Speakers

Kelly Jensen works at the intersections of writing, censorship, mental health, literature, and feminism. She is the author of three critically acclaimed and award-winning anthologies for young adults. As a Senior Editor at Book Riot, she focuses on talking about book industry news, publishing, libraries, censorship, and young adult literature. She was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2024, as well as a person of the year in 2022 by Publishers Weekly, and a Chicagoan of the year in 2022 by the Chicago Tribune for her anti-censorship work. She has also earned commendation from the American Association of School Librarians for her censorship coverage. In addition, Kelly is a 500-hour certified yoga instructor with hundreds of hours of teaching experience. She’s passionate about demystifying the practice and making it accessible to as many people as possible.

With over a decade of experience in academic and special libraries in both frontline and leadership roles, DeAnn Brame is passionate about human-centered leadership and creating systems that make the workplace better for everyone. As a strong advocate for building sustainable practices, she has crafted personal onboarding programs that are holistic and human-centered and set people up for success from day one. She was a fellow in the 2022-23 Associate of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership and Career Development Fellow (LCDP). Her current research includes exploring onboarding in libraries and furthering the conversation around its importance and impact. She has presented on this topic various conferences including; ACRL, CORE Forum, ALA, and MLA/SLA. She recently talked about her lived experience in creating library spaces in College & Research Libraries News. 

DeAnn (she/her) is the Assistant Director of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), Web Services Office at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She holds an MBA from Winthrop University and an MLS from North Carolina Central University. 

Vivian Bynoe, MLIS is an Associate Professor & Department Head of Information Studies at Georgia Southern University. Her scholarship is rooted in critical pedagogy and trauma-informed librarianship, and she is committed to social justice and inclusion initiatives in librarianship. She has a diverse background spanning pre-school education, non-profit work, and libraries, and has worked in libraries since 2005 starting in the children’s department of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. She taught credit-bearing information literacy courses for nine years as an adjunct professor and supported first generation college students and adult learners in a variety of settings. Currently, she leads her team to integrate information literacy in curriculum across the university. Vivian is a member of The American Library Association and Black Caucus of the American Library Association and is pursuing her Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies.

Emily Cranwell Deinert (she/her) is the Instruction and Research Services Librarian for Roanoke College. She received her Master of Library and Information Science and Master of Arts in English from the University of South Carolina. Emily has almost a decade of experience as an academic librarian and teaching information literacy at the collegiate level at a diverse array of academic institutions. Emily is currently working on a research project regarding library workplace practices and has had presentations on this topic accepted at a variety of conferences, including CORE Forum, ACRL, and ALA. She also researches the intersection of women’s history and print history, and has an article on this forthcoming in the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies.

Chereeka Garner is the Digital Learning and Engagement Librarian at the University of Central Florida, where she supports first-year students through digital learning initiatives, outreach, and instruction that promote information literacy, belonging, and student well-being. With a background as a high school teacher and media specialist, she brings a student-centered and empathetic approach to easing the transition from secondary to higher education.

Her work is informed by principles of workplace and academic well-being, with an emphasis on inclusive engagement, reducing information and cognitive overload, and sustainable learning practices. Chereeka is particularly interested in how libraries can foster supportive environments that promote connection, reduce stress, and encourage healthy learning and working habits. Drawing on experience across K–12 and higher education, she is committed to building compassionate, resilient academic communities.

Jennie Garner is the library director at the North Liberty Library in Iowa where she has served in a variety of roles for more than 30 years. Her professional work is grounded in a deep commitment to leadership, policy development, and advancing equity and access in libraries, with particular attention to creating healthy, sustainable organizational cultures.

Jennie has presented nationally and internationally on positive leadership, community engagement and bridging, and inclusive policy development. She prioritizes staff involvement at all levels of organizational planning and encourages staff development and community engagement as essential elements to resilience and well-being.

A dedicated advocate for rural and small libraries, Jennie served as the 2023 President of the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) and continues to promote collaboration across libraries of all sizes.

In 2026, she was recognized as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in the Community Builder category for her work fostering connections across libraries and communities. She is currently a member of the National Civic Collaboratory. At the local level, she serves on the board of Inside Out Reentry Community, reflecting her broader commitment to social justice and to systems that support individual and community well-being. Previously, Jennie served two terms on the Iowa Library Association Executive Board, as well as on committees focused on governmental affairs, intellectual freedom, and leadership.

Crystal Goldman is the Writing Programs Librarian at the UC San Diego Library. As the immediate past chair of the LAUC-San Diego Research & Professional Development (R&PD) Committee, she guided the committee’s response when its budget was completely eliminated.

Drawing on her expertise in community building, she spearheaded the shift from a traditional funding model to one grounded in local collective care. A cornerstone of this new strategy was elevating the library’s weekly writing retreats—an initiative she had previously founded—as a central pillar for peer support. With the loss of funding for grants, the retreats became a vital, capacity-aware space that supported colleague well-being and combated isolation. Her work focuses on adapting and creating sustainable systems that prioritize community care over institutional resources.

You can learn more about her work on ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9828-6005

Al Hayden (she/her) has been a policy nerd for 2 decades across several careers. She’s spent the last decade working in libraries combining her passions for data, policy, the mission of public libraries, and the power of the communities they bring together. Al has held several managerial and administrative positions in libraries, working to balance patron access with staff needs. She is currently the Library Advisory Specialist for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, advising Library Admin, Friends, Foundations, and Trustees in public libraries throughout the Commonwealth on best practices and solid policies, helping them understand that policies work best when they prioritize staff mental health and patron dignity in an equitable way.

Cassandra Henwood is an HR professional with nearly a decade of experience shaping workplace culture in public libraries-the kind of culture that either sustains people or slowly wears them down. Most recently serving as HR Manager at the Niles-Maine District Library, she has spent her career helping library professionals navigate burnout, conflict, and organizational turbulence with clarity and intention. Cassandra holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management and a certification in workplace mediation, and has designed and delivered trainings for ILA Reaching Forward, LACONI, and local library staff days. She doesn’t just study these challenges-she spent years working through them alongside library staff every day.

Hannah is the InterLibrary Loan Manager for Mid-Continent Public Library. She previously worked in education, with experience spanning from toddlers to college freshmen. She has an MA in Franco-Arab Studies from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and an MLS from Emporia State University. She writes reviews for Booklist and has chapters and articles published in Public Libraries Magazine, MO Humanities Magazine, and A Manager’s Guide to Creating a Flourishing Workplace. When she’s not in the library, she spends time with her husband Michael, daughter Luna, and weenie dog Winnie in Kansas City.

CompassCreationsLibrarian – Helping people discover stories. Author – Helping people discover themselves through my story. Presenting about compassion fatigue and how to navigate the cost of caring for library workers.

Dennis Nangle is Assistant Dean for Resource Development and Access at an academic health sciences library, where he leads across collections, metadata, and access services while advancing sustainable, people‑centered approaches to library work. A former federal employee, Dennis brings lived experience navigating large‑scale organizational disruption, institutional instability, and cross‑agency collaboration under pressure.

His work focuses on collective care, workplace sustainability, and building organizational cultures that acknowledge limits, resist toxic positivity, and support staff through periods of uncertainty and change. He is particularly interested in how leaders and teams can move beyond individual resilience frameworks toward shared responsibility, clearer language around loss and constraint, and practices that make long‑term, meaningful careers possible.

Dennis engages regionally and nationally on issues of access, organizational strategy, and the human conditions of library work.

Zemirah Ngow is the Life and Health Sciences Collection Strategist at the UC San Diego Library. As the current chair of the LAUC-San Diego Research & Professional Development (R&PD) Committee, she inherited the challenge of sustaining a professional development program operating with a zero-dollar budget.

Zemirah has focused on embedding this new collective care model into the committee’s permanent culture. She strategically champions peer-led programming by identifying and elevating the knowledge of colleagues from within the library, turning internal expertise into the committee’s most valuable asset. Her leadership ensures the longevity and impact of these initiatives, proving that a focus on solidarity and community can create a more resilient and engaging professional environment than funding alone. She is committed to developing grassroots structures that empower librarians and build community from the ground up.

You can learn more about her work on ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7121-2949

Whitney Oakley is the Branch Manager of the Anythink Bennett Library, where she has worked on developing and implementing DEIB strategies and practices to strengthen small and rural communities. She currently serves as the Mayor of the Town of Bennett, holds a BS In Human Services and is passionate about creating connected and compassionate communities. She has been in libraries for ten years, six of those while in public office as a municipal government official. 

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. Now, Angela helps library leaders confidently manage change and conflict as an ICF-certified (ACC) leadership coach.

Angela also teaches Lead With Curiosity: Coaching skills for library leaders, adapting professional coaching skills to the complex practicalities of managing a team. This approach entails actively listening to employees, building psychological safety, remaining aware of structural power dynamics, and developing a trauma-informed approach. 

Angela received a late diagnosis of autism as a 40-something department head in an academic library, and brings personal experience to this presentation.

Jason Phillips is a Social Sciences Librarian and Associate Librarian at the University of Central Florida Libraries. A librarian since 2008, his research and professional interests include library work culture, burnout, intellectual freedom, censorship, and evidence synthesis methodologies. His work examines how organizational culture, workplace expectations, and professional identity influence the experiences of library workers and the sustainability of the profession.

An active contributor to the library profession, Jason serves in leadership roles at the state and national levels and regularly presents and publishes on issues affecting libraries, librarianship, and access to information. He is particularly interested in helping library workers build healthier, more sustainable professional cultures.

As a library professional based in Kerala, India, I work daily in public and community libraries that grapple with chronic underfunding, seasonal monsoon disruptions to access and infrastructure, and deep rooted cultural expectations of selfless overwork. My expertise in workplace well being emerges directly from lived experience. I have endured moral injury from relentless emotional labor supporting communities hit by economic migration, climate vulnerabilities like flooding, and post-pandemic recovery while navigating hierarchical systems that undervalue voices from regional India and the Global South. Without formal titles or institutional polish, I have organically led small peer support circles to redistribute invisible tasks, co developed simple boundary setting email scripts, and experimented with low energy rituals like collective shift end check ins. These efforts have fostered tiny but real sustainability amid unequal burnout burdens, where marginalized workers carry disproportionate grief and risk. My perspective highlights how global instability intersects with local realities, prioritizing solidarity over “success stories.”

Digital Scholarship and Data Services, Manager, Johns Hopkins University

Associate Dean for Digital Strategies, Impact, & Visibility, University of Central Florida