SCOTT ACKERMAN
Scott Ackerman is the Associate Director for Organizational Culture, Learning and Outreach at UVA Library. Scott is responsible for overseeing the implementation and promotion of organizational learning and professional development opportunities for Library staff, as well as immersive community-building programming. Before joining UVA, Scott served as Coordinator of Teaching and Learning at Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg Virginia, where he was also an Associate Professor. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and is currently working on his first book project, examining the implementation of federal emancipation policy by the Union Army during the Civil War.
LUCAS BERRINI
Lucas Berrini (He/Him/His) is the Collection Development Librarian at North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount, NC. He manages the physical and electronic resources for Pearsall Library. He is also a campus beekeeper. He received his MLIS from UNC-Greensboro in 2018 with a concentration in special collections. In addition to his collection development role, he teaches information literacy courses in humanities, social science and business disciplines as well as for the universities freshman transition program.
ALEX CARROLL
Alex Carroll, MSLS, AHIP, is the Associate Director of the Science and Engineering Library (SEL) at Vanderbilt University. Alex leads the SEL’s liaison program, designing and delivering services to support the research enterprise and the teaching mission of the School of Engineering and STEM academic units within the College of Arts and Science.
Alex is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) and is a Distinguished member of MLA’s Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP). His research interests include studying the information seeking behaviors and data practices of STEM researchers, designing library liaison services, and improving information literacy instruction for students in the sciences. His work in these areas has been recognized by the ALA Library Instruction Round Table with “Top Twenty” awards in 2018 and 2019, and by ASEE’s Engineering Library Division with Best Publication Awards in 2020 and 2022.
STACEY CURRY-JOHNSON
Stacy Curry-Johnson is the Geospatial Librarian and GIS Lecturer at Vanderbilt University, where she serves as a geospatial consultant to researchers, faculty, and students. She also focuses on geospatial education and GIS curriculum development. Stacy is originally from North Carolina and received her BS in Geography from Appalachian State University, an MS in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences from George Mason University, and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Before Vanderbilt, Stacy was a Remote Sensing Scientist for the USGS. In her role at Vanderbilt, Stacy has worked on projects such as the Battle of Nashville Mapping project (Co-PI), the creation of the first South Asian historical digital atlas, geographic relationships of Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) in veterans with environmental determinants, the creation of a mobile GIS for an Antarctic Research Expedition, and environmental justice mapping in Grundy County, TN to name a few. Stacy is also the instructor/lecturer in the Anthropology department at Vanderbilt for the Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing course. She also creates a new workshop series every. Stacy is passionate about advancing geospatial education, and research, and getting others excited about GIS.
DAWN DALE
WILL FISHER
Will Fisher is a third-generation library worker who currently serves as a Library Assistant at the Thigpen Library at Volunteer State Community College. His daily responsibilities include managing the library’s ILL services, preforming circulation duties, and designing and creating displays. He is currently pursuing his MLS at Middle Tennessee State University.
TIFFENI FONTNO
Tiffeni Fontno is the Director of Peabody Library at Vanderbilt University. She has a doctorate from the University of Dayton’s Leadership for Organizations program and is an active member of the American Library Association. Tiffeni’s educational practice background includes teaching in Durham Public Schools, North Carolina, and at a single-gender African American elementary school for Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, Ohio. She has also served as a school librarian and technology teacher in Ohio.
Tiffeni is an experienced academic librarian with expertise in government documents, education, and curriculum librarianship. Her interests include literacy, children’s literature, and curriculum development.
BECKY FRANK
Becky Frank is the Director of Library Services and Learning Resources at Volunteer State Community College. Formerly from the Chicagoland area, she and her husband now call Tennessee home, along with their young child. As a mom and an avid crafter, she spends a lot of time surfing Pinterest for inspiring ideas and dreaming of ways to bring art and ideas to life within her own workplace.
VERONICA FU
Veronica Fu is the East Asian Collections Librarian at the University of Virginia. With an MLIS degree from the University of British Columbia and an MA in English Language and Literature, specializing in Linguistics and Language Teaching from Beijing Normal University, she brings a unique blend of expertise to her current role. Beyond her academic background, Veronica demonstrates a strong commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion. This commitment informs her daily work, contributing to the accessibility and representation of East Asian materials within the university community.
COURTNEY FUSON
Courtney Fuson is the Asset Management Librarian and Subject Liaison to Education at Belmont University. She has been focused on assessment of database subscriptions for the last several years, and has worked closely with her statewide library consortium, Tenn-Share, and the Tennessee
Library Association on a variety of projects, including continuing education for librarians.
Courtney has experience in managing library resources (both print and electronic) throughout their life cycle, from purchase to deselection and facilitating workshops about topics such as collection management, electronic resources management, open access, technology in education, primary sources in education, and information literacy.
APARNA GHOSH
Aparna Ghosh (she/her) is the Technical Services and Collections Librarian at Eckerd College, a small liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Before receiving her MLIS from the University of South Florida in 2023, she worked for more than a decade as a library support staff member at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and Loyola University Chicago (IL). She works to provide her two entitled cats with their luxurious lifestyle.
KELLY HANDY
Kelly Handy (she/her) received a BA in Psychology from Stetson University. After 17 years of various rolls in a public library system, she joined the University of Florida Library West User Services team as the Assistant User Services Manager, where she supervises and coordinates the security staff and student assistants. She enjoys helping connect patrons to available resources and building a safe and welcoming space for her team.
BRANDON HULETTE
Brandon Hulette is appointed as Lecturer in Preventive Medicine in the Department Human and Organizational Development, and Lecturer of the history of public health in the Department of American Studies at Vanderbilt University and a Preceptor in the dietetic internship program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is Co-PI of the Mapping the Battlefield of Nashville Project and is President-Elect of the Uniformed Services Environmental Health Association.
He received degrees in both Biological Science and Environmental Policy from the University of Tulsa and completed graduate school in Epidemiology at the George Washington University and then doctoral training at the University of Bridgeport. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Southern University is Board-certified in Biological Safety Microbiology, is Registered Sanitarian, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Project Management. He completed the ISDA/Johns Hopkins Infection Control Fellowship and was a Research Fellow in Microbial Ecology at the NIH.
Brandon has also served in the U.S. Army as a Preventive Medicine/Environmental Health officer for more than 20 years in active and reserve capacities and is currently the preventive medicine and environmental health officer for the 3rd medical command at Ft. Gillem, GA and serves as Army Reserve Consultant to the Surgeon General of the Army for Environmental Science and Engineering Officers. He is President-Elect of the Uniformed Services Environmental Health Association and has published numerous articles on antimicrobial resistance, infection control and military medical history as well as meal-skipping in military populations.
PHILL JOHNSON
Phill Johnson serves as the Dean of the Library and §504 Compliance Officer at Auburn University in Montgomery. In addition to his role at the university, Phill holds prominent positions in various library organizations. He currently serves as the board president of the Montgomery City-County Public Library System and has previously held leadership roles as the Chair of both the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries and the Alabama Virtual Library, both of which are entities of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
Prior to joining Auburn University in 2015, Phill’s career journey encompassed diverse experiences. He owned and operated multiple small businesses before transitioning into law library administration, where he dedicated over a decade of his professional life. Phill’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Missouri Southern State University, a Juris Doctorate from Washburn University School of Law, and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois.
MACHELLE KEEN
Machelle Keen has worked with the Vanderbilt Libraries for 34 years. She is highly motivated and independent. She loves working with collections, enjoys doing preservation, developing presentations, encouraging new library staff, and creating networks within the library world.
She developed the Nashville Area Library Alliance Conference in 2018 and is now responsible for converting it to the Southern Library Support Staff Conference. With the help of some of the most amazing people in the library world, she loves expanding the conference to reach as many library support staff as possible. One of her primary goals is to work with libraries to make sure that everyone feels supported and realizes that we are all support staff at some point in our job as the providers of library service. She is also an active member of Tennessee National Library Association.
In her personal life she has 3 grown sons and 3 grandchildren, who are the greatest joys of her life. She loves reading/listening to audio books, cooking/baking, crocheting, and gardening.
RYAN KING
RESA MAI
Resa Mai is a hands-on public library Director in Illinois. She enjoys juggling multiple projects to keep her creative and organizational skills sharp. Currently while negotiating a large library addition she is a Lions Club International Vice President and management mentor.
She has worked in libraries for over 15 years and her previous experience includes managing a Fortune 500 company while supporting a staff of over 200. She has been a public speaker and presenter for 20 years offering best practice information to groups as small as ten people up to international presentation for over 10,000. Her presentation schedule includes travel throughout the United States supporting libraries and their staff in developing mutual long term goals.
As a lifelong learner she understands that education is varied and personal. It is a passage as well as a destination. Her presentation style is relaxed, inviting, engaging and ultimately open-ended.
MARI MEKE
Mari Meke (they/them) obtained a BA from Illinois Wesleyan University and an MA from Bradley University, both in English and specializing in Young Adult Literature. After cosplaying as Sisyphus in the retail world for almost 12 years, Mari realized that their degree combo needed an MLIS from the University of South Florida to land their dream career finally. Thankfully, Mari was able to hang up their boulder and join the Smathers Libraries at Library West as the User Services Manager, supervising up to eight full-time circulation staff. Mari enjoys helping others succeed in their goals both inside and out of the libraries, as well as directing others to “The Myth of Sisyphus” in order to understand the references made in their bio.
ELAINA NORLIN
Elaina Norlin is the Professional Development Coordinator for the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries. She is an accomplished teacher, technology and leadership development trainer, and writer with extensive leadership experience and a flair for public relations, organizational development, marketing and persuasion and communications. Author of three books, she has delivered over 120 workshops, training sessions, presentations, and institutes both nationally and internationally on marketing, web usability design, facilitation, strategic influence, and conflict management.
NATALIE POLSON
Natalie Polson (she/her) is the Manager of Access Services at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, located at the University of South Florida St Petersburg campus. Before working as a Manager, Natalie held various support staff roles, with a decade worth of experience at the J Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah and at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. While at the J Willard Marriott Library, Natalie worked as a support staff in areas such as Course Reserves, Circulation and Collection Services. At the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, Natalie worked as the Serials Specialist for the Collection Development and Technical Services Dept.
ANGEL PRIDGEN
Angel Pridgen serves as Assistant Professor and Director of Library Services for the Susie McClure Library of American Baptist College in Nashville, TN; she oversees various aspects, including collection development, systems management, educational technology support, reference services, digital repository implementation, and archiving. Driven by a commitment to continuous learning, Angel is pursuing a doctorate in higher education focusing on organizational systems. Her comprehensive understanding of organizational ignorance and knowledge processing enables her to advocate for library innovation on a limited budget. Passionate about dispelling misconceptions about librarianship, she emphasizes its integral role across diverse sectors, showcasing the ability to build and manage intricate systems beyond book recommendations. Angel’s research interests center on providing culturally responsive pedagogy and services for underrepresented college/university students.
JON SHAW
As university librarian, Jon Shaw leads Vanderbilt University’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, which comprise nine campus libraries and multiple research entities, including the Digital Lab, Slave Societies Digital Archive and Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Shaw also has administrative oversight of the McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies and the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies, both institutionally situated in the College of Arts and Science. Under Shaw’s strategic direction, the Heard Libraries have taken a leading role in several key initiatives at Vanderbilt, from organizing original exhibitions, programs and events that celebrate the university’s Sesquicentennial to launching a Geographic Information Systems Lab that strengthens Discovery Vanderbilt research. He also has built collaborative relationships across the broader community that position the Heard Libraries for further growth, including joining the prestigious U.K.-based Digital Preservation Coalition as one of only six full members from the U.S.
ALYDIA SIMS
Alydia is an Anderson University alumnus and earned a BA-History. She also earned a Master of Adult Education and Training from the University of Phoenix and is working on an MLIS at Syracuse University. Alydia began work in Library Science in 2005 as a student worker at TCTC. After graduating from Tri-County, she accepted a Library Technical Assistance position at the TCTC-Anderson Campus Library. She worked at TCTC in various positions (Information Literacy, Acquisitions, Serials, and Cataloguing) for eight years. She accepted a position as Library Manager for the Standards Management and Assessment team within the Technical Services & Collection Management unit with the CU Library System on July 7, 2015, and has served as interim Inclusive Excellence Coordinator since 2022. She resides in Anderson, SC
RACHEL LANE WALDEN
Rachel Lane Walden is the Assistant Director for Research and Education Services at Eskind Biomedical Library here at Vanderbilt University. Rachel has a Master of Library and Information Sciences from the University of South Carolina, along with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Her main job is managing the Eskind Library Informationists team, and overseeing outreach, instruction, reference, and research support for the health sciences. Rachel regularly provides one-on-one and group training on biomedical research and tools and collaborates on evidence-based practice and quality improvement projects along with being a team member on integrative, scoping, and systematic reviews.