Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MLS, LEED AP, is the executive director of Mid-Hudson Library System. She is co-founder of the award-winning Sustainable Libraries Initiative, chair of the ALA Council Committee on Sustainability, an advisory board member for the Center for the Future of Libraries, Library Journal's sustainability columnist, and a Library Journal Mover and Shaker. Aldrich is an adjunct professor at the Palmer School of Library & Information Science at Long Island University and has written two books for ALA Editions, Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World and Resilience, part of ALA’s Futures Series.

Michelle Pavone Stricker, MLIS, MA, MFA, is the deputy state librarian in Library Development at the New Jersey State Library. She holds an MLIS from Rutgers University, an MFA in Museum Studies from Syracuse University, an MA in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BFA in Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Art of Temple University. She received her certification in Preservation Management from the Rutgers School of Professional Development, and has taught preservation of library and archival materials for the Rutgers Graduate School of Communication & Information. In 2019, she was recognized as a Library Journal Mover and Shaker.

“Specifically for disaster response, you’re going to have to have the ability to shift gears very quickly [and] the flexibility to adapt to what’s happening right in front of you, immediately in the aftermath of some kind of disaster, and you’re going to have to recognize what the steps you’re going to have to do to address - to make sure your people are safe, take care of your building, and take care of the community. That requires a good deal of situational awareness and flexible thinking.”

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