AND JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Hello, and thank you for visiting my website. I serve as Principal Librarian at the A.K. Smiley Library in my adopted hometown of Redlands, California, and a freelance writer. In addition to a Master of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University, I hold a Master of Science in mental health counseling from Canisius College. Prior to becoming a librarian, I spent ten years as a social worker, providing services to at-risk children and families. My research interests include intellectual freedom, censorship, equity of access, and outreach to underrepresented groups. I've written for Progressive Librarian, Reference & User Services Quarterly, the Journal of New Librarianship, and Libraries Unlimited's Professional Learning Network. In addition to professional writing, I've written book reviews for Choice, Counterpoise, and Midwest Book Review in the areas of social science, nonfiction readers’ advisory, and secular issues, and I've contributed blog entries to BK Nation. In July, 2017, Libraries Unlimited published my first book, Public Library Collections in the Balance: Censorship, Inclusivity, and Truth. Written for LIS students, librarians, and anyone involved with public libraries, the book serves as a guide for navigating through censorship challenges, including the seldom-mentioned problem of self-censorship, and other threats to intellectual freedom in a spirit of diversity, ethics and free access. It's available on Amazon. Or you can go directly to the source and purchase it through Libraries Unlimited. Or check your local library, of course! My goal is to leave my stamp, however small or large it may be, on the library world - and my dream is for LIS programs to teach ethics and intellectual freedom as part of their standard curriculum. I am an active member of the American Library Association, California Library Association, Public Library Association, and the Progressive Librarians Guild. A native of Buffalo, New York, I've lived in Redlands, California for 20 years. I miss the food, but not the snow. When I'm not reading or writing, I enjoy traveling anywhere and everywhere, spending time with my husband and our menagerie of dogs and cats, and working on our on our century-old house. |