Featured Speakers

K.C. Boyd is a school librarian with the District of Columbia Public Schools System.  She has previously worked as the Lead Librarian for the East St. Louis School District #189 in East St. Louis, IL., a Area Library Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools and a District  Coordinator for the Mayor Daley Book Club for Middle School Students.  She is a second generation educator and holds Master’s degrees in Library Information Science, Media Communications, and Education Leadership.  Boyd was the national 2022 School Library Journal Magazine, “Librarian of the Year.” 

Boyd currently serves on the executive boards for the District of Columbia Library Association and Washington Teachers Union.  She is an active committee member for the American Library Association Chapter Council representing Washington D.C., and EveryLibrary Institute/Advisory Board. Boyd is also a member of the District of Columbia Public Schools Library Corps and serves on the AASL School Library Event Promotion Committee. Boyd currently is a National Ambassador representing the Washington D.C. area for Checkology Virtual Classroom and The News Literacy Project.  She is also the recipient of the American Consortium for Equity in Education 2022 Excellence in Equity Award, and the 2022 National Association of State Boards of Education “Policy Leader of the Year Winner.”

A staunch advocate for school libraries, she is widely known and respected for her work with educating parents, teachers, and district officials on promoting leisure reading for children and teens. Additionally, she is a sought-after and popular keynote speaker and conference presenter at the national level.  It is Boyd’s belief that all children, despite economic circumstance, have the right to read and should have access to books that reflect themselves and encourage inquiry.  Boyd can be reached through her website:  http://www.kcboyd.com/.

Peter Bromberg has nearly 30 years of experience bringing a human-centered approach to library and organizational management. As Associate Director for EveryLibrary Peter advocates for libraries across the country, providing pro bono coaching and consulting to librarians, boards, associations, grassroots library supporters.  As Executive Director of the Salt Lake City Library from 2016-2021, Peter applied an equity and opportunity lens to board and policy development, organizational structure, and operations, garnering a Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Public Administrators (ASPA) for his work in eliminating inequitable barriers to service.

Jennifer Garrett (she/her) is currently Associate Director for Organizational Design, Equity, & Talent at the NC State University Libraries. Her portfolio includes Libraries Human Resources and the coordination of the Libraries Fellows program, a nationally renowned residency for recent MLS/MIS graduates. As Associate Director, Jennifer provides leadership for the Libraries’ equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, including planning and implementing programs that foster a climate where staff and user populations feel welcomed, valued, and respected. This also includes developing strategies to increase employment and retention of members from historically excluded groups. Prior to joining the Libraries’ senior leadership team, Jennifer served as the Libraries’ Director of Talent Management, Head of Digital Research Education and Training, and Research Librarian for Management, Education, and Social Sciences. She first joined NC State University Libraries as a 2012-2014 Libraries Fellow. Jennifer is a current member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC). The DEIC is charged with promoting social justice within ARL and among member libraries and archives. Jennifer holds an MLIS from the University of British Columbia and a BA from the University of Oregon. She has also served as an ARL Leadership and Career Development Program (LCDP) Fellow from 2018-2019 and is also an ALA Spectrum Scholar (‘10-11), ARL Career Enhancement Program Fellow (‘11), and ARL Kaleidoscope Scholar (‘11-12).

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Martha Hickson holds a masters degree in Library and Information science from Rutgers University and has been a librarian at North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, NJ, since 2005. She has written for a variety of publications, including School Library Journal, Booklist, KnowledgeQuest, the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Blog, and CNN.com. She has been a presenter at conferences and webinars, including the American Association of School Librarians, Future Ready Librarians, and the New Jersey Library Association. Her defense of intellectual freedom has been recognized with awards from the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, the New Jersey Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, and the National Council of Teachers of English. In 2022, the National Coalition Against Censorship presented Martha with the Judith Krug Outstanding Librarian Award and the American Library Association presented her with the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity in recognition of her “energy and bravery in the face of … persistent and ongoing hostility,” while advocating for students’ First Amendment right to read. 

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Tarida Anantachai (moderator) (she/her) is the Director, Inclusion & Talent Management at the NC State University Libraries, where she oversees the recruitment and hiring process for library faculty and staff positions; leads equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts; and coordinates the Libraries Fellows Program. Her research and professional interests include topics around equity, diversity, and inclusion; mentoring and early career development; leadership; and outreach programming.