We are excited to be a part of the Ohio Private Academic Libraries (OPAL)’s 2018 conference! This year’s theme “Stronger Together: Voices Raised in Advocacy” explores activism, outreach, collaboration and services.
Catalysts, Pioneers and Provocateurs: 21st Century Academic Libraries
Academic libraries inspire discourse and connect students, faculty and communities to new ways of thinking. At a time of heightened awareness of inequalities for women, people of color, LGBTQ+, immigrants and other marginalized communities, what are the roles of libraries, academic institutions and external partners? Join us as we discuss how academic libraries have positioned their programs and collections to spark dialogue. Panelists will share how their work advocates the library as a platform and how their constituents and community have benefited. Further, we’ll chat about their vision for what’s next. Don’t miss this timely talk with following Q&A!
Meet the Panelists
Jenny Robb
Curator and Associate Professor
The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
Jenny Robb is Curator and Associate Professor of The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the largest academic research institution dedicated to cartoons and comics. Before coming to Ohio State in 2005, she served as Curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco for 5 years. She holds masters degrees in history and museum studies from Syracuse University. Jenny has curated numerous cartoon and comics exhibitions, including Exploring Calvin and Hobbes; The Long March: Civil Rights in Cartoons and Comics; and Looking Backward, Looking Forward: U.S. Immigration in Cartoons and Comics. She is the author of “Bill Blackbeard: the Collector Who Rescued the Comics” published in the Journal of American Culture and co-author of “Finding Archives/Making Archives: Observations on Conducting Multicultural Comics Research” published in the book Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle, among other comics-related articles and catalog essays.
Krista McDonald
Director
Miami University Regionals Rentschler Library
Krista McDonald is the Director of Rentschler Library at Miami University’s Hamilton Campus. She has just completed a three-year term leading the Academic Library Association of Ohio and is currently serving on its Diversity Committee. At Miami Hamilton Campus, Krista has completed Safe Zone training and works with the MUH PRIDE student organization as well as with the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services, the Association of Latino and American Students, the TRiO Student Support Services Program and Student Disability Services. Krista earned her Master of Library Science from the University of Kentucky and her Bachelor of Arts in history from Ohio University.
Lae’l Hughes-Watkins
University Archivist, Assistant Professor
Kent State University Libraries Department of Special Collections and Archives
Lae’l Hughes-Watkins is responsible for managing the Kent State University Archives program, which includes the May 4 Collection. Some of her principal duties involve acquiring and appraising archive records, coordinating the process and preservation of Kent State archival material in all formats, digitization, co-administering with the university’s general counsel, the records retention program, providing reference and research assistance and delivering instructional programming about the Kent State University Archives. Her research areas focus on outreach to marginalized communities, documenting student activism within disenfranchised populations and utilizing narratives of oppressed voices within the curricula of post-secondary education spaces. Her most recent publication is “Moving Toward a Reparative Archive: A Roadmap for a Holistic Approach to Disrupting Homogenous Histories in Academic Repositories and Creating Inclusive Spaces for Marginalized Voices” [PDF] in the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. She is the Founder of Project STAND, a national initiative to create a centralized digital space where academic institutions can provide researchers access to historical and archival documentation on the development and on-going occurrences of student dissent. Project STAND focuses on digital and analog primary sources that document the activities of student groups that represent the concerns of historically marginalized communities (e.g., African American, Chicano/ LGBTQ, religious minorities, disabled, etc.). Lae’l is a 2018 Association of Research Libraries Leadership and Career Development Fellow and a recent recipient of the Society of Ohio Archivists Merit Award for Project STAND.
Nimisha Bhat
Technical Services Librarian
Columbus College of Art & Design Packard Library
An Ohioan by way of South Dakota, Nimisha Bhat’s education and career have been grounded in the exploration of dialogues between different cultures and communities. Nimisha earned her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College where she studied Arabic and spent time abroad in India and Egypt. Further, pursuing her master’s degree from Pratt Institute’s library and information science program fed her passion for visual culture and literacy. Working with collections at the Frick, Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art, she has combined her experience in museum librarianship with information literacy at the Columbus College of Art & Design. As CCAD Packard Library’s Technical Services Librarian, Nimisha is passionate about cataloging, teaching through a lens of critical librarianship and advocating for diversity and inclusion within library services.
Bryan Loar (Moderator)
Co-Founder and Board President
Cbus Libraries
As Co-Founder and Board President of Cbus Libraries, a tax-exempt charitable nonprofit, Bryan champions Central Ohio libraries, library enthusiasts and the love of reading. Through a variety of programming, Cbus Libraries promotes the exceptional work of Central Ohio libraries via monthly features, raises scholarship funds for traditionally underrepresented library students and creates literacy experiences at community events and public spaces. In 2017, Bryan moderated Resistance + Refuge : Bookstores + Libraries at Columbus, Ohio’s Flyover Fest. Bryan earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in History of Art and Italian from The Ohio State University and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University. Bryan serves as a trustee at the Ohioana Library Association and on the advisory council for Choose to Read Ohio. He is a member of ALA’s Association of College & Research Libraries.
The Kossuth Street Garden was founded in 2007 in the Southern Orchards neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, and gives the local community the opportunity to connect and grow.
Located at a lot where a kosher slaughterhouse in a once predominately Jewish neighborhood once stood, the garden now connects, educates and inspires Central Ohio. This year, they’ve planted corn which will be used in creating delicious meals at their upcoming harvest party.
Kossuth’s little library is located at the front of the garden and welcomes all visitors. Installed eight years ago, the library is painted yearly by children, and, beyond promoting literacy, promotes community events.
The garden is host to regular cooking classes, Earth Day celebrations and a yearly upcoming harvest celebration on August 25. Additionally, the garden partners with The Ohio State University and Green Columbus.
I want to get people involved in community…to find their roots ~Michael Doody
Garden founder, Michael Doody, is a community advocate that cites his father as an inspiration. As a volunteer fireman, Michael’s father instilled a sense of civic pride and responsibility in Michael when he was young. Michael helped start Earth Day Columbus in 2007, and he enjoys giving back at Columbus Community Festival (ComFest). We had the pleasure of meeting Michael at ComFest 2018. He immediately struck us as energetic, passionate and approachable.
We encourage you to visit and become involved with the Kossuth Street Garden and little library. It’s an incredible space to be enjoyed by the entire community.
Kossuth Street Garden 641 E Kossuth St., Columbus, Ohio 43206
We’ve mapped chartered Little Free Libraries® (in yellow) and independent little libraries (in purple). Our map is open to edit with a Google account, and we encourage you to explore and enhance it.
When we walked into Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company‘s headquarters, we were immediately impressed by the open, illuminated space created by design. Nationwide’s library and archives are similar in that they are beacons shining light on both future and historically important decisions. We couldn’t wait to learn more about these private resources not open to the public.
Nationwide, a $46+ billion in sales, 34,000 employee national insurance company, relies on and heavily integrates its library and archives.
The corporate library was started in the 1930’s and today serves as more than an employee perk; it is an integral partner in professional development and data-driven decision making. Positioned as an enterprise-wide resource, the library provides research into insurance and financial services, IT trends and innovation and competitor market share. The library works to purchase resources for internal teams and provides access to important journal subscriptions.
Director Larae Schraeder says a role the Nationwide Library plays is to connect associates across the country with each other and to resources–ensuring knowledge is maximized and distributed. The library lives up to its motto delivering Nationwide “a smarter way to work.”
The Nationwide History and Archives Center is an incredible resource that preserves the company’s heritage for a strong future. With 300,000 pages of scanned documents; 3,000 films, videos and audio recordings and 200,000 photographs, the archives create insights into branding and advertising, department and organizational history, product backgrounds, corporate strategy evolution and more. In 2014, the archives played a role in Nationwide’s rebranding, and the archives communicate Nationwide’s legacy and progressive culture to inspire new associates.
The Archives Are at the Center of Engagement – Steve Hausfeld
Manager Steve Hausfeld shared the archives averages more than 1,500 tour visitors a year and much of the collection is built through relationships with current and former employees. Steve is passionate about the impact the archives provide and loves the diversity of work, associates’ enthusiasm for history and culture and leadership’s strong support.
While closed to the public, Nationwide’s Library and History & Archives Center bring invaluable research and historical context to tens of thousands across the United States. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn more.
Special thanks to Steve Hausfeld, Larae Schraeder, Janet Goodburn and David Schneider for their generosity and willingness to give us a first-hand peek into Nationwide’s amazing library and archives.