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IRRT Executive Board Nominees for 2021

The IRRT Nominating Committee has prepared a slate of candidates for the upcoming Executive Board election. Responsibilities of the new elected Board Members will start at the ALA Annual 2021 convention and continue through 2023.

IRRT Executive Board meets virtually monthly to dis[1]cuss IRRT related issues, including those that arise through the various committees and ones related to international aspects of ALA’s work, as a whole, and work on solutions to address these issues. Face-to-face meetings take place whenever ALA conference is physical.

Preference is given to candidates with prior committee experience within IRRT and a track record of contribution to the IRRT mission. Profiles of the nominees follow the descriptions of the positions in alphabetical order.

Position: Vice Chair/Chair Elect (2021-2024)

Chair-elect (2021-22), becomes Chair (2022-23) and serves as immediate Past-Chair (2023-2024) Per IRRT bylaws, position of Chair-elect is a three-year commitment in which one serves as chair-elect, chair and past chair. In the first year, one learns about the work of the Executive Board under the tutelage of the Chair and the past-Chair.

Candidates:

Mark Mattson
Head of Global Engagement Initiatives and Interna[1]tional Partnerships Librarian, Penn State University Li[1]braries, 2016 - Present · American Library Association (Aug 2010 - Present) · International Relations Round Table (Sep 2016 - Present) · IRRT Sister Libraries Committee (Co-Chair, July 2018 - Present; Committee Member, 2016 - Pre[1]sent) · IRRT Webinar Committee (Chair, 2018-2019) · Member-at-Large IRRT Executive Board (2019 - Present) · Roundtable Bylaws Standardization Working Group (IRRT Representative, 2020 - Present) · IRRT International Connections Committee (2017 - 2019)

Safi S. M. Safiullah
Manager, Marmalade Branch Library, Salt Lake City Public Library (2015-till present) · ALA Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) (Chair, 2018-2019; Vice-Chair, 2017-2018; Member-at-Large, 2020- 2022) · IRC Near East and South Asia Subcommittee (Member, 2014-2018) · Multicultural Services Round Table, Utah Library Association (Chair, 2012-2013) · Research and Travel Awards Committee, Asian Pa[1]cific American Librarians Association (APALA) (Co-Chair, 2010-2011)

Position: Member-at-large (2021-2023)

The Member-at-Large position lasts two years and serves to contribute information and wider perspectives from the field.

Candidates:

Christina Riehman-Murphy
Reference & Instruction Librarian; Assistant Librarian, Abington College Library, Penn State Abington (2015 - present) · International Relations Round Table (2017 - Present) · IRRT Publications Committee (Co-Chair, July 2020 - June 2022) · IRRT Chair's Program Committee (Chair, July 2017 – June 2020) · IRRT International Sister Libraries Committee & International Paper Session Subcommittee (July 2017 – June 2019)

Alison Sharp
Humanities Librarian, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2014-present · American Library Association (1999-present) · IRRT International Visitors Committee (2019- 2021) · International Federations of Libraries and Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2017-present) · Middle Eastern Librarian Association (2015-2019) · Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) (1999-present) · Association of Christian Librarians (2000-2004) · American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) (2010-2015) · North American Serials Interest Group (2000-2005) · Music OCLC Users Group (2000-2004) · Tennessee Library Association (2000-2018)

Position: Secretary-treasurer (2021-2023)

The Secretary-treasurer position lasts two years and supports the Round Table with internal organization and financial reporting.

Candidate:

Erica Salto
Library and Information Specialist, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington D.C., (2019 – Present) · American Library Association (2017-Present) · ALA Student to Staff Program to participate in 2017 ALA Annual Conference · ALA Emerging Leader (2020) Team Lead, Emerging Leaders Team 2020, International Librarians Networking Program (Jan 2019-Present) · Rosemary Allen Little Award Recipient in 2018 by New Jersey Chapter of SLA · SPIE Student Travel Stipend Award to participate in 2017 Special Library Association Annual Conference

Position: Round Table Councilor (2021-2024)

The IRRT ALA councilor is elected every third year to represent the voice of IRRT at policy-making and governing body of ALA.

Candidates:

John C. Sandstrom
Acquisitions Librarian, Professor College Faculty, New Mexico State University Library, Las Cruces, New Mex[1]ico (January 2011- present) · American Library Association (1987-1992; 2001-present) · International Relations Round Table (2017 - Present) · IRRT Chair’s Program Committee (2018 – 2020) · IRRT Nomination Committee (2018 – 2020) · Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds (RNTLOAK) (Chair, 2019-2021) · ALA Awards Committee (2016-2019, 2020-2022) · ALA Equity Award (Chair, 2019-2020) · ALA EBSCO Conference Scholarship Award (Chair, 2018-2018) · ALA Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship (Chair, 2017-2018) · ALA Library of the Future Award Jury (2016-2017)

Barbara Marson
Program Director, Library Science, Dept. of Interdisciplinary Professions, East Carolina University (2020 – Present) · American Library Association (ALA) · IRRT Preconference (Co-Chair, 2018-2021) · IRRT Publications Committee (2020) Coordinated three IRRT webinars during in July & August based on proposal submissions for the IRRT preconference.

Election ballots will be sent out soon. Please take a moment to vote for the future Executive Board members of IRRT. Your vote counts!