Lightning Talk Speakers

Erika Bailey – Data and Digital Scholarship Librarian at the University of Washington Tacoma

Finding Hope in Solidarity: Organizing a Union in Pandemic Times

Erika is the Data and Digital Scholarship Librarian at the University of Washington - Tacoma.

Nicollette Davis – Adult Services and Circulation Librarian at East Baton Rouge Parish Public Library

The Invisible Labor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for BIPOC

Nicollette (she/her) is an Adult Services and Circulation Librarian in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She earned her MLIS from Louisiana State University. She has a passion for critical librarianship especially related to the BIPOC experience and diversity within libraries.

Melissa DeWitt – Research and Instruction Librarian at Regis University

Our Labor is not Heroic: Leadership Language as a Tool of Exploitation During Times of Crisis

Melissa joined the Regis library faculty in 2018 as a Research and Instruction Librarian. She received her MLIS from the University of Denver in 2016, and as a graduate student, discovered a passion for teaching and outreach while working in an academic library. Melissa’s research interests include instructional pedagogy, popular culture source evaluation and misinformation, mentorship practices, and perceptions of student-athletes. She also teaches credit-bearing courses: first year writing and composition and a master’s-level research methods course.

Jordan Hale – Digital Repositories Librarian at the University of Waterloo

Worst Case Scenario? Absolutely Not

Jordan is the Digital Repositories Librarian at the University of Waterloo.

Sajni Lacey – Learning and Curriculum Support Librarian at the University of British Columbia Okanagan

Questioning Precarious Labour: From Both Sides of the Table

Sajni is a biracial, cis-gendered, able bodied, settler woman who lives and works as an uninvited settler on the unceded, ancestral, and ongoing territory of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples. She currently works as the Learning and Curriculum Support Librarian at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Sajni was born, raised, and completed both of her degrees on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron Peoples.

Yoonhee Lee – Learning and Curriculum Support Librarian at the University of Guelph

What if We Were Taught to Think of Ourselves as Workers Under Racial Capitalism?

Yoonhee currently holds a contractually-limited appointment as a Learning & Curriculum Support Librarian at the University of Guelph and is a member of the University of Guelph Faculty Association. Prior to this, she was a member of CUPE Local 1230, as a student worker at the University of Toronto Libraries. She has also been a member of USW Local 1998, as a student bookstore cashier, alumni event staff, and research assistant; and IATSE Local B173, as a theatre attendant and cinema usher.

Andrea Lemoins – Community Organizer/Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation

Critical Connections, Emergent Organizing: Re-Imagining Unions

Andrea Lemoins is an Asset Based Community Development practitioner looking to support Black communities in preserving their local memory institutions. She is currently enrolled in the Masters of Library and Information Science program at Clarion University of Pennsylvania and is a 2020 ALA Spectrum/ProQuest Scholar. Andrea lives in Philadelphia and works for the Free Library of Philadelphia with community engagement and was previously a union organizer. She writes poetry, collects typewriters, enjoys reading science fiction and walking around the city.

Ben Mitchell - Records Analyst at the Nova Scotia Department of Inclusive Economic Growth

If You're "Lucky": Hope Labour, Disability, and Early Career Librarianship

Ben is an aspiring academic librarian with a background as an adjunct lecturer in science and technology studies and the history of science. He was a founding Assistant Curator at the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre and is currently a Records Analyst with the Nova Scotia Department of Inclusive Economic Growth (formerly known as the Department of Business).

Since learning that he is autistic in 2019 (at the age of 33), his work has pivoted to the information seeking behaviours of, and services and supports with and for neurodivergent communities, our stories and forms of learning and empowerment. He has also been active in mentorship spaces for early career librarians, participating in the Ontario Library Association's Mentor Match Program and serving the Atlantic Provinces Association's Continuing Education Interest Group.

Christine Moffatt - Engineering and Entrepreneurship Librarian at the University of Waterloo

Starting Over: The Unexpected Emotional Labour of Second-Career Librarians

Christine is the Engineering and Entrepreneurship Librarian at the Davis Centre Library at the University of Waterloo. She is also a Campus Coach with Concept by Velocity, an experiential entrepreneurship program at Waterloo that guides students through their start-up journey. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Western University, and has more than ten years of experience working with small businesses and entrepreneurs. Her research interests include peer-to-peer learning for early career professionals and professional identity formation in online environments.

Cecelia Parks - Undergraduate Student Success Librarian at the University of Virginia

Bouncing Back: Dealing with Setbacks in Union Organizing in the Library

Cecelia is an Undergraduate Student Success Librarian at the University of Virginia, where she mostly works with first-year students in general education classes. She is also a proud member of the steering committee of the United Campus Workers of Virginia union. She received her MLS from the University of Maryland and is working towards an MA in History from the University of Mississippi. Her research interests include privacy, queer Southern history, and information literacy instruction and assessment.

Tomoko Shida - Archivist at the University of Toronto Mississauga

Recalibrating the Value of Student Labour

Tomoko is a first-generation Japanese Canadian settler and former secondary school history teacher. She graduated from UofT’s iSchool in 2020 and currently works as the archivist at the University of Toronto Mississauga Library, Archives and Special Collections.

Madison Sullivan - Fine and Performing Arts Librarian at the University of Washington Seattle

Finding Hope in Solidarity: Organizing a Union in Pandemic Times

Madison is the Fine and Performing Arts Librarian at the University of Washington - Seattle.