Library Services 2016 Annual Fall Conference: Leadership Through Engagement: Home

Barbara Stripling is the 2016-2017 President Elect of the New York Library Association and was the 2013-2014 President of the American Library Association. In January 2012, she became Assistant Professor of Practice at Syracuse University, where she is teaching library science classes and preparing our next generation of librarians. In May 2011, she earned her doctorate degree from the School of Information Studies, Syracuse University. Barbara came to Syracuse after having served as Director of School Library Services for the 1700 public schools in New York City for seven years. 

Sharon M. Draper is a professional educator as well as an accomplished writer. She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year, is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Awards, and is a New York Times bestselling author, with Out of My Mind staying on the list for almost two years.

David V. Loertscher has degrees from the University of Utah, the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from Indiana University. He has been a school library media specialist in Nevada and Idaho at both the elementary and secondary school levels. He has taught at Purdue University, The University of Arkansas, The University of Oklahoma, and is presently a professor at the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University. He served as head of the editorial department at Libraries Unlimited for ten years and is President of Hi Willow Research & Publishing (distributed by LMC Source at www.lmcsource.com). Check out his work on action research in the Ban Those Bird Units  article, visit his site about the school library learning commons or sample his blog on library issues.

Rosemary Wells is the creator of many unforgettable children's book characters, including Max and Ruby, McDuff, and Yoko, each of whom stars in their own book series. She is also the author of perennial favorites about universal childhood experiences, such as Noisy Nora and Read To Your Bunny. From the start, Rosemary Wells's work has been recognized for its strong sense of humor and realism and its gently rebellious approach to childhood. She has written more than 120 books that have received numerous honors; My Very First Mother Goose was named both a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year and a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year. From simple board books to charming picture books to works of middle-grade fiction, Rosemary Wells creates stories for every age that are truer than true.