Alaska Library Association Conference 2004  

Featured Speakers

Carrie Gardner | The Creek Sisters | Tricia Brown | Teri Sloat | Donal Davis | Kathryn Deiss | Tamara Georgick | Rand Simmons | Doug Johnson | John Mitchell | Phil Rumpel | Dirk Tordoff | Virginia Euwer Wolff

Carrie Gardner has a BS in Education/Library Science, a MLS and a PhD in Library Science. Currently Gardner is an Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science at Catholic University of America. She has presented over 100 speeches and workshops on intellectual freedom and privacy. She has also researched and written about the application of civil rights to information gathering.

The Creek Sisters (Vicki Andrews and Marcia Trainor). Who are they? Why are they wearing colanders on their heads? And more importantly, what are they doing in the presenter section of this program? The answer to this and other non-essential questions will be shared during the opening remarks portion of the program. Don’t see them on an empty stomach.

Tricia Brown is the Acquisitions Editor for Alaska Northwest Books and WestWinds Press, imprints of Portland-based Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company. She is the author of several nonfiction books for adults and two children's books, Children of the Midnight Sun (photo-illustrated by Roy Corral), and the recently released Groucho's Eyebrows (illustrated by Barbara Lavallee). She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Teri Sloat and her husband were hired as teachers and moved to the Alaskan bush right after college for some of the happiest years of their lives. "We spent twelve years living on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. While we taught, we learned subsistence and community living, and heard wonderful folklore. After teaching, I worked in the bilingual program in Bethel, and had my first job as an illustrator. The Eye of the Needle , The Hungry Giant of the Tundra , Dance on a Sealskin , and the new Berry Magic, as well as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout, reflect my love for that life." http://www.terisloat.com

Donald Davis was born in a Southern Appalachian mountain world rich in stories. He is a retired Methodist minister and former Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Storytelling Association. Davis invites each listener to come along, to pull deep inside for one's own stories, to personally share and co-create the common experiences that celebrate the creative spirit. For Davis, storytelling "...is not what I do for a living...it is how I do all that I do while I am living." http://www.ddavisstoryteller.com

Kathryn Deiss is Director of the Strategic Learning Center at the Chicago Multitype Library System, a consortium of libraries in Chicago. She designs and provides training, facilitation, executive coaching, and consulting services for libraries, national associations, consortia, and museums. Deiss has written and presented extensively on the subjects of leadership, planning, organizational learning, and organizational culture. She received her BA in Sociology from Trinity University (Texas) and her MLS from the University at Albany.

Tamara Georgick is a technical consultant with the Washington State Library. She received her MLS from Drexel University. Georgick has worked in a variety of libraries including academic, public, legal and medical. Her current projects include helping small libraries find affordable filtering solutions, developing online training and tech support options through WebJunction, e-rate, state statistics and a host of equally scintillating topics. Georgick had experience working with bush libraries during the implementation of the Gates grants last year and has some tips for working with the Gates computers.

Rand Simmons is the Program Manager for Library Development for the Washington State Library. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Simmons has worked in college, public, and state libraries in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. He is a member of the American Library Association and the Washington Library Association and is a former President of the Idaho Library Association and ILA Intellectual Freedom Committee chair. He has published in state, national, and regional library journals. Simmons holds a PhD in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Doug Johnson has been the Director of Media and Technology for the Mankato Public Schools since 1991 and has served as an adjunct faculty member of Minnesota State University, Mankato since 1990. His teaching experience has included work in grades K-12 in schools both here and in Saudi Arabia. He is the author of three books: The Indispensable Librarian , The Indispensable Teacher's Guide to Computer Skills , and Teaching Right from Wrong in the Digital Age . His regular column appears in Library Media Connection . Johnson has conducted workshops and given presentations for over 100 organizations throughout the world. http://www.doug-johnson.com

Phil Rumpel (Dr. Book) has a passion for learning and doing new things. He was working as a volunteer at Loussac Library in Anchorage where he began doing book repair under the guidance of Madeline Lieb. With some special encouragement from Artemis BonaDea of NorthBound Books, Rumpel became so enthusiastic about the art and science of book repair that he began studying and learning all he could to improve his skill. He took classes on book construction and binding through the University of Alaska Anchorage and the Alaska Museum of History and Art, and had a lot of practice by doing book repair work as a volunteer at Loussac, Palmer and Big Lake libraries. As Rumpel's expertise grew, he began doing workshops to help train people at libraries.

Dirk Tordoff, a life-long Alaskan with a BA and MA from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is a film archivist at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is the author of Mercy Pilot: the Joe Crosson Story , and several articles about aviation history in Alaska.

Virginia Euwer Wolff is a nationally known and award-winning author of books for young adults. A native Oregonian, she wanted to be a writer from childhood on, but didn't begin to write until she was nearly forty. She taught elementary school for a number of years in Philadelphia and New York. Upon returning to Oregon, she returned to playing the violin, which she continues to this day. Wolff notes: "I write very slowly. Each book pushes me farther out on an intellectual and emotional limb. Uncomfortable as that is, I wouldn't have it any other way. My fascination with what we humans do when we learn the consequences of our own behavior keeps me writing."

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