Todd has worked in libraries since 1992 and received his MA in library science from Indiana University Bloomington in 2003. He is currently working at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library. He is active in the library wellness committee. He is also involved in several statewide library committees devoted to resource sharing and mental health in libraries and other service activities on his campus, geared towards community building.
Todd completed a master’s degree in social work in August 2025. Driven by a deep commitment to systemic change and social justice, Todd is planning on specializing in macro social work, focusing on the broader structures that affect individuals and the communities they reside in.
Dr. Cynthia M. Landrum
Advisory Board Members
Dustin Fife
Dustin is the College Librarian at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has worked in both public and academic libraries as a library director and has worked extensively with conferences through state and national associations. Dustin is the series editor for Academic Library Workers in Conversation, a regular feature in College & Research Libraries News. Throughout his career, he has focused on Open Education and management practices that promote well-being. Dustin joined this advisory board because he believes that we need more spaces to have meaningful conversations.
Sonnet Ireland
Dr. Cynthia M. Landrum is a futurist, scholar, and equity-focused national library leader with over two decades of experience spanning federal, state, and local institutions. She previously served as Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and Deputy Director for the IMLS Office of Library Services at IMLS, where she invested in transformative efforts to increase equity, access, and innovation in library services nationwide. Dr. Landrum held executive leadership roles in public libraries.
A frequent speaker and published author, Dr. Landrum is deeply engaged in the future of the profession. Her consulting and coaching practices are grounded in futures studies and justice-oriented leadership praxis to build the capacity of leaders and institutions to shape and drive futures. Dr. Landrum’s teaching and research interests include: library and information science futures, library management and leadership praxis, and public libraries.
She holds a Ph.D. in Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions from Simmons University, and degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Southern Mississippi.
JJ Pionke
J.J. Pionke has been an Instructor of Information at Syracuse University since 2019. His award winning research focuses on disability and accessibility in libraries for employees and patrons. Named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2020 in the Advocacy category, JJ is a fierce advocate for improving accessibility in libraries as well as for inclusion and equitable treatment of library employees with disabilities.
Emeritus Board Members
Fobazi Ettarh’s research is concerned with the relationships and tensions between the espoused values of librarianship and the realities present in the experiences of marginalized librarians and library users. In 2018, she coined the term and defined the concept of “vocational awe,” which describe, “the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries as institutions are inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique.” In her article “Vocational Awe: The Lies We Tell Ourselves,” she describes how vocational awe can lead to burnout and a sense that one’s own self-care is less important than the work being done.
Although written before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ettarh’s words have resonated with many library workers throughout the nation in the current moment, as we strive to serve our patrons and our profession as best we can amidst the competing demands of home, work, and health. Her remarks on equity and inclusion in libraries are just as timely and important. In a 2019 interview with Cathy Hannabach, she spoke of the resistance that marginalized library workers can face when advocating for better working conditions and talked about what a changing world might offer in the way of alliances and social progress. When describing what a better world would look like to her, Fobazi Ettarh said, in part, “a place where change is embraced, where people work as a collective rather than working in opposition to each other –and to one’s own interest — …a place where conflict isn’t seen as a four-letter word but as a fulcrum to a better time, a better organization, a healthier world and place.”
Fobazi Ettarh’s critical work on libraries, labor, and identity has been published in In the Library With the Lead Pipe and edited collections, including the Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook and Knowledge Justice: Disrupting Library and Information Studies through Critical Race Theory. She has given invited talks at numerous professional and scholarly conferences and events, including the Library as Place Symposium, and keynotes at the Association of College and Research Libraries and Library Journal Directors’ Summit. Her research has been covered in numerous outlets and she consults in library and corporate contexts on labor, identity, and diversity. She is also the creator of the open-access video game Killing Me Softly: A Game About Microaggressions. https://fobaziettarh.com/
Sonnet Ireland is the Library Director of the Washington Parish Library and has been a Louisiana librarian for fifteen years. She has written and presented on censorship and fake news, with a focus on counteracting both. A Past President of the Louisiana Library Association and an ALA Councilor At-Large, Sonnet is passionate about fostering emotional wellness and self-care for library staff. She believes in creating supportive environments where staff can thrive while serving their communities. In her spare time, she enjoys playing old video games and rescuing any random animal that crosses her path.
Carolyn Martin
Carolyn has been an information professional for over 30 years. She has worked in hospitals and public libraries providing reference, instruction, literature searches, and collection management. Most recently, she focused on consumer health and health literacy with the Network of the National Library of Medicine. Throughout her career, her work has been dedicated to providing access to quality information to everyone.
Cristy Moran
Cristy Moran (she/ ella) is a librarian and facilitator who has worked in libraries and education for over 15 years. She is a "librarian for librarians” and a library evangelist, bringing the critical, often overlooked role libraries play as social and civic infrastructure to every room she’s in. Currently, Cristy works as a branch manager in a mid-sized suburban library in a highly diverse community in north metro Denver. Before this role, she was the Adult Library Services Senior Consultant at the Colorado State Library, served as a faculty librarian at Broward College based out of the joint-use North Campus, which served as the Broward County Public Library’s North Regional Library, and worked as the Director of Education at Sylvan Learning Centers in Miami.
Cristy's professional library interests are wide-ranging and varied, but always centered on the users, patrons, and communities who we serve. Spanglish is her superpower. Kindness punk is her praxis. She'd tell you wildflower seed-bombing is what she does for a living.
Fobazi Ettarh
Todd Grooten
Shannan Hicks loves books, libraries and reading! She has experience in many library environments, including public, state, special, law and school. She is also the force behind Librarian Barbie, a brand that includes book reviews, book club moderation, and podcasting.
Shannan holds a BA and MLIS from Louisiana State University. She also has a JD from Tulane University. She worked in the nonprofit field and practiced law for several years before becoming a librarian.
Shannan loves all books, but her heart is in children’s literature. She has served on the American Library Association's Newbery Committee, Caldecott Committee and the Odyssey Committee. Shannan has also chaired the Ezra Jack Keats Committee. She has also served on the Louisiana Young Reader’s Choice Committee. You can find her book reviews on Instagram and TikTok. She lives in her hometown of Shreveport with her dogs Nelson and Buddy Kravitz, her favorite book reviewers.
Shannan Hicks
Angela Pashia
Angela spent a dozen years as an academic librarian focusing on teaching critical information literacy, working against structural oppression within libraries, and growing as a collaborative leader. Angela focused heavily on using critical pedagogy to teach information literacy, and adapted those skills while shifting into leadership roles. In addition to serving as a department head within the library, Angela led change across campus through roles like chairing the Faculty Senate Diversity and Internationalization Committee, serving on the Faculty Advisory to the Provost, co-chairing the campus General Education Redesign Committee, and serving a term as President of the campus AAUP chapter.
Now, Angela helps library leaders confidently manage change and conflict. As an ICF-certified (ACC) leadership coach, Angela offers confidential individual coaching to navigate challenging team dynamics in a way that is aligned with your values. Angela also teaches Lead With Curiosity: Coaching skills for library leaders, adapting professional coaching skills to the complex practicalities of managing a team.