Dr. Aisha Johnson (she/her), Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Outreach at Georgia Institute of Technology Library, is a revelator of Southern library history, information access, and literacy. Formerly MLS Program Director for the School of Library and Information Sciences (LIS) at North Carolina Central University, continuing as adjunct, she stands on her commitment to enhancing LIS through service, practice, and curriculum to produce librarians and archivists who become scholar-practitioners and leaders.

Johnson stands firm on a soapbox for unveiling the history of underrepresented and marginalized communities. Her research focuses on the development of literacy in the African American culture and philanthropic efforts that gave aid towards literacy in the South. Her advocacy is conveyed in her research, scholarship, and leadership with with nearly 20 years in the profession including 16 years as a practitioner. 

A leader in the field, she was dubbed the 2020 Distinguished Alumni of Florida State University's College of Communication and Information, iSchool for her research and scholarship, The African American Struggle for Library Equality: The Untold Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program. This work also directly influenced the American Library Association's "case that Rosenwald's support for libraries - particularly, for Black librarians and libraries in Black communities - is an important part of his legacy that should be recognized in the [national] park." In 2021, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History recognized her work and impact with the Freedom Scholar Award. Most recently, Dr. Johnson was recognized as a Change Agent with the prestigious 2024 Library Journal's Movers and Shakers Award. 

Dr. Johnson also serves through professional organizations and is regularly sought out to contribute to discussions on representation and inclusion, LIS research, and strategic leadership. She, alongside other Black Librarians, were recently featured on Good Morning America advocating for Black librarianship and the forthcoming documentary, The Black Librarian.  Dr. Johnson also appeared on CNN First of All with Victor Blackwell advocating discussing Black history in education with emotional intelligence. She continues to build onto a platform of advocacy, bringing awareness to the need for more minority information professionals, and the field of Library and Information Sciences as an impactful career.

As she always tell her students and audience, "Librarianship chooses the right people, at the right time. And I am glad it chose me."

Learn more about Dr. Johnson's work: https://drarchivist.com/ 

Dr. Nicole A. Cooke is the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and a Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Cooke’s research and teaching interests include human information behavior, fake news consumption and resistance, critical cultural information studies, LIS Education, and diversity and social justice in librarianship.

​Dr. Cooke was named a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal in 2007, she was awarded the 2016 ALA Equality Award, and she was presented with the 2017 ALA Achievement in Library Diversity Research Award, presented by the Office for Diversity and Literacy Outreach Services. She has also been honored as the Illinois Library Association’s 2019 Intellectual Freedom Award winner in recognition of her work in combating online hate and bullying in LIS, and she was selected as the Association for Library and Information Science Education's 2019 Excellence in Teaching award winner. In 2021 she was presented with the Martin Luther King, Jr., Social Justice Award by the University of South Carolina, in 2022 the Black Caucus of the American Library Association granted her their Advocate Award, and in 2024 the American Library Association presented her with the Lippincott Award.

Now the founding editor of ALA Neal-Schuman's Critical Cultural Information Studies book series, Cooke has published numerous articles and book chapters. Her books include the second edition “Information Services to Diverse Populations” (ALA Editions, expected in 2026), “Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-truth Era" (ALA Editions, 2018), and “Foundations of Social Justice (ALA Editions, expected in 2026). 

Learn more about Dr. Cooke's work: https://bit.ly/m/NicoleTheLibrarian

Anastasia "Stacy" M. Collins (she & they) is a Black queer academic research librarian, anti-oppression educator, and youth literature scholar. She is the author of “Language, Power, and Oppression in the LIS Diversity Void” and “The Cultural Doings and Undoings of the Sydney Taylor Book Award,” co-editor of Critical Race Theory in LIS: Challenging White Supremacy in Libraries, and associate editor of The Reservoir: A Chronicle for Collective Change. A 2013-2014 Spectrum Scholar and 2021 Mover & Shaker, they hold an MS in LIS and an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons University, and their research interests include critical information and liberatory practices in LIS, information-seeking behaviors in the margins, and disruption & disturbance in youth literature studies. Stacy is also a youth book reviewer and book guide author.

Learn more about Stacy's work and follow them @DarkLiterata.