2020-21 Election Results

2020-2021 MiALA Board of Directors

President

Cynthia Simpson

Brief biography
Cynthia Simpson has been a MiALA member since the organization was founded in 2015! She has been a professional librarian since 2008, when she completed her MLIS at Wayne State University. From 2006 through 2011, she worked in a variety of public libraries as a youth and adult services librarian and interlibrary loan department supervisor. In 2011 she moved into academic librarianship at Lawrence Technological University, a private STEM university in Southfield, as the Coordinator of Library Access Services. In addition to supervising the student assistant team and managing the Circulation Department, she was the adviser for both the Association of Indian Students and the Muslim Student Association. Currently she is the Director of Library Services at Madonna University, located in Livonia, Michigan.

In 2018, Cynthia was selected to participate in ALA’s Leadership Institute and was matched with a year-long mentor through LLAMA’s Mentoring program. She attended the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) 2019 Conference in Cleveland on a Mid-Career Scholarship and was accepted to the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s 2020 Contemporary Challenges in Library Leadership program. She recently co-presented on the ACRL panel discussion Advocating for Library Workers in Uncertain Times. Currently she is pursuing an Education Doctorate in Leadership and Innovation at Madonna University.

Cynthia has lived, studied, traveled and worked abroad in over 25 countries and is inherently invested in inclusion, diversity, equity and access. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities with her family and rescue Pitbull Bella. She used to really enjoy running until her knee crashed while training for a marathon.

Vice President

Kate Langan

Brief biography
I joined WMU Libraries in 2009 as the liaison to the humanities department for what was then called the Central Reference department. The department has grown and changed into the Department of Instruction and Outreach, but my primary responsibilities remain centered on teaching, learning, and research support for faculty and students in those disciplines. My research in the recent past has focused on critical librarianship and critical pedagogy. I am currently researching how library closures due to the pandemic have impacted access to instruction materials in higher education and how lack of access has affected the quality instructional design. I currently serve as the department lead for WMU Libraries’ Instruction and Outreach department and guide a team of 10 librarians through strategic planning and programming initiatives.

Past-President

Beth Martin

Brief biography
Beth has been a professional librarian for over twenty years, having worked in corporate archives, public libraries, school libraries and academic libraries. She recently served as the social sciences librarian with Western Michigan University. Prior to 2020 Beth was the Head of Professional Programs at Grand Valley State University, the Library Director at Finlandia University, the Director at Lake Linden-Hubbell School/Public Library, children's librarian with the St. Clair Shores Public Library, and a contract archivist for the General Motors Media Archive. She is married to a fellow librarian, Mies Martin, they have two sons and live in Grand Rapids, MI.

Secretary

Gina Bolger

Brief biography
Gina has worked in academic libraries for 25 years first as a student worker, then as a paraprofessional, and finally as a librarian after getting her MLIS degree in 2001 from the University of Illinois. She has experience in many different areas of the library including serials, acquisitions, eresources management, outreach, reference, and interlibrary loan. She currently serves as the education liaison and interlibrary loan librarian at Cornerstone University.

Treasurer

Rachel Minkin

Brief biography
Currently Head of Reference Services at Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), Rachel has also served as an information literacy librarian at MSU, a reference and instruction librarian at Lansing Community College (Lansing, MI) and a reference librarian at the Graduate Theological Union's Flora Lamson Hewlett Library (Berkeley, CA). Rachel's earned her MLIS at University of Pittsburgh and also holds a Master of Theological Studies (MTS) from Vanderbilt Divinity School (Nashville, TN).

Areas of interest: Virtual Reference services, promotion of library eco-systems at the state level

Publicly Funded University Representative

	Emilia Marcyk
	Brief biography Emilia Marcyk has been a Teaching & Learning Librarian at Michigan State University since 2014, where she develops instructional content, leads information literacy sessions for the First Year Writing program, and supervises student reference assistants. She received her MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her BA in English from Bryn Mawr College.
	Elaine Meyer
	Brief biography Hello! I'm Elaine Meyer, I'm the Engineering and Math Librarian at UM Dearborn. I also support data management efforts for the engineering school. I've been working in library related jobs (ProQuest, Gale, MCLS and now UM Dearborn) for ~10 years and I was an engineer for also about 8 years (time flies!). I graduated from the University of Michigan School of Information with concentrations in both Library and Information Services and Human Computer Interaction. I live in Detroit and volunteer at the Michigan Humane Society and the Redford Theatre, and love to ride my bike around Detroit.

Private University Representative

	David Malone
	Brief biography David B. Malone (M.A., M.S.Ed., M.S., C.A.) serves as Dean of the College and Seminary Library at Calvin University. Prior to joining Calvin, David was Associate Professor of Library Science at Wheaton College, where he oversaw multiple library functions during his 25-year career there. With research interests in technology in the library context and the user experience, he also has published in the area of 19th century American religion. He has been involved professionally, having served on consortial boards and given various papers and presentations before library and archival professional meetings.
	Brenna Wade
	Brief biography I have been a librarian for 9 years, working at Hillsdale College in both technical services (2011-2014) and public services (2014-present). My current position of Public Services Librarian includes instruction, reference, interlibrary loan, and outreach responsibilities. My professional interests focus mostly on library marketing and outreach, and the intersection of finding and providing access to resources.

Community College Representative

	Darlene Johnson-Bignotti
	Brief biography I am Library Faculty at Oakland Community College and have spent most of my 17 years at our urban campus in downtown Royal Oak. Aside from one-shot instruction, reference, and collection management, I teach in rotation with my colleagues a one-credit research skills class. Prior to joining OCC I worked briefly for Detroit Public Library, and six weeks short of a decade at Southfield Public Library as the Business Librarian. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Grand Valley State University (actually GVS Colleges when I attended; I’m a “Willy Jay” alum) and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from Wayne State University. I am a 2011 graduate of the Galileo Teacher Leadership Academy, a two year cohort focusing on service leadership. In my Me Time I help my husband grow and harvest food from our small-scale farm, read biographies, and dream about catching a concert and traveling sometime soon.
	Bethany Kennedy
	Brief biography Bethany Kennedy is the Director of Access Services in the Bailey Library at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she focuses on facilitating innovative, collaborative efforts to strengthen her campus and community. Ms. Kennedy earned her Master of Library and Information Science degree from Wayne State University in 2005 and has worked in a variety of academic settings. Her projects include serving as Trustee on the Ypsilanti (MI) District Library board; bringing librarians, business service organizations and business owners together through LibraryBiz Connect, and leading the WCC Entrepreneurship Center Steering Committee. Ms. Kennedy lives with her family in Ypsilanti, MI with two cats and a few surprisingly lovable hermit crabs.

Interest Group Coordinating Council (IGCC)

Representative	Carin Graves
	Brief biography Born and raised in East Tennessee, I received a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology with minors in Classical Civilization, History, and Italian from Indiana University Bloomington in 2013. My research in the Anthropology of Food took me to the University of Chicago where I graduated with a Master's degree in the Social Sciences in 2014. Having developed an interest in liaison librarianship as an undergraduate, I returned to Indiana University to get my MLS, graduating in 2016. As a Social Science Liaison at Michigan State University, my understanding of collections and liaison work emphasizes the diverse modes of scholarly communication, the merging of social science theory and critical librarianship, and social justice in the public university library.
Representative	Grace Haynes
	Brief biography I am the Music Librarian at Michigan State University. Prior to working at MSU, I worked in Public Services and Outreach for the University Libraries at the University of Colorado Boulder. I earned my MLIS at the University of Denver. In addition to MiALA, I am an active member of the Music Library Association.
Representative	Denise Leyton
	Brief biography Denise Leyton is the Strategic Projects Coordinator in the Environments department at the University of Michigan Library. She mainly works on making improvements to the in person user experience with connections to the online user experience. She has worked in libraries for 12 years.
Representative	Jessica Shuck
	Brief biography I am the eResource Librarian at Cornerstone University. I have been at Miller Library for nine years, in a variety of roles. As in most smaller libraries, my responsibilities range over a few different areas. I currently work with periodicals, the link resolver, discovery layer, access, and outreach. I also serve as the Business liaison and am heavily embedded in several of their classes. I received my B.B.A. in Finance from Grand Valley and my M.L.I.S. from the University of South Florida.
Member-at-large	Juliana Espinosa
	Brief biography Juliana Espinosa is an Assistant Professor and User Engagement Librarian at the Western Michigan University Libraries. She was selected as the first resident librarian and focuses on student engagement, outreach, and inclusion in the Instruction & Outreach department. Prior to her current role, she has worked in higher education for 10 years at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Utah, primarily in academic advising. She earned her MLIS at San Jose State University and holds a BA in Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is also currently in the Organizational Change Leadership master's program at Western Michigan University.
Member-at-large	Clayton Hayes
	Clayton Hayes is a Publishing/Learning & Research Support Librarian at Wayne State University. He serves as the Subject Specialist Librarian to the departments of Mathematics and Urban Studies & Planning in College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, to the department of Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies in the College of Education, to the Irvin D. Reid Honors College, and (on an interim basis) the College of Engineering. He also helps to manage Wayne State's institutional repository and provides support to myriad publishing initiatives in the WSU Library System. Clayton has been a member of MiALA since becoming a full-time librarian in 2015 and has consistently been involved in the organization since that time. He has served on various standing committees, service which included transitioning the Advocacy Task Force to a full committee, of which he was the inaugural chair. As part of his current role within the organization, he serves on both the MiALA Board and the MiALA Executive Board, and is the board liaison to the Membership Committee. He has been active in a variety of library-related organizations at the local, state, and national levels, including Network Detroit (a local Digital Humanities conference), the Southeastern Michigan League of Libraries (SEMLOL), Mid-Michigan Digital Practitioners (MMDP), LOEX, and the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC).

Michigan Academic Library Association

2020-21 Election Results

2020-2021 MiALA Board of Directors