ALAO Mentor Biographies

Marilia Antunez

Life & Allied Health Sciences Librarian 

University of Akron

Areas of expertise: Collection Development, Instruction, Marketing and Outreach, Reference, Scholarly Communication

Professional background:  In the last 20 years, I have worked as an academic librarian in a small liberal arts institution to a Big Ten member institution. In addition to working as a health sciences librarian, I have been a social sciences librarian, and a research and information literacy services librarian at these universities. I earned a second masters degree while working as a full time academic librarian.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? Provide suggestions and tactics to prepare for the tenure/continuing appointment process, answering questions, and other suggestions on being successful as an academic librarian.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations). 

Gardening, have a dog, bilingual speaker

Kathleen Baril

Library Director
Ohio Northern University

Areas of expertise: Acquisitions, Career / Recruitment and Hiring, Collection Development, Instruction, Library Management, Reference

Professional background: I have worked mainly in smaller private academic institutions and in my role as director have experience in personnel management, strategic management, and space planning/renovations. Since I have worked at small libraries, I also have experience in instruction, acquisitions, collection management and marketing and outreach. I earned the Open Education Network’s Certificate in OER Librarianship two years ago and have worked on some local OER initiatives at my institution. I am a tenured librarian and could provide insights into the tenure process for librarians.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I hope that I can provide advice and a listening ear for the mentee on a range of topics or issues. I hope I can provide information and education that will contribute to the mentee's growth in the library profession.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

In my out of work life, I like to walk/hike, read (of course!), binge watch a variety of tv shows, bake and spend time with my family.

Heather Crozier

Electronic Resources Librarian
Ohio Northern University

Areas of expertise: Career / Recruitment and Hiring, Collection Development, Electronic Resources, Instruction, Marketing and Outreach, Reference

Professional background: I have worked in public, community college, and university libraries. I also work at a small university which allows me to wear a lot of different hats. In addition to e-resources, I do collection development, serve as a liaison to different academic (business, nursing, theatre, psychology, criminal justice, and music) and service departments, teach, supervise the library's social media, create videos, and am part of our marketing committee. I believe I can be most helpful for someone who needs to balance multiple responsibilities.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I would hope that my mentee would gain confidence and grow as a professional, in addition to gaining a supportive colleague from a different institution.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations). I've been very involved with ALAO and have served as a board member, interest group chair, and conference planning committee member. I currently serve on CIRM and am an LSP migration lead for OhioLINK. I have volunteered as an adult literacy tutor for the last 10 years. My research interest is chronic illness/invisible disabilities in librarianship, as I have a chronic illness and have published an article and book chapter with my research partners. I talk about my cats a lot...

Jason Ezell

Head of Learning & Engagement
Miami University

Areas of expertise: Department Management, Instruction, Interlibrary Loan / Resource Sharing, Reference, Engagement / Student Success

Professional background: My academic library career has largely focused on library instruction. I am a former college adjunct who went on to lead development of library instruction programs at three very different institutions. I am interested in inclusive and engaging pedagogies, but also in curriculum, scholar development, assessment, institutional effectiveness, and co-curricular strategies. I am a scholar-identified librarian as well as a US LGBTQ+ historian. I have mentored liaison librarians through promotion and tenure processes. I am an enthusiastic thought partner for librarians interested in expansive, inclusive, strategic, and novel approaches to instruction and scholarship.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I hope my mentees are able to meaningfully connect with their profession as educators and scholars and able to contribute strategically to their own careers and the missions of their libraries.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations). LGBTQ+ historiography; film and literature; reflective practice

Brigitte Galauner

Collections & Content Strategies Librarian
University of Akron

Areas of expertise: Collection Development, Instruction, Reference, Special Collections / Archives

Professional background: I have professional experience working at both small (private) institutions and large (public) universities. With this in mind, I have a well-rounded background due to my reference/instruction, archival, and collection development experience. I am well into my professional career as an academic librarian, but am still fairly new to the field having started my first full time librarian position in 2020. I believe this combination of experience would benefit a mentee who may be a bit newer to the profession.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I hope that the mentee gains new insights and ideas that may help them to not only further their career, but also benefit their institution.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

• Special skills: archival work
• Hobbies: Dance (theater/ballet/tap/jazz/modern), running (exercise)
• Service: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad volunteer (North Pole Adventure)

Ken Irwin

Web Services Librarian
Case Western Reserve University

Areas of expertise: Collection Development, Digital Scholarship, Instruction, Reference, Web Development, DEI/Inclusive Excellence, Unionization, library scholarship

Professional background: I spent 20+ years as a reference/instruction/collection development faculty librarian at a small private college prior to my current role as in web development at a medium-sized public university. My current role also includes leadership in the libraries Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. I expect I can offer general early-career advice, as well as perspectives on making big job changes. In addition to the specific areas of reference, collections, instruction, web development and DEI, I think I have a pretty good understanding of academic libraries as workplaces, and can help develop a person's preparedness to meet their employers goals and find their own professional niche. I have some experience with digital scholarship on both library-based and non-library projects. Recently, I have also been involved in unionization efforts in our library and am beginning to have an understanding of the role that can play in library workplaces. I have done some informal librarian mentoring in the past, and have been doing more “organized” mentoring through ALAO and ALA in the past two years.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I'd hope for a mentee to cultivate their strengths and become more confident in their abilities; to expand their professional network and to develop some ideas about how they want to invest their time and energy in the profession, and how they might overcome any obstacles they face. Everyone is going to bring their own interests and aptitudes, and I hope that our mentoring relationship will help them to focus on how they can grow professionally.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

• professional: coding, DEI, writing/library scholarship
• hobbies: hiking, mushroom hunting, dancing, caving, climbing

Tifany Lipstreu

Library Director
Otterbein University

Areas of expertise: Career / Recruitment and Hiring, Department Management, Electronic Resources, Library Management

Professional background: I have worked in Special (museum), Public, School, and Academic library types and as a specialist librarian and an administrator and have different experiences to share and learn with the mentees.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I hope to help mentees gain a sense of support and belonging.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

Since 2015, I have served as Library Director at the Otterbein University Courtright Memorial Library. My 20 years of experience in libraries encompass public, academic and special libraries, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

I earned my Master of Library & Information Science from Kent State University and Bachelor of Arts in history of art from The Ohio State University. I have served as Chair, Vice Chair and in an at-large role of the Executive Committee for Ohio Private Academic Libraries (OPAL). I also chaired OhioLINK’s 2019 Summit Conference and OPAL’s 2018 annual conference. I was honored in 2021 with the OPAL Outstanding Service Award.

I am involved with Friends of the Library programs, and actively pursue creative funding pathways for library work. I learned a lot from ALA's advocacy and policy information and was lucky to participate in Voices for Libraries this year attending the DC fly-in by invitation of the State Librarian.

Krista McDonald

Library Director
Miami University Hamilton

Areas of expertise: Career / Recruitment and Hiring, Collection Development, Instruction, Library Management, Reference, Student Supervision

Professional background: I have worked at libraries for over 25 years. I have been in academic libraries for almost 25 of them and a library director for 19 years. While I am not necessarily an expert on everything, I do have some experience in many of the roles listed on the "areas of expertise" check boxes. I would love to be a resource for anyone seeking a mentor. I have mentored many people throughout my career, both formally through programs like this and informally.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I would like for my mentee to get whatever they need in the mentoring relationship. Everyone's needs are different and I am flexible. I hope that my mentee will make the best use of our time and relationship. I have remained in touch with a number of my mentees and am available to help folks beyond the formal ALAO commitment.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

My professional interests are primarily in reference, instruction, collection management, and administration. I am also very involved with DEI at my institution, having co-chaired the university libraries' DEI Committee and served on a number of university DEI task forces. I have also served on the ALAO DEI Committee. I am a member of the planning committee for the city of Hamilton's annual Pride Festival. I have been very active in ALAO, serving as VP/President/Past President from 2016-2018. And I have served on OhioLINK's CIRM committee for the past 5 years. I think it's fair to say that service work is another of my interests!

John Napp

Associate Professor & Engineering Librarian
The University of Toledo

Areas of expertise: Electronic Resources, Instruction, Reference, Scholarly Communication, Solo Librarian, Student Supervision

Professional background: I have worked in STEM librarianship for over 20 years. For ten of those years I managed a small library located with my liaison area (engineering) where I hired and supervised work study students as well as being a subject librarian.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? The satisfaction of helping another librarian with their career goals. Maybe some networking.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

I'm a runner. I have a BA in philosophy as well as work experience as a solo librarian for an engineering firm (6.5 years).

Gerald (Jerry) Natal

Health and Human Services Librarian
The University of Toledo

Areas of expertise: Circulation, Instruction, Marketing and Outreach, Reference

Professional background: I have over 35 years of experience working in libraries (public, special, and academic). I worked in several capacities as a staff person in public libraries before attaining my library degree, so I can speak to everything from circulation to reference and instruction and everything that goes along with being a library liaison. I have executive leadership experience in ALAO and am a tenured faculty member, so I can also provide guidance in these areas.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? Whatever it is they are seeking, I aim to help them get there, whether that means becoming better classroom instructors, learning to work with faculty, or publishing or presenting. I always learn from my mentoring experiences. I enjoy working with a variety of individuals, and often I take away something I either learn directly from my mentee or indirectly from our interactions.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

I have a background in art and music (I still play in a band and in church). I love all things pop culture. I am a military veteran. I am an avid exercise enthusiast.

Kari Siders

Library Director
Wilmington College

Areas of expertise: Department Management, Library Management, Student Supervision

Professional background: I have been in director roles for over 8 years and in management and supervision roles for around 12 years. These experiences have been at a community college, private mid-sized university, and a small private college. Directing the library and general supervision and management has afforded me numerous learning and growth opportunities. The process is never complete, but I continuously learn and grow to better myself to be able to help better others. My experiences go well beyond just leadership and administration as I've worked through most areas of the library and I'm familiar with most of the processes necessary for a library to function well.

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I hope to impart beneficial wisdom and encouragement through my own experiences to develop another leader in our library field. It has always benefited me to hear other perspectives as I navigate how to improve my own leadership and the library as a whole. My mentee would ideally be able to take what I have to offer, apply what is useful and keep the rest in their back pocket if it should be useful at a later date.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

Beyond my love of library administration and leadership, I enjoy traveling, cooking, baking, and board games. It is a joy to maintain a level of humor and fun in everything we do. I have volunteer experience as a public library board member.

Daniela Solomon

Research & Engagement Librarian
Case Western Reserve University

Areas of expertise: Marketing and Outreach, Reference, Scholarly Communication

Professional background: I have over 11 years’ experience as an academic librarian specialized in engineering disciplines. I hold a Master’s Degree in Library Science and Information from the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the ”Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University, Iasi, Romania. In my role at Kelvin Smith Library, I continuously seek to understand the needs and interests of the researchers, faculty, students, and students groups or campus offices, and use my enthusiasm and creativity to develop programs and learning opportunities that engage the campus community and beyond. My research interests include information behavior of engineering departments, technical standards education, scholarly impact metrics, scholarly communications, and outreach and I have a substantial record of publications (see https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6200-5216).

What motivates you to serve as a mentor? I believe that I am at a point in my career when I can offer a wealth of knowledge and guidance to a mentee in various aspects of the academic librarianship profession. Topics could include understanding user needs and engagement with library users, program development, research and publications, and new trends in scholarly communications. I would also be happy to share from my experience in engineering librarianship. My hope is that I could help someone excel as an academic librarian. I had some unofficial and sporadic mentoring initiatives as I have supported some of my younger colleagues in succeeding with some of their goals and I found their success very rewarding. I am looking in a more formal mentoring experience that will provide me a personal growth opportunity by practicing reflective practice, improving communications, and building long-term relationships. I benefited from encouragement and advice from more experienced colleagues and I want to give back by helping others in the profession.

Please describe any special interest that may be helpful in matching you and your mentee (i.e. hobbies, special skills, service, or volunteer organizations).

I am interested in travel, gardening, and foraging.