services Librarian for Afro-American Studies, Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies, Spanish & Portuguese, and Native American & Indigenous Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was born in New York City, two years after her parents immigrated from the Cibao countryside in the Dominican Republic. She has an AB in Romance Languages and Literature from Princeton University, a Masters in Library and Information Studies from UC Berkeley,...
Jul 10, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Petrina Jackson began as the Lia Gelin Poorvu Executive Director of the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America and Librarian for the Harvard Radcliffe Institute in November 2021. She was the director of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at Syracuse University Libraries, where she oversaw the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive, University Archives, and all curated collections. Before Syracuse, she served at Iowa State University as the head of Special Collections and...
Jun 10, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Ashley Watts currently serves as the Assistant Library Director of the Altadena Library District since January 2022. Prior to this position, she served as the Senior Library Supervisor of Children's Services and the Branch Manager of the Pacific Park Library of Glendale Library, Arts & Culture since May 2018. Before moving to California in 2018, Ashley served as a branch manager in New Orleans, where she managed the collection and programming for all ages as the only librarian on staff. Ashl...
May 10, 2023•21 min•Season 4Ep. 3
John Light, Jr. is a Librarian from Richmond, Virginia. "Mister John" started his Librarian journey when he worked in Perry Library at Old Dominion University. Mister John graduated from ODU and then went to work at Virginia Beach Central Library. He worked in the Circulation Department for 7 years. Mister John then relocated and left the library profession altogether for 7 years. Fortunately for Mister John, a trip to the Dale City Branch of Prince William Public Libraries helped him rediscover...
Apr 10, 2023•25 min•Season 4Ep. 2
K.C. Boyd is currently a school librarian with the District of Columbia Public Schools System. She has previously worked as the Lead Librarian for the East St. Louis School District #189 in East St. Louis, IL., as an Area Library Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools, and as a District Coordinator for the Mayor Daley Book Club for Middle School Students. She is a second-generation educator and holds Master’s degrees in Library Information Science, Media Communications, and Education Leadership....
Mar 10, 2023•49 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Loida Garcia-Febo, International Library Consultant expert in library services to diverse populations and human rights. President of the American Library Association 2018-2019. At IFLA: Governing Board 2013-2017, Co-Founder of New Professionals, two-term Member/Expert resource person of FAIFE, two-term member of CPDWL. Currently: CPDWL Consultant, Info Coordinator of the Management of Library Associations Section. At ALA: Chair, ALA UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Task Force and Chair, Wom...
Dec 10, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Jimmy Zavala is the Teaching & Learning Librarian for UCLA Library Special Collections. Prior to joining UCLA, Jimmy was the Project Coordinator Librarian for Transforming Knowledge, Transforming Libraries, a three-year IMLS-funded research project analyzing the intersection of Ethnic Studies and Community Archives at UC Irvine. He received his MLIS from UCLA and also holds a BA in Latin American Studies and an MA in History from California State University, Los Angeles.
Nov 10, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Rhiannon Sorrell (Diné) is an Assistant Professor at the School of Arts, Humanities, and English and is the Instruction and Digital Services Librarian at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. Born to Red House People and Tangle People Clans, Rhiannon has an interdisciplinary background in information literacy instruction, creative nonfiction, digital humanities, and special collections and archival services to Indigenous populations. She is a member of the 2018 cohort of ALA’s...
Oct 10, 2022•38 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Ricardo “Ricky” Punzalan, Associate Professor of Information and steering committee member of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan, is a scholar of archives and digital curation. In particular, he studies the access and use of digitized anthropological archives and ethnographic data on academic and Indigenous researchers. He believes that archives and legacy research data must not only advance academic research but also contribute to the wellbeing of communities. His research...
Sep 10, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Dr. Stanton F. Biddle holds a bachelors degree in government (Howard University, 1965), a masters degree in Library Service (Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA, 1966), a masters degree in Public Administration (New York University, New York, NY 1973), and a doctorate in Library and Information Studies (The University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 1988). He spent his entire working career as a librarian beginning as a library page in the Rochester (NY) Public Library while in high school and...
Aug 20, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Jennifer Brown is a Black speculative fiction writer & Undergraduate Learning & Research Librarian at UC Berkeley. Critical pedagogies not only guide her day-to-day librarianship, but they also bedrock her work as one of the Community Managers for We Here, an organization that provides a safe & supportive community for Black and Indigenous folks, and People of Color, in library and information science professions. Learn more about her work by visiting her website, at www.jencbrown.co...
Aug 20, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Madeline Peña is the Digital Content Manager at the Los Angeles Public Library. She comes from a background in graphic design, marketing, and TV production and has worked in public libraries for over 12 years. An active member of REFORMA, The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, she served as 2018-2019 President and was the recipient of the 2015 REFORMA Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year (LOTY) Award.
Jun 10, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Nichelle M. Hayes MPA, MLS, is Vice-President of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and works as the Leader of the Center for Black Literature & Culture (CBLC) ~ Indianapolis Public Library. She is a lover of poetry and a lifelong learner, she blogs at https://thetiesthatbind.blog, where she discusses genealogy and keeping families connected. Hayes is a native of Indianapolis and a civic leader who is active in her local community.
May 10, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Information Studies, where she serves as the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2). She also holds appointments in African American Studies and Gender Studies. She is a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford and has been appointed as a Commissioner on the Oxford Commission on AI & Good G...
Apr 10, 2022•37 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Natalie + Mieka are two black cis women who are mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends to many. We both work + live in North Philly and absolutely love connecting with the patrons within the library in authentic and transparent ways. We truly believe that at the heart of library work, there is learning and growing with the community we serve as well as our fellow co-workers!
Mar 10, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 1
