2024 ACRL New England Chapter Board Candidates
ACRL New England is an all-volunteer organization that provides professional growth opportunities for academic research librarians and library staff. The Chapter is appreciative of those stepping up and stepping in to support our profession and helping to shape the landscape of academic librarianship in New England. Candidate information for the 2024 election period will be included on this page for your review during the voting process.
Open Positions on the ACRL/NEC Board:
Vice President/President-Elect
State Representative for Maine
State Representative for Rhode Island
State Representative for Vermont
Vice President/President-Elect
Jessica Condlin
Candidate's Statement
The most rewarding aspect of working in academic libraries is the ability to share resources, ideas, and to collaborate with other professional librarians to the betterment of everyone’s libraries. This support of each other, to ensure that we all thrive, is why I would like to serve on the ACRL/NEC board as Vice President/President Elect. Having attended ACRL events while living in the Midwest, the connections fostered and ideas shared at these events were invaluable and I would love the opportunity to pay back in kind. I am extremely organized, reliable and adaptable and would hone these skills to serve academic and research librarians by supporting their professional needs to be able to adapt to current trends in librarianship. I would look forward to not only working with other committed individuals but also learning from them as well. Higher education is going through a metamorphosis, and I want to serve to be able to support my fellow librarians through this time of transition to ensure we all succeed into the future. Thank you for your consideration.
Secretary
Amy Beth
Candidate's Statement
Seasoned executive committee position holder who has great respect and appreciation for ACRL and its regional bodies. As Secretary one is compelled to learn the names, calendaring, activities, and meeting structures. Communication is key and I aspire to provide excellence in that service role. I have previously been an NEC member and professional position holder who has just returned to NE and I wish to contribute.
Erica Charis-Molling
Candidate's Statement
As current Secretary of the CT State Community College Asnuntuck Staff Council (at the time of writing my current employer; by the time of elections, my former employer), I would bring to this office a strong skill set in the type of support necessary for the smooth function of a professional organization. This would include, but not be limited to, note taking skills, file organization skills, and clear and effective communication skills. It would be my goal to make ACRL/NEC run as smoothly as possible, removing any barriers to the organization's success and efficient function. In so doing, I hope to enable the other officers and volunteers to run the programs and initiatives that would best serve the academic library community of New England.
Shannon Yarbrough
Candidate's Statement
I am looking to increase my understanding of professional leadership while also connecting with regional peers... something I am still a bit new at! Secretary seems like a made-to-order role in which I can feel out these types of opportunities, gain a greater understanding of ACRL/NEC as an organization and "dip my toes" so to speak without feeling like I took too great a jump. When I commit to something, I am efficient, organizationally awesome (not sure that is an actual thing but still going to use it), and dependable.
Treasurer
Kristina Edwards
Candidate's Statement
As ACRL Treasurer I would continue the work of previous treasurers to improve the processes related to budgeting, reimbursement, and records retention. The pandemic brought new changes for doing business and member expectations which require thoughtful discussion and reviews of how things have been done in the past. With professional development opportunities costing more and more, our aim to provide opportunities to academic librarians in New England is even more important to give our more cost-effective programming in person and online. My hope as Treasurer would be to ensure chapter funding and processes are in place to support and encourage new opportunities to provide our members with the professional development that they want and need for their work in today’s academic environment.
State Representative for Maine
Cory Budden
Candidate's Statement
I would like to continue my role as the Maine State Representative for the ACRL New England Chapter. It's been a rewarding experience to represent, connect, and highlight the work of librarians across Maine and throughout New England. In the last two years, alongside my fellow State Reps and the Board, we've begun to expand our outreach efforts to other library workers and students in our states, and I hope to further develop this framework and build connections between Maine library folks and the broader Chapter. Additionally, I'm involved in the planning committee for the ACRL NEC annual conference and am part of an ad hoc committee to redevelop the ACRL NEC website. This involvement has been incredibly gratifying, allowing me to contribute to the New England Chapter while representing the diverse community of library workers and students across Maine. It's a pleasure to be involved in chapter-level work, serving as a resource and connection for library workers in Maine and New England. I'm hoping to continue in this role, building on our efforts, and finding new ways to connect.
Jane McCamant
Candidate's Statement
I would like to serve as Maine State Representative to the ACRL-NEC in order to help connect other Maine librarians to the resources that have been so important to my own professional development. I work as the Research and Instruction Librarian at Maine Maritime Academy, having come relatively recently to librarianship from a career in library research and college-level teaching. Before coming to Maine Maritime, I taught library research skills at the University of Chicago. I hold an MA in interdisciplinary social sciences, a PhD in sociology, and am currently working on an MLIS at Simmons University. In addition to my broad experience in higher education, I have substantial experience of committee work in other institutional settings. I am eager to facilitate connection-building among librarians across New England and to develop and promote the community and professional development opportunities that the ACRL-NEC can provide. I am particularly interested in ways to support those facing the particular challenges of small and rural academic libraries, which are so common in Maine.
State Representative for Rhode Island
Jason Cerrato
Candidate's Statement
My name is Jason Cerrato, and I’m running for Rhode Island State Representative. Hello! Currently, I am an Instructional Librarian at Brown University, where I serve as a STEM generalist supporting undergraduate & graduate students across a variety of STEM fields. Moreover, I am a third-year Ph.D. student at the Simmons University School of Library & Information Science (SLIS), with a research focus on the intersections of critical library pedagogy and information literacy within STEM learning environments. Before transitioning into academic librarianship in 2018, I was an adjunct and visiting instructor of political science, sociology, & economics with the City University of New York (CUNY) from 2010- 2023, teaching primarily at Bronx Community College & Hunter College, respectively. In the role of RI representative, my emphasis would be strengthening our local networks of communication & professional support in RI, while concurrently fostering a sense of connection, community, and belonging amongst early, mid-career, and senior librarians.
Lauren Fletcher
Candidate's Statement
I have served as the RI State Rep the previous two years and it has been a great way to connect with colleagues cross the New England Region and in multiple types of Libraries. I hope to continue championing ACRL and ACRL/NEC within Rhode Island.
State Representative for Vermont
Anthony Bassignani
Candidate's Statement
When I was first asked to consider serving as the state representative for Vermont, I hesitated. What could I bring to the table that those before me have not? While I may not have ground-breaking ideas, it is my hope that I will bring an open mind to the office. One aspiration while in office is to help revitalize Vermont's involvement post-Covid, and to give our small state a voice. When I attended the ACRL conference in 2019 in Cleveland, I saw the possibility of being a leader in ACRL but never actually dreamed of following through.