2018 Fellows Reveal Breadth, Diversity of SLA
The breadth and diversity of SLA—its global reach as well as the variety of environments in which its members work and the types of information they manage—will be on display in Baltimore in June, when the association honors five new Fellows at its 2018 Annual Conference.
Fellowship in SLA is bestowed on active, mid-career SLA members in recognition of past, present, and future service to the association and the profession. Fellows are called upon and expected to advise the SLA Board of Directors, prepare necessary documentation, and alert the membership to issues and trends warranting action.
The 2018 Class of SLA Fellows comprises the following individuals:
- Robin Dodge, head librarian of the Los Angeles campus of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising;
- Elizabeth (Beth) Brown, director of assessment and scholarly communications for Binghamton University Libraries at Binghamton University (SUNY);
- Kevin Adams, information specialist at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research in Christchurch, New Zealand;
- Elaine Lasda, associate librarian at the Dewey Graduate Library at the University at Albany (SUNY); and
- Kimberly Silk, principal consultant at BrightSail Research in Toronto.
Robin Dodge
An SLA member since 2001, Robin has become the go-to person in the Southern California Chapter, serving in positions ranging from president to program chair to nominations chair to secretary to newsletter editor. She served as the chapter’s liaison to the SLA Loyalty Project in 2011–2012, was instrumental in introducing and connecting the chapter to social media (and is still the chapter’s social media chair), and has focused relentlessly on engaging younger librarians in chapter events and activities, some of which she hosts at the Fashion Institute for Design & Merchandising. At the SLA 2017 Annual Conference in Phoenix, she participated in the “Dream Jobs for Information Professionals” panel at the closing general session.
Beth Brown
Beth joined SLA in 1996 while in graduate school and has been active in the association throughout her professional career. She has been president of the SLA Upstate New York Chapter as well as chair of the chapter’s Awards Committee and co-editor of the chapter’s newsletter; she has also chaired the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) Division and served as the division’s secretary, chair of its Nominating Committee, and leader of its book discussion group. She has a passion for learning and for sharing what she’s learned—she has delivered dozens of presentations at international, national, and regional meetings, written several articles and book chapters, and authored one book, Sudden Selector’s Guide to Chemistry Information Resources (ALA Press 2012).
Kevin Adams
Kevin joined SLA in 1996 and has demonstrated that physical distance is no barrier to participating in the association or even helping lead it. He was a founding member of the SLA Australia/New Zealand Chapter in 2005, has served on the SLA Board of Directors (2015–2017), has chaired the Food, Agriculture & Nutrition (FAN) Division, and has been active in the Solo Librarians, Environment & Resource Management, and Government Information Divisions. He is a regular at SLA Annual Conferences and is informally recognized as the SLA member who travels the farthest to them (to attend SLA 2018, he’ll fly more than 8,900 miles—roughly 14,300 kilometers—each way). At SLA 2013 in San Diego, he organized the FAN Division’s education sessions and participated in the closing panel session, “Connect, Collaborate, and Strategize.”
Elaine Lasda
During her 16 years in SLA, Elaine has taken full advantage of the many volunteer leadership opportunities the association offers. She has served in numerous capacities with the SLA Upstate New York Chapter—most notably as president, secretary, membership chair, and public relations chair—as well as with the Social Science Division (which she chaired) and the Academic Division (which she currently chairs). She also helped found the SLA Data Caucus and served as convener of the caucus from 2015–2017. Since earning her MLIS, she has continued her professional development journey, earning a master’s-level Certificate of Advanced Study in Data Science from Syracuse University in 2015.
Kim Silk
An SLA member for almost 25 years, Kim has been active at all levels and in nearly all facets of the association. At the chapter level, she has served as president, technology director, and alignment ambassador for the Toronto Chapter; at the association level, she has served on the SLA Board of Directors (2015–2017) and as chair of the Member Demographics Task Force (2012). She was a member of the Annual Conference Advisory Council that helped plan the SLA 2012 Annual Conference in Chicago; in 2014, she helped establish the SLA Data Caucus. Her devotion to librarianship is evident outside SLA as well as inside it—in 2014, she created the Library Research Network, a not-for-profit, curated, web-based repository of research relevant to public, academic, government, and special libraries.
For more information and to view a full list of the Fellows of SLA, please click here.
As a former librarian, you all have my instinctive respect, but I want particularly to mark my fellow countryman and very close friend, Kevin Adams. The distance factor alone marks your efforts and dedication. The recognition as a Fellow is only right and proper respect.