Featured Speakers

Tarida Anantachai (she/her) is the Director, Inclusion & Talent Management at the NC State University Libraries, where she oversees the recruitment and hiring process for library faculty and staff positions; leads equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts; and coordinates the Libraries Fellows Program. Her research and professional interests include topics around equity, diversity, and inclusion; mentoring and early career development; leadership; and outreach programming.

 

K.C. Boyd is a school librarian with the District of Columbia Public Schools System.  She has previously worked as the Lead Librarian for the East St. Louis School District #189 in East St. Louis, IL., a Area Library Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools and a District  Coordinator for the Mayor Daley Book Club for Middle School Students.  She is a second generation educator and holds Master’s degrees in Library Information Science, Media Communications, and Education Leadership.  Boyd was the national 2022 School Library Journal Magazine, “Librarian of the Year.” 

 

Boyd currently serves on the executive boards for the District of Columbia Library Association and Washington Teachers Union.  She is an active committee member for the American Library Association Chapter Council representing Washington D.C., and EveryLibrary Institute/Advisory Board. Boyd is also a member of the District of Columbia Public Schools Library Corps and serves on the AASL School Library Event Promotion Committee. Boyd currently is a National Ambassador representing the Washington D.C. area for Checkology Virtual Classroom and The News Literacy Project.  She is also the recipient of the American Consortium for Equity in Education 2022 Excellence in Equity Award, and the 2022 National Association of State Boards of Education “Policy Leader of the Year Winner.”

 

A staunch advocate for school libraries, she is widely known and respected for her work with educating parents, teachers, and district officials on promoting leisure reading for children and teens. Additionally, she is a sought-after and popular keynote speaker and conference presenter at the national level.  It is Boyd’s belief that all children, despite economic circumstance, have the right to read and should have access to books that reflect themselves and encourage inquiry.  Boyd can be reached through her website:  http://www.kcboyd.com/.

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Martha Hickson holds a masters degree in Library and Information science from Rutgers University and has been a librarian at North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, NJ, since 2005. She has written for a variety of publications, including School Library Journal, Booklist, KnowledgeQuest, the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Blog, and CNN.com. She has been a presenter at conferences and webinars, including the American Association of School Librarians, Future Ready Librarians, and the New Jersey Library Association. Her defense of intellectual freedom has been recognized with awards from the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, the New Jersey Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, and the National Council of Teachers of English. In 2022, the National Coalition Against Censorship presented Martha with the Judith Krug Outstanding Librarian Award and the American Library Association presented her with the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity in recognition of her “energy and bravery in the face of … persistent and ongoing hostility,” while advocating for students’ First Amendment right to read.