Shauntee Burns-Simpson

New York Public Library

Manager, School Support & Outreach

Shauntee Burns-Simpson is currently the manager of school support and outreach at the New York Public Library where she has held several positions. She is currently the president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and is proud to hold the position during the organization's 50th anniversary. She is the former chair of ALA’s Committee on Diversity and a member of the Association for Library Services to Children and the Young Adult Library Services Association's Train the Trainer project. She is past president of the Reference Adult Services Section of the New York Library Association 2012-2013 and New York Black Librarians Caucus 2013-2015.

Sarah Campbell

Portland Public Library

Executive Director

Sarah Campbell serves as Executive Director of Portland Public library, the largest urban library system in Maine. She also serves on the Steering Committee for Portland ConnectEd (a cradle-to-career education initiative), on the Education Cabinet for Thrive 2027 (a county-wide collective impact initiative for education, health, and financial stability), and as Chair for Leadership Portland. Sarah joined the ULC Executive Board in July 2020.

Kendra Davey

Pima County Public Library

Literacy Initiatives Program Manager

Kendra Davey is the literacy initiatives program manager for Pima County Public Library in Tucson, Ariz. Kendra oversees systemwide programs and services for children and teens ages birth to 18 and their parents.

​Melanie Townsend Diggs

Prince George's County Memorial Library System

South Area Manager

Melanie Townsend Diggs is a professional librarian who has over 20 years of experience in public and school librarianship. Melanie has received several awards and accolades throughout her tenure in librarianship, including the ALA's Spectrum Scholarship (1998), Tech Logic's People First Award (2015), ALA's Lemony Snicket Award for Noble Librarian's Faced With Adversity (2016) and the Maryland Library Association's President Award for Customer Service (2016). In her current role, Melanie strives to remain connected to the community and to the needs of the customers, including students and families in Southern Prince George's County.

Marianna DiGiacomo

Stark Library

Community Services Director

Marianna DiGiacomo has dedicated her career to strengthening public library’s focus on literacy and community collaborations. Marianna joined Stark Library in 2007 and served as youth services librarian and literacy and events coordinator prior to her role as community services director. She directs Stark Library’s literacy initiatives, school and community partnerships, outreach services, technology training and events. She is a graduate of Leadership Stark County’s Government Academy, American Library Association’s Leadership Institute and serves on many local committees dedicated to ensuring children are ready for school success.

Jaime Gotlieb

Douglas County Libraries

Community Services & Partnerships Manager

Jaime Gotlieb has 25 years of professional library experience working in both public and school libraries and has held titles of librarian, youth services department head, early literacy specialist and branch manager. Currently, Jaime is responsible for planning, developing, implementing and organizing community services, partnerships and outreach efforts to expand the reach of Douglas County Libraries — ensuring a bright and thriving future for Douglas County, its residents and the library.

Pam Jankowski

Cuyahoga County Public Library

Literacy and Learning Division Director

As the literacy and learning division director, Pam is responsible for overseeing all library programming from birth to senior years, setting systemwide programming standards and managing grant funded initiatives including an Ohio Department of Higher Education grant. She currently serves on Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board and MetroHealth Hospitals Arts in Health Advisory Committee.

Scott Kinney

Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library

CEO-Director

Scott Kinney is the CEO-director of the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library located in Evansville, Ind. With more than 30 years in libraries, Kinney has previously served as director of Mobile Public Library in Mobile, Ala. and as director of the Sweetwater County Library System in Green River, Wyo. Kinney is passionate about public libraries and about his community, continually collaborating with his staff and those they serve to discover what the library means to them and exploring how he and the library continue supporting the community as it grows and thrives.

Katie McDonald

Mid-Continent Public Library

Youth Services Department Manager

Katie McDonald leads the Youth Services Department at Mid-Continent Public Library, an organization that serves more than 816,000 residents across three counties in the Kansas City, Mo., metropolitan area. In her role, she oversees a team of three who develop and implement programs, services and resources that promote early literacy and support the intellectual growth of local children.

Prior to her current position, Katie held several other titles within the library system, including employment specialist in the Human Resources Department and manager of the library’s Liberty Branch. Her reputation and work ethic have earned her numerous honors and accolades throughout her career, including being accepted into, and graduating from, the prestigious Doniphan Leadership Institute at William Jewell College. Katie is a graduate of Park University and earned her Master of Library Science from Emporia State University.

Eva Mitnick

Los Angeles Public Library

Director, Engagement and Learning Division

Eva Mitnick has worked at the Los Angeles Public Library as a children's librarian, branch manager, coordinator of youth services and director of Central Library. Currently, she directs the engagement and learning division, which focuses on systemwide programs, services and outreach for all ages.

Martha Yesowitch

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

Community Partnerships Leader

Martha Link Yesowitch is the community partnerships leader with Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. In this role, she sets the strategic direction for the library’s organizational relationships with educational, nonprofit and corporate partners under the mission of improving lives and building a stronger community. The collaboration with Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools is especially vital, featuring targeted curriculum support enhanced by the ONE Access initiative providing integrated access to library materials for over 150,000 students and teachers.

Beth Yoke

Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library

Chief Strategy Officer

Beth Yoke has served as chief strategy officer for The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County for the past two years. Prior to that, she served as executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association. Beth has also worked as a university and high school librarian as well as an elementary school teacher.