SLIM Alumni News

Cindy Lea Arbelbide, Graduating Class of 1981, and the official White House Bunnies celebrated the 10th anniversary of her book THE WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL, the first children's book to be published by the White House. The book was originally introduced by then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1997, was continued by First Lady Laura Bush in 2001. Arbelbide has been an 'White House Visiting Author' on four ocassions through both administrations. An estimated 35,000 children and adults participated in Monday's festivities, a White House tradition since 1878. (4/07)

Darrel Willoughby, Spring class of 2004, is the new Chief of Library Services for the Omaha, Nebraska VA Medical Center. Darrel has worked at the Medical Center since January 2005 as a contract worker through the McGoogan Library of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He credits his experience as a graduate teaching assistant at the ESU Division of Nursing library and a practicum experience at McGoogan Library for helping him get to his current position. (10/06)

Chris Tracy, Class of 1981, has been recently selected by the Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) as their 2006 Outstanding Secondary Teacher-Librarian of the Year and will be recognized at the October conference of the Washington Library Media Association. Chris is beginning his twenty-second year as the librarian at Kenmore Junior High School in the Northshore School District (NSD), a suburb of Seattle. He is the In-service Committee Chair, the Technology Committee Chair, a Department Head and a member of the Freshman Project Team. Prior to working for NSD, Chris worked for the Monroe (WA) School District and in the U.S. Territory of Guam. Chris and his wife, Jayne, and live in Kenmore, WA. (9/06)

Andrew Youngkin, SLIM-Utah III Winter 2005 grad, has accepted a Corporate Librarian position with EDSA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In this position he will oversee the operations of the library with a specialization in landscape architecture, including creating a knowledge management system and database, creating library policies and procedures, cataloguing specialized materials such as bricks and vendor samples, as well as periodicals, books, and electronic resources. Andrew will also be responsible for training staff in the use of the library, and performing a variety of research tasks.(9/06)

Mary Ann Littrell, Winter 2005 graduate, is the new Director of Library Services at Manhattan Christian College in Manhattan, Kansas, where she has worked since 2002. (5/06)

Dr. Mitchell McClay has been appointed as the Vice President of the Central Florida Library Cooperative. CFLC is comprised of 90 libraries throughout 11 counties serving over 2.8 million users. His term runs through 2007. He is the Campus Librarian at ITT Technical Institute, Lake Mary, Florida. Dr McClay graduated from Emporia State University in August 1979.

Elly Lensch, 2001 M.L.S. graduate (Kansas) has accepted a position as the Health Science Librarian for Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, a Mayo Health System hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Elly had been working as a visiting faculty member for Luther College in Decorah, IA and previously a Cardiovascular Research Librarian at the Mid America Heart Institute of St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, MO. Her primary duties will include reference, circulation, and serials for nurse anesthia students, physicians, nurses, hospital leaders and other staff. Elly will also have the opportunity to work with the leadership team of the hospital in preparing for the anticipated JCAHO survey (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations). (11/05)

Ray Barker, SLIM-Emporia, class of August 2005, is the Archivist for the Command History Office, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Part of his job is to process the backlog of paper records there, to be housed in the Combined Arms and Fort Leavenworth Archives Collection (CARL). (11/05)

Vern Waters, SLIM-Utah II, was promoted to Branch Manager at the Southwest Branch of the Weber County, Utah Library system effective September 1, 2005.

Howard F. McGinn (Ph.D. 2003) has been appointed Dean of University Libraries at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. McGinn's career in librarianship includes service as State Librarian of North Carolina, City Librarian of New Haven, CT., Director of the Emporia, Kansas Public Library, and Dean of University Libraries at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He has over 15 years experience in the corporate sector where positions held include General Manager of a subsidiary of the New York Times Company and National Media Sales Manager for the J.B. Lippincott Publishing Company. McGinn has published widely about networks, libraries and economic development. He is a member of ALA's Spectrum Advisory Committee and was recently asked to serve on the Outside Advisory Board for the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Some past awards received are Public Library Director of the Year in North Carolina, the ASCLA Exceptional Achievement Award, and Clarion University's Equity Award. He was cited by the Connecticut General Assembly for his work in promoting racial harmony in Connecticut. He is Past President of the NC Chapter of SLA and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of SOLINET. McGinn received his B.A. in Philosophy from Villanova University, an M.S.L.S. from Drexel University, and an M.B.A. from Campbell University. He is married to Dr. Jane Moore McGinn, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at Southern Connecticut State University and a former SLIM faculty member.

Darcy L Jones, 1998 MLS, has accepted a position with the Atlanta law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Founded in 1924, Sutherland is one of the city's oldest and most prestigious law offices, with more than 425 attorneys. Ms. Jones is currently the director of information technology at Walter F George School of Law at Mercer University from which she will receive her juris doctorate in December. She has also served as the lead articles editor of Mercer Law Review and her case note "As Congress Giveth, So Congress Taketh Away: The Supreme Court Assures Congressional Authority to Retrospectively Extend Copyright Term in Eldred v Ashcroft" appeared in that publication last year.

John L. Whitlock, 1975 ML, was elected as President, Southern Regional Conference of Librarians Serving the Blind and Physically Handicapped, at its regional conference held in Jacksonville, FL. He represented the southern region of libraries at a ceremony at the Library of Congress, July 1, 2005, to award the first Network Library of the Year to the Braille Institute, the regional library for Southern California.

Lori Stevens, SLIM-Utah I '99, received the Special Recognition Award from the Utah Library Association at its 2005 annual meeting. Lori is the Media Librarian at Utah Valley State College. She serves the profession as the ALA Notable Films for Adults Chair; is a member of the ALA Video Roundtable; is a member of the Music Library Association and chairs the Film Music Roundtable; and is a member of the ULA Board.

Paula Huskey, class of 1997, is the new manager of the Casa View and Skillman Southwestern branches of the Dallas Public Library. She has worked in DPL for the past eight years as a children's librarian and assistant manager.

David Bibb, class of 1979, is the new University Library Director at the University of Great Falls (Montana)

Tanya Dillon, SLIM class of 1998, recently received word that she has passed the National Board Certification for Library Media, Early Childhood through Young Adult. She is only one of four National Board certified school librarians in New Mexico . Ms. Dillon had to submit four portfolio assignments demonstrating her teaching ability through collection and analysis of student data; documentation of community outreach affecting student learning beyond her job description; proof of collaborative planning, teaching, and assessment; and teaching appreciation of literature. The portfolio development took seven months to complete, followed by six essay exams on the following topics: Ethics and Legal Uses of Information; Collection Development; Management; Information Literacy; Knowledge of Literature; and Technologies. Ms. Dillon credits her graduate education experience at SLIM, especially courses with Dr. Nancy Thomas, as giving her the incentive to pursue national certification and preparing her for the examinations. For more information about National Board Certification, click on http://www.nbpts.org/nbct/newnbcts.cfm ) (1/2005)

Cece Rettiger, May 2004 SLIM graduate is the new Public Services Librarian at Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System in Sylvania, Georgia. Her responsibilities include programming, public relations, and the reference collection. Her email address is cecerett@hotmail.com (10/2004)

Lynda Linder, Spring 2004 SLIM graduate, is the new Associate Librarian of the Memorial Library at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas. Her email address lyndal@kwu.edu (10/2004)

John Powers, Summer 2004 SLIM graduate, is the new elementary school librarian at University Hills Elementary School in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His new email address is powers1828@comcast.net (10/2004)

Beth Hoback, SLIM-Idaho I, May 2004, is the new Technical Services Supervisor at Nampa Public Library in Nampa, Idaho. Beth worked for Boise Public Library while earning her MLS through the SLIM-Idaho distance education program. (10/2004)

Lisa Bowman, SLIM-Idaho I, May 2004, has accepted the position of Administrative Services Librarian at Eastern Oregon University. Lisa has served as the Periodicals Supervisor at Albertsons Library, Boise State University. (9/2004)

Krist Obrist, SLIM-Oregon II, is the new Youth Services Librarian at the Monmouth Public Library in Monmouth, OR. Krist is responsible for all aspects of Youth
Services -- birth through teens -- including administration, programing,
planning, collection development, outreach, and most importantly fun! (8/2004)

Cindy Craig, 2004, is the new Youth Services Librarian at the Daviess County Public Library in Owensboro, Kentucky. She will be responsible for long-range planning, programming, collection development, reader’s advisory, reference, outreach and supervision. The Daviess County Public Library provides service to a community of approximately 90,000 from a central facility in Owensboro. Planning is underway for the construction of a new 70,000 square foot facility equipped with state-of-the-art information technology and Cindy will have the opportunity to be involved in the development of building spaces devoted to youth services, as well as the expansion of associated services. (8/2004)

Darrell Willoughby, Spring 2004, has accepted a part-time position in the library at the Olathe Medical Center. He will work with fellow SLIM Alum Cheryl Scott, Summer 2003. Darrell and Cheryl previously worked together at the ESU School of Nursing Library while they were both earning their MLS at SLIM. (8/2004)

Vern Waters, SLIM-Utah II graduate, is the new Assistant Manager of the Southwest
Branch of the Weber County Library system. Congratulations! (8/2004)

Jenel Farrell, Winter 2002 MLS graduate, has spent the last several months as an intern for National Public Radio. She worked in the information library and also produced a segment for the "Intern Edition" show. In October she will begin a new job in the acquisitions department in the Western European Language Section of the Library of Congress. Read about her experience in the on-line edition of the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World at http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/140911. (8/2003)

Spring Lea Boehler, 2000 SLIM Colorado V, signed a contract with VOYA and Scarecrow Press to publish her book, Glimpses of the Extraordinary: Library services for teens who love science fiction and fantasy. The publication date is set for late 2003. Spring Lea is the Young Adult Librarian at the Philip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock, CO, and is also the editor of YAttitudes, the official online newsletter for the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association. Spring Lea was included in a recent Denver Post article about Young Adult Librarians after her library sponsored a battle of the bands to attract young adults She has also established a semi-monthly meeting for young adults that features role-playing games, anime, graphic novel discussions or just hanging out. (4/2003)

Jameson Watkins, 1996, wrote a chapter entitled "Developing a Channel Strategy" in Designing Portals: Opportunities and Challenges by Ali Jafari and Mark Sheehan, editors. (4/2003)

Robert M. Lindsey, 1997, is the new Instruction/Reference Librarian at Pittsburg State University. He is also a judge for the Benjamin Franklin Awards from the Publishers Marketing Association, http://www.pma-online.org/benfrank.cfm. (4/2003)

Lewis A. Armstrong, 1981, will retire in June 2003 as the Special Collections Librarian at William Allen White Library, Emporia State University where he has been performing preservation duties with the prestigious William Allen White Children's Book Award Archives. Lewis began his career thirty years ago as the Curator of Maps at the University of Kansas. In 1982, he returned to active duty with the Army and retired as a Colonel in December 1993. He served as the Technical Services Librarian at Abilene Christian University from January 1996 through May 1999 and came to Emporia State University in June 1999 to serve as the Head of Public Services. He is credited with creating a number of popular academic web sites. Among them are Web Based Resources at http://ejw.i8.com, Electronic Resources for Geography at http://www.acu.edu/~armstrongl, and Recipes at http://emporiachurchofchrist.i8.com/recipes.html. Lewis and his wife, Linda, plan to remain in the Emporia area for the immediate future. (4/2003)

Lisa Fabrizio, 2002, is a Reference Librarian at the Highlands Ranch (CO) Public Library. When not working the Reference desk, she is busily planning programs for teens and considers it a sign of success to be regularly greeted by teen patrons with "Yo, Lisa.” (4/2003)

Russell Johnson, 1998, was recently promoted to Manager of Cataloging at St. Louis Public Library. The position oversees cataloging of more than 170,000 items per year for the Central Library, twelve branch libraries, and two store-front libraries. Russell will also coordinate moving Technical Services from the Central Library to a recently purchased building as part of an extensive remodeling of the Central Library starting this summer. (4/2003)

Jan Lee, 1970, has changed jobs moving from Library Consultant and Associate Professor of Education at Ottawa (Kansas )University to Assistant Librarian at Mabee Library, Sterling (Kansas) College. (4/2003)

Warren Tacha, 1980, is the new Consultant for the Northwest Kansas Library System. He worked previously as the high school librarian for the Leoti school district. (4/2003)

Roseanne Goble, 1990, accepted the position of Executive Director of the Kansas Library Association in November of last year. The new position moves the administrative oversight of KLA functions to Topeka. Roseanne was the Director of the Dodge City Public Library and the Southwest Kansas Library System since 1998. (4/2003)

Three 2002 graduates from the SLIM-Oregon III student cohort have accepted positions with the Multnomah County Library in Portland. Brandon Barnett has been hired to the position of Project Librarian to provide support for innovative projects including collaborative initiatives with other libraries, library-community partnerships, developing case studies, and prototyping library innovations. Jennifer May has accepted the position of Central Librarian and Amy McAdams has accepted the position of Youth Librarian at the Capital Hill branch. (4/2003)

Peggy Hadid, 1997 SLIM-Oregon I, has also accepted a Librarian for Adult Reference position with the Hillsdale Branch of the Multnomah County Public Library effective July 1. (4/2003)

Carol Botts, 2001 New Mexico II, is the new Coordinator of First Year Instruction Services for the University of New Mexico General Library. Look for her article “Developing Teaching Competencies forInstructors in the Academic Library: A Case Study” with Mark Emmons in Public Services Quarterly, Spring 2003. (4/2003)

Laurel Littrell, 1997, is the new Assistant Dean for User Services of Kansas State University Libraries. (4/2003)

Katie Mediatore, 1993, was selected as one of Library Journal’s Movers and Shakers of 2003. Katie is the Readers Services Librarian at the Main Library of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library. Look for her article, “Reading with your ears: Readers’ advisory and audio books” in Reference & User Services Quarterly. (4/2003)

Wendy Highby, 1993, is the new acquisitions/serials librarian at the University of Northern Colorado’s James A. Michner Library. (4/2003)

Stephanie West, 1994, is the new public services librarian at the University of New Mexico/Valencia. (4/2003)

Jacqueline Solis, 2000 SLIM-Oregon III, is the new Reference Librarian for the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, at California State University, Northridge. She is responsible for bibliographic instruction, reference, collection development, and community outreach. The university received a five-year grant to increase student library use and research skills by expanding the library collection in the area of Hispanic history, social sciences, and culture. The grant also provides for acquisition, processing, digitalization, and improved accessibility of primary archival materials related to Hispanic individuals and organizations of the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley area. (4/2003)

Gina Minks, 1999 SLIM-Nebraska II, was recently appointed to the Imaging and Preservation Services Advisory Council for Amigos Library Services in Dallas, TX. Gina is currently a Special Collections Librarian at the University Tulsa, Tulsa, OK and Chair of the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) RoundTable for the Society of American Archivists. (4/2003)

Jenny Ma, 2000, started a new job this past January as electronic resources and metadata librarian at the University Park Library, Penn State University. (4/2003)

Chuck Gibson, 1995, who has served as the Worthington (Ohio) Libraries District Technology Coordinator for the past seven years, was recently appointed to the new position of Associate Director of Public Services. In this position, Gibson will supervise the managers of both Old Worthington Library and Northwest Library and coordinate all public service. He will also oversee the extension of library service to the northeast area of the district. The appointment is part of an administrative restructuring in order to cope with a 7.6% decrease in state funding and a 23.7% increase in library usage over the past two years. (4/2003)

Donald Pady, 1962, collected and edited Poetry of William Allen White, published by Leathers Publishing, ISBN 1585971499, in September 2002. Don recently retired as History of Medicine Librarian and Archivist of the Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota, and now lives in Topeka, Kansas. (4/2003)

Erin Ellis, December 2002, has accepted the position of Humanities Librarian at Texas Tech University in Lubbock starting March 10. (4/2003)

Tracie Partridge, 2001, received the Beginning Professional Award from the Mountain Plains Library Association at its 2002 annual meeting in Fargo, North Dakota. Tracie is the Manager of the Wichita Public Library Central Library Children’s Section. (4/2003)

Tricia Suellentrop, 1995, received the Youth Services Award from the Mountain Plains Library Association at its 2002 annual meeting. Tricia is the Young Adult Librarian at the Johnson County (Kansas) Library. Together with Youth Outreach Librarian, Kathy McLellan, she created Read to Succeed to serve teens in the county Juvenile Detention Center. The program consists of issue-driven literature discussions and booktalks. The program reaches approximately 1,200 teenagers per year. (4/2003)

Amando Alvarez, 1992, SLIM-Colorado I, senior librarian at Barnum Branch of the Denver Public Library, has published a book entitled Rising River: the Blackfoot Chronicles. A graduate of Idaho State University, Amando was recently invited by the ISU Hispanic Task Force to present his poetry and writings to several classes. His writings are moving recounts of childhood as the son of migrant farm workers in Idaho. Samples of his writings are available at http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/luz/index.html. (4/2003)

Teresa Strasner, 1998 SLIM-Colorado IV, is the new librarian for Youth Offender Services in Pueblo, Colorado. (4/2003)

A big congratulations to Patty Kellicker, Emporia in the Rockies IV, the new manager of the Meadows Branch of the Boulder Colorado  Public Library! (10/30/00)

Mary Lou Irving, SLIM-Oregon II graduate, is the new head of circulation and reference librarian at Canby Public Library, Canby, Oregon. (8/1/00)

SLIM PhD graduate, Kate Marek, has accepted a full time faculty position at the  Graduate School of Library and Information Science,  Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois, for 2000-2001.  (7/18/00)

SLIM-Oregon II grad, Christopher Rumbaugh, has accepted a new position as Reference Librarian at Corvallis Benton County Public Library, in Oregon. (7/28/00)

Sherri Turner is the new Assistant Director of the Lawrence, Kansas Public Library. (7/3/00)

Norma Walters, SLIM-Oregon II, is now working at Health Sciences Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago. (6/26/00)

Kathleen Morley and Katie Weiby, SLIM-Oregon II graduates, have both taken positions at the Hewlett-Packard Research Center in San Diego. (6/24/00)