[Asis-l] Simmons SLIS Faculty and Alumni News

[Alisa Libby]

 Faculty

*Grant News!* SLIS Senior Lecturer *Rachel D. Williams* has been awarded a
grant from the New England Region of the National Network of Libraries of
Medicine for her project, "Meeting the Needs of People in Crisis at the
Boston Public Library." The project is a collaborative effort with
Assistant Professor *Lydia Ogden* (Social Work) and involves conducting
focus groups and workshops with Boston Public Library staff. Their study
examines service challenges for library staff as they help people in
crisis. The project also seeks to identify effective ways of engaging with
people experiencing crises and address training resource needs that would
be most helpful for staff.

*Michèle Cloonan*’s book, *The Monumental Challenge of Preservation: The
Past in a Volatile World*, was published by MIT Press (2018).

The Simmons symposium on the challenges of misinformation and “fake news”
was mentioned in a Poynter article
<https://www.poynter.org/news/morning-mediawire-pulitzer-laden-researcher-embedded-post-newsroom>
 about library-trained news researchers. The symposium was organized by
Associate Professor *Laura Saunders*.

Adjunct Professor *Anita Silvey* gave the annual Barbara Elleman Research
Library Lecture on April 28 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in
Amherst. Silvey discussed the stories behind some of the great Caldecott
medal and honor books.

On March 28, SLIS West Adjunct *Jennifer Adams* ’07LS participated with
recent SLIS West graduates *Tim Dolan* ’16LS and *Marko Packard* ’17LS in a
roundtable discussion at Greenfield Community College on the topic of
Librarianship as a Career. SLIS West Coordinator *Eric Poulin* facilitated
the discussion, which aimed at helping to demystify the pathway to careers
in libraries for community college students. SLIS West also celebrated Last
Day Lunch, sponsored by LISSA West, honoring the last day of spring
semester classes at SLIS West on April 28 (pictured above).


Alumnae/i

*Victoria Amorello *’15LS has been named the next executive director of
Waterville Valley Academy
<https://www.skiracing.com/stories/wvbbts-welcomes-new-executive-director> as
of July 2018. Amorello is currently the director of enrollment, financial
aid and external programs at Burke Mountain Academy.

*Megan Blakemore* ’04LS had an article titled "Problem Scoping Design
Thinking and Close Reading: Makerspaces in the School Library"
published in *Knowledge
Quest
<http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/imagine-possible-future-school-libraries-mar-apr-issue/>*
.

*Irene Gillies* ’78LS retired on April 1 after serving 39 years as director
of the Eldredge Public Library
<http://chatham.wickedlocal.com/news/20180406/eldredges-gillies-retires-after-39-years-at-library>
 in Chatham, Massachusetts.

Children’s Lit graduate and author *Mackenzie Lee* ’14LS was featured in the
 *Boston Globe
<https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2018/03/27/from-fanfic-her-fic/hxhsH1hk1vyvvDopm6aFsO/story.html>*
 on March 27.

*Brenda Mitchell-Powell* '15PhD received a Certificate of Merit
<http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/03/margaret-hung-s-library-history-dissertation-wins-2017-dain-award>
 as a part of the 2017 Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award for
her dissertation entitled “A Seat at the Reading Table: The 1939
Alexandria, Virginia, Public Library Sit-in Demonstration – A Study in
Library History, 1937-1941.” The certificate will be presented during the
ALA Annual Meeting in June.

*Charles O'Bryan* ’17LDS and *Karen Schneider *’17LDS have co-written an
article, “Zero-Based Budgeting In a Cutback Scenario For A Small Academic
Library,” now published in *Library Leadership & Management
<https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/7294>*.

*Jerome Offord* ’15LDS has joined DeEtta Jones and Associates as Senior
Associate and Managing Partner.

*Katie Olivo* ’14LS is the Associate Director for Graduate and
International Recruitment at Shenandoah University, starting in April.
Olivo was a full-time staff member at SLIS Admissions for five years, and
is an alumna of the Dual Archives/History program.

*Kristen M. Schuster* ’12LS was recognized in the "Notable Dissertations"
<https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/05/01/notable-dissertations-2018/>
list
in American Libraries on May 1.

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Alisa M. Libby
Communications Assistant
Simmons College, SLIS
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
t 617-521-2816
f 617-521-3192

Author, *The King's Rose* and *The Blood Confession*
alisalibby.com