General information

Emily Drabinski, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich to deliver keynotes at the Exchange Virtual Forum

The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), the Library Information Technology Association (LITA) and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) have announced that Emily Drabinski and Rebekkah Smith Aldrich will deliver keynote addresses at the Exchange Virtual Forum. The theme for the Exchange is “Building the Future Together,” and it will take place on the afternoons of May 4, 6 and 8. Each day has a different focus, with day 1 exploring leadership and change management; day 2 examining continuity and sustainability; and day 3 focusing on collaborations and cooperative endeavors. Drabinski’s keynote will be on May 4, and Smith Aldrich’s will be on May 8. 

Emily Drabinski is the Critical Pedagogy Librarian at Mina Rees Library, Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). She is also the liaison to the School of Labor and Urban Studies and other CUNY masters and doctoral programs. Drabinski’s research includes critical approaches to information literacy instruction, gender and sexuality in librarianship and the intersections of power and library systems and structures. She currently serves as the series editor for Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies (Library Juice Press/Litwin Books). Additionally, Drabinski serves on the editorial boards of College & Research LibrariesThe Journal of Critical Library & Information Studies and Radical Teacher, a socialist, feminist and anti-racist journal devoted to the theory and practice of teaching. Drabinski has given numerous keynote addresses and presentations at the Big XII Teaching and Learning Conference, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference and the Digital Library Federation.

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, a powerful advocate for public libraries, is the executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS) in Hudson, New York. In addition, she is a certified sustainable building advisor (CSBA) and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Smith Aldrich holds an advanced certificate in Public Library Administration from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at Long Island University, where she is also an adjunct professor. She is a founding member of ALA’s Sustainability Roundtable and helped to pass the ALA Resolution on the Importance of Sustainable Libraries in 2015. Smith Aldrich was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2010 and writes a sustainability column for the journal. A prolific writer, Smith Aldrich is the author of Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World. She has also contributed chapters to Better Library Design (Rowman and Littlefield) and The Green Library (Library Juice Press). Like Drabinski, Smith Aldrich has given numerous presentations and keynote addresses at venues that include IFLA, the Association of Rural and Small Libraries Conference, the US Embassy in Peru, the American Library Association Annual Conference and the New York Library Association Conference. 

The Exchange is presented by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) and the Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA), divisions of the American Library Association. To get more information about the proposed future for joint projects such as the Exchange, join the conversation about #TheCoreQuestion.

Contact:
Brooke Morris-Chott
Program Officer, Communications
ALCTS
bmorris@ala.org