2011 ARLD Board of Directors Candidates
Candidate for Chair-Elect
Cindy Gruwell
I am an associate professor and faculty librarian at St. Cloud State University (SCSU). In addition to reference and teaching responsibilities, I serve as the coordinator of instruction and leader for information literacy. Like most librarians I play several roles in our library, university, and library community-at-large. The range of these activities includes staffing the reference desk, instruction, liaison to the College of Science and Engineering, and teaching. In addition to these responsibilities I am currently serving on a variety of university and professional committees. Although the focus of my position lends itself to instruction and information literacy within the framework of the library, I am also cognizant of the perception of the library and its place in our academic environment. This is crucial given the changes and challenges we face on a daily basis.
Previous to my position at SCSU I was an associate librarian in the Bio-Medical Library at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I received both my B.A. and M.L.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently I am working on my masters in education at Bemidji State College and just completed participating in the ACRL Immersion program for information literacy – program track.
Candidate for Legislative Liaison
Jayne Blodgett
I graduated from Dominican University (St. Kate’s) in May 2008, and I was employed as the Circulation Manager at Briggs Library at the University of Minnesota, Morris. I am currently the Metadata and Technical Services Coordinator at Briggs Library. Working in an academic setting is incredibly rewarding, fulfilling and challenging. Whether it’s working on a research project with a student or creating a controlled vocabulary for our digital repository, I am happy to be an academic librarian. I would like to take the passion I have for academic libraries and work with others to make Minnesota college and university libraries even better.
I am interested in the Legislative Liaison position because I believe it is crucial for our voices to be heard at the Capitol. In a time with continuing budget cuts to libraries of all types and to higher education in general, the members of ARLD need to know what is happening in the Legislature and how they can advocate for libraries and higher education. I am active in local politics being a representative to my county convention as well as a precinct chair. I am familiar with the legislative calendar, and I look forward to working with state legislators on behalf of ARLD.
Candidates for Member-at-Large
Jodi Carlson
I am a Reference and Government Documents Librarian at the University of Minnesota Duluth. My work at UMD includes reference services, collection development for specific subject areas, Government Documents work, and library instruction. I have been at the UMD Library since January 2004, but I began my professional career in 1995 and I am continually amazed at what libraries do for the communities they serve. My professional interests include reference services, information literacy and library instruction in various setting and formats. I would like to become more involved in the Minnesota Library Association and learn more about the libraries throughout Minnesota. The opportunity to serve as Member-at-Large for the ARLD board is a great way to contribute to MLA.
Michael Gorman
I have been a Reference/Instruction Librarian at St. Cloud State University for the last five years. I additionally took on the position of Government Documents Coordinator at SCSU last year. Previously, I was a Reference Graduate Assistance at the Minnesota State University Mankato library and a Public Services Librarian at the Moorhead Public Library. These positions have given me the opportunity to serve Minnesota libraries by providing reference services and collaborating with my colleagues.
Professional development and education have been an important part of my growth as a librarian. I have been a member of professional organizations; a member of the ARLD Board; and have attended, participated, and presented at local and national conferences. These experiences have provided me a greater understanding of libraries and the opportunity to work with colleagues form other institutions. I would like the opportunity to continue and expand my involvement and contributions to the profession by serving on the ARLD Board as a Member-at-Large.
Suzanne Schreifer
I am currently the Campus Librarian at Rasmussen College’s Eagan, MN location. Prior to joining Rasmussen, I was the Assistant Branch Manager of the East Grand Rapids, MI branch of Kent District Library and worked for over ten years as a law librarian at three large corporate law firms. I have been involved with the Special Libraries Association, the American Association of Law Libraries and the American Library Association, including ACRL. I received my A.M.L.S. from the University of Michigan and my M.B.A. from the University of Detroit. Since moving to the Twin Cities a year ago, I am very interested in becoming more involved in local library activities and would welcome the opportunity to serve.
Jim Stemper
Jim Stemper began his library career as a reference and instruction librarian (6 month appointment!) at the Science and Engineering Library at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. After a temporary appointment as the UMN-Twin Cities Libraries’ webmaster, he joined the Bush Grant-funded Distance Learning Development Project, where he coordinated the early years of the InfoPoint digital reference service. Currently he is UMN-TC’s e-resource licensing coordinator, and the co-chair of its Scholarly Communication Collaborative, which recently prototyped an environmental scan of the publishing practices of UMN-TC faculty and departments that was subsequently adapted by the CIC/Big 10 libraries.
In 2001, Jim and his InfoPoint colleagues were honored with the Exemplary Service Award by the Virtual Reference Desk, U.S. Dept. of Education, “for excellence in Internet-based information provision.” The following year, he and his UMN co-author John Butler were given the Emerald Literati Club 2002 Highly Commended Award for their Reference Services Review article “Developing a Model to Provide Digital Reference Services.” In 2007, an article he co-authored with UW-Madison’s Susan Barribeau (“Perpetual Access to Electronic Journals: A Survey of One Academic Research Library’s Licenses”) was given the 2007 Best of LRTS Award, for “the best paper published [...] in the official journal of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, Library Resources & Technical Services.”
Candidates for Member Communications
Rebecca Ganzel Thompson
Since I earned my M.L.I.S. degree in December 2003, I have been privileged to work at many academic libraries in the Twin Cities and the surrounding area, including St. Olaf, Hamline, Augsburg, and Metropolitan State. I treasure all I have learned, and the terrific colleagues with whom I have had the privilege of working. This summer, I finally broke the “long-term, temporary” cycle and became Technical Services Librarian at St. Mary’s University, a small library with a big mission.
As I say in my LinkedIn profile (see www.linkedin.com/in/ganzel), my goal is performing top-notch library work in an environment of teaching, service, and excellence. It is this combination of ideals that has led me to apply for the Member Communications Coordinator position. I was a journalist before I became a librarian, and I know that communication and outreach are a key part of the ARLD’s work. I look forward to working and collaborating with you!
Diana Symons
I am the Social Sciences Librarian at CSB/SJU. My position involves library instruction, reference and research assistance, and communication with faculty members in my liaison departments. I am committed to promoting information literacy skills to our students and in exploring ways to effectively collaborate with library colleagues and other members of our campus communities.
As a new librarian who received my MLIS from The University of Iowa in 2009, I am eager to contribute to MLA’s Academic and Research Libraries Division. I look forward to developing stronger ties to academic librarians across the state while supporting ARLD’s high-quality professional development activities and conference planning. I would welcome an opportunity to keep you well-informed of ACRL and ARLD news by serving in the Member Communications position.
Erich Yahner
I received my Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University in 2007, and since then I have been working as a librarian at the Twin Cities campus of Argosy University. What I like most about my position is that it allows me to work in multiple areas of librarianship, including reference, information literacy, technical services, and collection development.
As someone who is fairly new to the profession, I am very interested in communicating with and learning from other librarians. I currently serve on the Internal Communications Committee for my campus of the university, and I understand the importance of effectively disseminating information within an organization. I see this position on the ARLD Board of Directors as a great opportunity to interact with other academic librarians and to ensure that everyone has access to important information that may be of value or interest to them.
2011 Official Ballot
- An e-mail with a link to an online ballot was sent to all ARLD members on August 30, 2010.
- If you or someone you know did not receive the ballot link by e-mail, please contact the MLA office to request one.
- Online ballots must be completed by September 17, 2010.