Events
UMD INFO Presents the ALA Lecture Series
Event Start Date: Thursday, April 27, 2023 - 6:00 pm
Event End Date: Thursday, April 27, 2023 - 7:00 pm
Location: Virtual EST, Registration Required
This annual lecture series invites the current ALA president, Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, to speak to us on current issues and the future of American libraries. The event will be moderated by the Chair of ALA’s Committee on Legislation, Joe Thompson, who received his MLS from the UMD INFO college.
This is a free, virtual event, open to the public. Registration is required.
Lessa Pelayo-Lozada: 2022-2023 President, American Library Association (ALA). Lessa began her career at the County of Los Angeles Public Library’s Lomita Library as a page and has worked as a clerk, children’s librarian, teen librarian, and adult services librarian. She is currently the Adult Services Assistant Manager at the Palos Verdes Library District in Southern California and the Executive Director of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association. Joining ALA as an MLIS student at UCLA, Lessa is a 14-year dedicated member committed to improving upon and celebrating the strength of ALA and the National Associations of Librarians of Color. She just completed a 3-year term as an American Library Association Executive Board Member and 2-year term as Chair of the Steering Committee on Organizational Effectiveness (SCOE).
Joe Thompson: Director of Public Services for the Carroll County Public Library (Maryland); has previously worked in library administration at the Harford County Public Library and Western Maryland Regional Library. He is the immediate past-chair of the American Library Association’s Committee on Legislation. His past professional experience includes serving as president of the Maryland Library Association and president of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA). He received his MLS in 2001 from the College of Information Studies at University of Maryland.