Michele Gorman
"This Ain't Your Mama's Library! Technology, Radical Trust, and the Role of Social Networking in Today's 21st Century Library"
Teen Services Manager
Charlotte & Mecklenburg County Public Library
Michele Gorman is the Teen Services Manager of the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County in Charlotte NC. In addition to her job as the Teen Services Manager, Michele is on the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Board of Directors, a freelance writer and renowned national speaker, certified by YALSA as a "Serving the Underserved" Trainer. She is the "Getting Graphic" Columnist for Library Media Connection and a "Teenage Riot" columnist for School Library Journal. Michele's books include Getting Graphic! Comics for Kids, Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens" and Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: A How to Do It Manual, 3rd Edition.
Cathy De Rosa
Keynote Presentation
Vice President for the Americas and Global Vice President of Marketing
OCLC
Cathy De Rosa, OCLC Vice President for the Americas and Global Vice President of Marketing, will discuss teens, technology and the mashed up library. Cathy joined OCLC in 2001. Prior to joining OCLC, she served on the faculty of the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, where she taught e-business marketing. From 1994 to 2000, she was a Vice President at Symix Systems, an enterprise technology company serving manufacturing and service companies. Prior to joining Symix, she was a Senior Consultant with Price Waterhouse, serving technology companies in Boston, Massachusetts, and San Jose, California. She also has held management positions at Micro Card Technologies and Texas Instruments. Cathy received a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Arizona and a masters of business administration degree from the Harvard Business School.
Elyse Adler
"Engaging Teens in a Shared Leadership Capacity: T.O.T.A.L. Nashville Public Library's Totally Outstanding Teen Advocates for the Library"
Research & Special Projects Administrator
Nashville Public Library
Elyse Adler holds a music degree from Syracuse University and an MLS degree from Vanderbilt University. She has worked for Nashville Public Library since 1985 in various positions including Manager of the Music & Film Dept at the Main Library, Collection Development Manager with system-wide responsibilities, and Branch Administrator, overseeing 21 branch libraries throughout the county. Currently, she holds the position of Research and Special Projects Administrator. In this position, she creates new initiatives and forms collaborative relationships with various agencies and institutions throughout the community. Recent projects include the award-winning T.O.T.A.L. program funded by Bank of America; "Bringing Books to Life!", a pre-school literacy initiative; and Nashville's first International Puppet Festival.
Rhonda Belyea
"Reading Buddies!: Teen Volunteers Reading with Kids"
Youth Services Librarian
Central Rappahannock Regional Library
Rhonda Belyea is a Youth Services Librarian with the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. On any given day, she may do Mother Goose storytime in the morning and a presentation on online databases for High School seniors in the afternoon. One of the highlights of her job is coordinating the efforts of teen volunteers at the Headquarters of CRRL, especially the Reading Buddies.
Kevin Cherry
Funding for Teen Programs
Senior Program Officer
Institute of Museum and Library Services
As a Senior Program Officer at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Kevin Cherry helps coordinate the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. This program supports projects to develop faculty and library leaders, to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians, and to conduct research on the library profession and support early career research on any area of library and information science by tenure-track, untenured faculty in graduate schools of library and information science. It also supports projects to attract high school and college students to consider careers in libraries, to build institutional capacity in graduate schools of library and information science, and to assist in the professional development of librarians and library staff. Kevin has taught in a school library media Master's degree program, served as a library development consultant in a state library agency, coordinated a statewide digitization program, and worked as a local history librarian.
Linda Holtslander
"Hanging Out Rocks!"
Division Manager for Development, Programming and Public Relations
Loudoun County (VA) Public Library
Linda Holtslander is the Division Manager for Development, Programming and Public Relations for the Loudoun County (VA) Public Library. In 2005 she designed an initiative that successfully addressed through its services, programs, and volunteer opportunities the image of the library for teens by creating a welcoming setting where teens can be themselves, study, attend a event, listen to music or just catch up with other teens. Paramount to this endeavor was the development of dedicated space for young people to meet in the library in a safe and enriching environment on Friday evenings. Teens using the "After Hour" Teen Center have access to programs, gaming, music, food and activities, dictated by the interest of the teens. The "After Hours" program is one of 20 national programs selected for inclusion in the American Library Association's forthcoming Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults and was the 2006 winner of the prestigious John Cotton Dana Award which is given to selected libraries that have distinguished themselves by their public education and public relations efforts. Ms. Holtslander received her MLS from the University of Hawaii and a BA in communications from the Universidad de las Américas. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley and San Jose State University.
Hedra Packman
Teen Employment and their 21st Century Grant
Director of Library Services
Free Library of Philadelphia
Hedra Packman has a long history of library services to children and teens, starting her career as a Children's Librarian and currently as Director of Library Services at the Free Library of Philadelphia. She is responsible for the public service divisions of collections and archives, programming and outreach, access and literacy services, and volunteers. She has created and administered innovative library programs, including the LEAP after school and teen employment program, Books Aloud! early literacy outreach, the Teen Author Series, Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development, IMLS Growing New Leaders Today for the Library of Tomorrow, and the Model Urban Library Services to Children project. Ms. Packman has strategically transitioned over $2 million dollars of grant projects to core library services funded by the City of Philadelphia. She serves on numerous Boards and professional committees. She speaks at state and national conferences on a variety of library topics. Ms. Packman has received many community awards and is most proud of being named the Please Touch Museum's Great Friend to Kids.
Jamie Watson
"Reluctant Readers"
Assistant Materials Manager
Harford County Public Library
Jamie Watson is currently the Assistant Materials Manager for Harford County Public Library north of Baltimore. She selects young adult books and popular music, and uses her knowledge in both of these areas to engage reluctant readers. She is a past member and Chair of YALSA's Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, a task that solidified her commitment to reaching reluctant readers and showed that in almost all cases it can be done. This year she is serving on the Robert F. Sibert Committee to select the best informational book for children. She also writes a blog about reaching teen readers for www.adlit.org, a project of WETA. She participates in several Young Adult reading groups, including Capitol Choices, headquartered in Arlington, and the Great Books for Teens discussion group in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area. She is always reading and trying to find books that will appeal to teen readers of all sorts.
