Class Notes

Kaitlin Fink (MSLIS '22) has accepted a job as LRC coordinator for JB Nelson School in Batavia, Illinois. She is excited to move from a classroom to a library setting.

Pim Halka (MSLIS '20) has a new role as the supervising reference librarian with Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in Charlottesville, Virginia. "I look forward to building the community engagement program at JMRL with skills I learned at the iSchool," Halka said.

Cordiah Hayes (MSLIS '22) has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Beta Phi Mu Distinguished Award.

Dyamond Hutton (MSLIS '21) has started a new job as a knowledge and research service coordinator at Mendelson P.C.

In March, Gene Kannenberg, Jr. (MSLIS '23) published Here Comes Charlie Brown! A Peanuts Pop-Up (Abrams ComicArts). He created the book using paper-engineering techniques he learned in Bookbinding: History, Principles, Practice (IS 590) with Adjunct Lecturer Andrew Huot.

Jane Kanter (MSLIS '20) is featured in the Library Journal article, "Among the Stars: The Adler Planetarium Collection | Archives Deep Dive." 

Eileen M. López (MSLIS '20) has transitioned from leading UX research to community college librarianship. In her current position as an adjunct faculty librarian for the City Colleges of Chicago, she embraces technology and ignites discovery, shaping the futures of adult and English-language learners in a dynamic learning environment.

Carolyn McMenamin (MSLIS '22), social studies teacher at Centennial High School in Champaign, was named Teacher of the Week in the January 11, 2024, issue of The News-Gazette. 

Jessica Smith (MSLIS '23) was featured in The News-Gazette article, " Meet the Champaign County Forest Preserve District's new collections coordinator."

Erika Ternes (MSLIS '24) continues to serve her "tiny but mighty" rural library in youth services. She enjoys the variety of small library work, from conducting story time and editing MARC [MAchine-Readable Cataloging] records to redesigning cash handling procedures and hula hooping on the library lawn.

Tarida Anantachai (MSLIS '11) was selected as a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker (Change Agent category).

Mary Baker (MSLIS '16) has been accepted to the 2024 Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) Fellowship Program. CELI partners with experts from universities, companies, and organizations to offer energy education and leadership development opportunities.

Anna Coats (MSLIS '11) has been elected to the ALA APALA (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) leadership board.

Aaron Collie (MSLIS '10) recently started a new position as assistant director of research data security at Princeton University.

Chris Houchens (MSLIS '16) has been elected as a director-at-large of the 2024 Illinois Library Association (ILA) Executive Board.

Kristin Lansdown (MSLIS '19) has received the 2024 Core Career LIFT Award, sponsored by OCLC and Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, a division of the American Library Association.

Ana Lučić (PhD '17), a research scientist at the Applied Research Institute at the University of Illinois, received a Digital Humanities Advancement grant to develop a method to computationally identify the paratextual elements within the digitized book collections in the HathiTrust Research Library.

Amanda McGrory (MSLIS '18), archivist and collections curator for the U.S. Olympic and Parlympic Committee, is featured in the American Libraries podcast, "The Wide World of Librarians in Sports." 

Nisha Mody (MSLIS '17) has created a course called Trauma-Informed and Relational Care for Libraries.

Joshua Newport (MSLIS '13) has been elected as vice president/president-elect of the 2024 Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL) Executive Board.

Ted Quiballo (MSLIS '17) was featured in the Evanston RoundTable on February 2, 2024.

Conrad Remington (MSLIS '17) married Greg Remington (née Alvarez) on February 29, 2024.

Devin Savage (MSLIS '11) has been nominated to stand for election for Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) vice-president/president-elect in March 2024.

In 2023, Nicholas Stark (MSLIS '11) was promoted to branch chief of research services at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel Library in Washington, D.C.

Lydia Tang (MSLIS '15) delivered a keynote for the COSA SERI STEER unconference and Society of Ohio Archivists' Annual Meeting on the intersection of archives and accessibility. She was also promoted to senior outreach and Engagement coordinator, where she continues to provide leadership for hosted ArchivesSpace and advance accessibility at Lyrasis.

Kim Tipton (MSLIS '18), reference librarian at the McHenry County College Library, was featured in the Illinois Library Association's Member Spotlight for the week of March 11, 2024. 

Steven Ward (MSLIS '15) has started a new "dream job" as reference librarian for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Adriana Cuervo (MSLIS '05) assumed the role of director of Special Collections and University Archives at Rutgers University Libraries on January 23, 2024. She brings to this role over eighteen years of experience in special collections administration, collections development, and management.

Eric Edwards (MSLIS '06), interlibrary loan librarian at the Illinois State Library, was the Illinois Secretary of State Employee of the Month for March 2023. The Secretary of State’s Office has approximately 4,000 employees across 21 departments, one of which is the State Library.

Wendy Edwards (MSLIS '09) placed in the top ten of an international contest sponsored by Target and Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) and won a scholarship to the WiCyS 2024 Annual Conference in Nashville.

Diana Eynon (MSLIS '04) began her new role as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in January 2024. She is the languages cataloging coordinator in the Acquisitions & Cataloging Services unit of the University Library.

Elizabeth Fox (MSLIS '08) earned her Doctor of Health Sciences degree in 2022. In 2024, she published a book chapter, "The Role of the Hospital Librarian in Supporting Health Literacy," in Health Literacy and Libraries, edited by E. Vardell and D. Charbonneau.

Leah Gregory (MSLIS '04) has been elected to the Board of Trustees for the Association of Illinois School Library Educators.

Daniel Kraus (MSLIS '05) has received a 2024 Alex Award from the American Library Association for his book Whalefall. The awards are given to the ten best adult books that appeal to teen audiences.

Erin Mayhood (MSLIS '02) has been appointed as chief executive officer of Mentor Collective.

Sarah McHone-Chase (MSLIS '05), director of the University Library at Aurora University, was featured in the Illinois Library Association's Member Spotlight for the week of January 8, 2024.

Lissa Staley (MSLIS '01) was selected as a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker (Community Builders category).

Karen (Kay) Bronshteyn (MSLIS '96) recently started a new position as director of the Preus Library at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Michelle Glatt (MSLIS '93) has been elected as a director-at-large of the 2024 Illinois Library Association (ILA) Executive Board.

Gennye Varvel (MSLIS '94), library operations associate for the Social Sciences, Health, & Education Library at the University of Illinois, received a 2023 Library Outstanding Civil Service Staff Award.

Carol Leibiger (MSLIS '85) has been promoted to professor in the University Libraries at the University of South Dakota.

In June 2024, Ruth Riley (MSLIS '85) retired from her position as assistant dean for executive affairs and director of library services for the Charles S. and Donna H. Bryan School of Medicine Library at the University of South Carolina.

Diane Zabel (MSLIS '82) received the 2024 BRASS Excellence in Business Librarianship Award from the Reference and User Services Association, a division of the ALA.

Elise Henderson (MSLIS '79) passed away on April 9, 2024.

Anne Martel (MSLIS '67) passed away on January 12, 2024.