Past Officers

Tori Golden Hughes is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. Her research interests revolve around disciplinary literacy in the elementary classroom, multi-genre children's literature, and pre-service teacher education. She served as an in-service elementary school for 3 years. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading books across various genres, and traveling. She served as the president of IARGS for the 2022-2023 school year. 

Eun Young Yeom is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. Her research interests revolve around emergnet bilingual adolescents' meaning-making processes when they read and discuss young adult literature written in English. She served as an in-service middle school and high school  English teacher in South Korea for 12 years. She enjoys reading books across various genres, practicing yoga, conversing with familiy and friends, and playing with her dog. She served as the president of IARGS for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Stephanie Renee Toliver is currently an assistant professor of literacy and secondary humanities at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She was treasurer for IARGS in the 2018-2019 school year and president of IARGS in the 2019-2020 school year. 

Dr. Courtney Shimek was Treasurer of IARGS from 2016-2018 and President from 2018-2019. IARGS was instrumental in supporting Courtney when she attended The Child and the Book, a children’s literature conference in Poland, and was helpful in purchasing books about her varied research interests during her time as a graduate student. As IARGS Treasurer and President, Courtney continued the legacy of the Local Speaker Series, designed by Dr. Adam Crawley, and created an International Student Read Aloud Event after learning that International students on campus needed picturebooks for their children. Currently, Courtney in an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction/Literacy Studies at West Virginia University. As a former Preschool teacher and nonfiction picturebook enthusiast, her research interests include the convergence between reading and play in early childhood classrooms, how young children read and make meaning from nonfiction picturebooks, and literacy teacher education.

S. Adam Crawley, Ph.D. is a 2018 graduate of UGA’s Department of Language and Literacy Education. His dissertation explored parental response to gay and lesbian-inclusive picturebooks and their potential use in elementary classrooms. Prior to his doctoral study, Adam taught in Georgia elementary public schools for twelve years. He then served as the graduate assistant for the Georgia Children’s Book Awards (GCBA) and Conference on Children’s Literature. While IARGS President for two years, Adam increased the organization’s presence and involvement by launching an annual spring speaker series, co-hosting book donations with GCBA, and participating in campus-wide events such as those offered by First Book UGA. Adam is now an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at Oklahoma State University. His scholarship is published in Voices from the Middle, The Journal of Children’s Literature, Bookbird, Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education, and English Journal among other outlets. Adam served as the Treasurer from 2015-2016 and the President from 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

Dr. Chelsey M. Bahlmann Bollinger is an Assistant Professor in the Early, Elementary, and Literacy Education Department at James Madison University.  She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, her Masters in language and literacy education from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and her Ph.D. in language and literacy education from the University of Georgia. Dr. Bollinger began her teaching career as a first-grade teacher in Rocky Point, North Carolina and then moved to Bluffton, South Carolina where she taught third grade.  Her research focuses on early and elementary literacy education, technology integration, professional learning, and children’s literature. She served as the vice-president of IARGS from 2014-2015 and the president from 2015-2016.

Dr. Karen Kleppe Graham is an Assistant Professor in Teacher Education in the College of Education and Behavioral Science at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Her research interests include: a focus on preparing teacher candidates to be successful literacy educators, working with in-service teachers' professional development in literacy competencies, and teacher candidates with learning and high incidence disabilities.