​Officers

Wendy Cornelisen, Board Chair
State Librarian, State Library of Oregon
Term FY 2023-2026

Wendy Cornelisen is the State Librarian of Oregon, with the charge of building equitable access to library and information services to all Oregonians. In her twenty-year career, she has held professional positions at both the Georgia Public Library Service and the Tennessee State Library and Archives after getting her start in public libraries. 

Wendy has also served in several positions in state library associati​ons as the past president of both the Tennessee and the Georgia Library Association, and is currently on the Board of the Oregon Library Association.  Wendy earned a Bachelor's Degree from Iowa State University and a Master's Degree in Information Science from the University of Tennessee. She is an advocate for equitable access to information resources, no matter what your zip code.

Maurice York, Vice Chair
Director of Library Initiatives, Big Ten Academic Alliance
Term FY 2023-2026


As the Director of Library Initiatives for the Big Ten Academic Alliance, Maurice is responsible for coordinating collective action at scale amongst the research libraries of the BTAA toward their commitment to realizing an interdependent, networked future. The central initiative in Maurice's portfolio is the BIG Collection, a comprehensive strategy to strengthen an interdependent future for the 15 world-class research libraries of the BTAA by joining the separate collections into one collection, shared and fully networked, across all physical and digital domains. 

Maurice works closely with the library deans/directors of the fifteen member research libraries to help shape strategies that the consortium pursues, oversee execution of those strategies, and continually work to build pathways to interdependence and coherence across member universities. He is responsible for exploring, analyzing, and identifying areas for collective action and innovation and oversee collaborative initiatives through the many cross-institutional project groups of the BTAA.

In his previous position, Maurice was on the executive leadership team at the University of Michigan Library, where he led the technology division in developing and delivering cornerstone digital infrastructure projects for information discovery, content preservation, and access, including the HahtiTrust Digital Library, the Deep Blue repository for faculty publications and research data, and an expansive digital collections ecosystem. Before Michigan, Maurice was the Head of Information Technology at the NC State University Library, where he led the vision and  implementation of the technology program for the James B. Hunt Jr. Library.


Kaitlin Thaney, Treasurer
Executive Director, Invest in Open Infrastructure
Term FY 2022-2024

 

 Kaitlin Thaney is the Executive Director of Invest in Open Infrastructure, a non-profit initiative designed to enable durable, scalable, and long lasting open scientific and scholarly infrastructure to emerge, thrive, and deliver its benefits on a global scale.

She previously served as the Endowment Director for the Wikimedia Foundation, where she led development of a fund to sustain the future of Wikipedia and free knowledge. Prior to joining Wikimedia, Thaney directed the program portfolio for the Mozilla Foundation, following her time building the Mozilla Science Lab, a program to serve the open research community. She was on the founding team for Digital Science, where she helped launch and advise programs to serve researchers worldwide, building on her time at Creative Commons, where she crafted legal, technical, and social infrastructure for sharing data on the web.


Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, Secretary
Executive Director, Houston Public Library
Term FY 2022-2024

Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson’s impressive career as a library professional spans over 30 years. A strong and passionate advocate for public libraries, Dr. Lawson is keenly focused on ensuring that they remain highly visible and vibrant organizations that proactively contribute to the quality of life in their communities. She has served as the executive director of the Houston Public Library (HPL) since 2005. The Houston Public Library is the largest public library in the state of Texas, serving over 2.2 million people through a network of 42 locations. It ranks seventh among the largest public library systems in the nation according to population served.

Dr. Lawson ensures that HPL is continuously evolving and moving forward a comprehensive, innovative platform of library services and programs to meet the diverse needs of Houston’s residents and the virtual environment. HPL aggressively promotes its vast resources through exemplary customer service, strategic partnerships, and strong community engagement. Under Dr. Lawson’s leadership, HPL has earned over 40 prestigious local, state, and national awards for services, programs, innovation and building projects. Active on the local, state, and national levels.

Dr. Lawson serves on a number of professional and civic committees and boards. She holds a BA from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, an MLS from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in Madison, Wisconsin.


Evviva Weinraub Lajoie, Past Board Chair
Vice Provost for University Libraries, University at Buffalo
Term FY 2022-2024
 

Evviva Weinraub Lajoie is the Vice Provost for the University at Buffalo Libraries. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston University in History and her MLIS from the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to her role at SUNY Buffalo, she has had increasingly prominent roles at Yale University on the Research4Life programs, Tufts University, Oregon State University, the Digital Preservation Network (DPN), and most recently served as the Associate University Librarian for Collections & Technologies at Northwestern University.

She is an active leader in ALA, ARL, IFLA, and serves on the Steering Committee for the Investment in Open Infrastructure (IOI). She has published and spoken extensively on open-source software infrastructure, development, communities, and collaboration, library management, user experience, and intersectional feminism.

​Trustees

Lee Bagby Ceperich
Director, Library and Special Collections, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library
Term FY 2019-2024

Lee Bagby Ceperich has served as Director of the Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts since 2010 and has held positions at VMFA since 2005. Prior to her arrival at VMFA she held positions at The Library of Virginia and the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. She has served as a consultant for institutional special collections, as a reviewer for NEH grant programs and as an adjunct faculty member for Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Ceperich received an MLIS degree from Catholic University, an MA in Museum Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA in Art History from James Madison University. Professional affiliations include ARLIS/NA, ALA (CALM, ACRL, RBMS) AAM, VAM, and WALRC.


Dr. Anne Huang
Executive Director, World Arts West
Term FY 2022-2024

Dr. Anne Huang is the Executive Director of World Arts West, a regional presenting and arts services organization that supports Northern California artists and dance companies that sustain the world’s diverse dance and music traditions.  World Arts West supports over 450 dance companies that engage more than 20,000 artists, sustaining over 100 dance forms from around the world.  Anne is the former Executive Director of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC), one of the largest pan-Asian cultural centers in the United States. 

Anne is a highly regarded culturally specific capacity building consultant and resource equity advocate. She has worked extensively with cultural artists and arts organizations such as Charya Burt, Naomi Diouf, Alleluia Panis, Parangal, Los Danzantes de Aztlan, Diamano Coura, Chinese Culture Center, Dimension Dance Theater, CubaCaribe, LIKHA, Bisemi, Halau ‘o Keikiali’i, Cunamacue, and many others.  Anne also advocates for resource equity by working with funders to create equitable funding guidelines and connecting funders with culturally specific communities.  

As a thought leader with deep knowledge of challenges and solutions for cultural artists in the 21st century, Anne is a sought-after speaker and consultant for conference panels, cultural convenings, and resource equity in philanthropy. Anne has served in leadership roles for National Dance Project’s Regional Dance Development Initiative, New York Foundation for the Arts’ Immigrant Artist Program, and the City of Oakland’s Mayoral Arts Task Force. She is the Board Chair of Dance/USA Board of Trustees.


Bianca Amaro
Coordinator of the Brazilian Open Science Program, Brazilian Institute of Information Science and Technology (IBICT)
Term FY 2024-2027

Bianca Amaro serves as the Coordinator of the Brazilian Open Science Program at the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT). She coordinates the Brazilian Portal for Scientific Publications and Data in Open Access (Oasisbr), the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), the Open Access Digital Repositories and Open Access Research Data Repositories for Brazilian universities and research institutes, and both the Brazilian Open Access Scientific Journals project and the project for the creation of the Brazilian Ecosystem of Scientific Investigation (BrCRIS).

Bianca is a member of the Executive Board of the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) and represents Brazil on the Governing Board of the Network of Repositories of Open Access to Science - LA Referencia. She serves as co-chair for Brazil’s representation on the Research Data Alliance (RDA).

Amaro earned a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, as well as a degree in Law, Librarianship and Linguistics. She is the 2015 winner of The Electronic Publishing Trust for Development (EPT) award.


Courtney L. Young
University Librarian, Colgate Universtiy
Term FY 2024-2027

Courtney L. Young is currently University Librarian at Colgate University as well as co-coordinator for one of the academic commons. She graduated with a BA from The College of Wooster and earned an MS in Library Science from Simmons College (now University). Before coming to Colgate, she held library positions at Penn State University, Michigan State University, and The Ohio State University.

Courtney has served in a variety of leadership roles in the American Library Association (ALA), including being elected the 2014-2015 ALA President. She is a recipient of the Simmons Alumni Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement and Excellence in Library and Information Professional Endeavors. Courtney frequently presents and publishes on issues related to advocacy, academic librarianship, diversity, leadership, and professional development.


Felton Thomas, Jr.
Executive Director, Cleveland Public Library (CPL)
Term FY 2024-2027

Felton Thomas, Jr. has served as Executive Director of Cleveland Public Library (CPL) since January, 2009. 

As Director of Cleveland Public Library, Thomas has launched initiatives aimed at addressing community needs in the areas of access to technology, education, and economic development.  

Director Thomas’ awards and accomplishments include being named a “Mover and Shaker” by the Library Journal and being named a White House Champion of Change for Making in 2016. Nationally, in 2015, Felton was elected as President-Elect of the Public Library Association (PLA), served as President in 2016. Felton is currently the Vice Chair of the Digital Public Library of America. He also serves as a trustee on the boards of FRONT International, University Circle Inc., Cleveland Museum of Art and United Way of Greater Cleveland.

Felton lives in Shaker Heights with his wife and has two college-aged daughters. He is an accomplished musician and has become a devoted Cleveland sports fan since his arrival on the shores of Lake Erie.


Zheng (John) Wang
Dean of Meriam Library
, California State University, Chico
Term FY 2024-2027

​“Zheng (John) Wang is the Dean of Meriam Library at California State University, Chico, where he provides strategic guidance to ensure the library becomes an inclusive, accessible, and intellectually enriching resource for students, faculty, and the wider community.

With experiences at various institutions across the United States, John had the opportunity to serve as an Associate University Librarian at the University of Notre Dame, where he played a vital role in establishing the Digital Library Program and an Endowed Center for Digital Scholarship. These platforms facilitated advancements in scholarly research and technological innovation on campus.

John is actively engaged in research, having functioned as a principal investigator on grant projects focusing on data and software preservation and machine learning. He has published on integrating emerging technologies with library services and project management within libraries.

His educational background includes a bachelor's degree in economics from Beijing Union University and two master’s degrees in library and information Science from Queens College, CUNY, and in Information Systems from Pace University. He has also obtained certifications in Search Engine Optimization from the University of British Columbia and Machine Learning from Stanford University.”​

Ex-Officio

John Wilkin
CEO, Lyrasis

John Wilkin is the Chief Executive Officer of Lyrasis. Prior to joining Lyrasis, Wilkin served as the Dean of Libraries at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2013-2022, as well as UIUC’s Interim Provost from 2017-2018. He was the founding executive director of HathiTrust and served in that capacity from 2008 until 2013. Over the course of his career at the Universities of Michigan and Virginia, Wilkin was an early leader in the development of digital libraries, focusing on combining large-scale discovery with preservation strategies. Beginning in the late 1980s, Wilkin pioneered the use of markup for online text access, founding the Humanities Text Initiative and leading the conversion of the Middle English Dictionary to digital online form. He directed the Digital Library Production Service in projects such as the Making of America and PEAK. He was the library lead in creating the first legal agreement for the Google Books project, including authoring a clause that would later allow the partner libraries to launch HathiTrust. His focus on copyright (e.g., creating the Copyright Review Management System) and preservation played a pivotal role in HathiTrust’s Fair Use strategy, which was successfully defended in court and underpins HathiTrust today.

Emeritus Board Members

Rob Cartolano, Associate Vice President, Technology and Preservation, Columbia University Libraries

Dan Cohen,  Vice Provost for Information Collaboration, Dean of the Libraries, Professor of History at Northeastern University

Mike Conlon, Emeritus Faculty, University of Florida

Derick Dreher, The John C. Haas Director of Rosenbach Museum and VP of Special Collections at The Free Library of Philadelphia

Heather Joseph, Executive Director, SPARC

Wolfram Horstmann, Director of Gottingen State and University Library, Germany

Joe Lucia, Dean of Libraries, Temple University

Elizabeth Gail McClenney, Immediate Past Chair; Director, Roanoke College – Fintel Library

Eric Miller, CFO, Atlanta University Center, Robert Woodruff Library

Gina Millsap, CEO, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Kathleen Moeller-Peiffer, State Librarian for Library Support Services, New Jersey State Library

Cory Nimer, University Archivist, Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library

Kate Pugh, Faculty, Columbia University

Tom Rosko, Institute Archivist, Head Institute Archives and Special Collections, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries

Rob Spindler, former Secretary; Head of Archives & Special Collections, Arizona State University Libraries

Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, Preservation Specialist, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

Julie Walker, State Librarian of Georgia, Georgia Public Library Services

Tyler Walters, Dean of Libraries, Virginia Tech

Laura Wood, Associate University Librarian for Research and Education, Harvard Library