2018 VLA Officer Election

The Election Begins August 1, 2017 & Ends September 15, 2017.

Review each candidate's biography and candidate statement below.  VLA Members please log in on the website and vote on the ballot form.

VLA also has three nominees for Honorary Life Membership.

Jessica Scalph for Vice President/President Elect

Biography:
I received my MLS from UCLA in 1987.  My first professional position after obtaining my MLS was working as a law librarian. I have been a reference librarian at various branches in the Prince William Public Library System since 1998, and I am currently the branch administrator for the Haymarket Gainesville Community Library.  As part of my community outreach, I belong to the Gainesville-Haymarket Rotary Club.
 
VLA and ALA experience:
I have been a member of the American Library Association since 1998 and a member of the Virginia Library Association since 2000. For VLA, I have served on the Intellectual Freedom Committee, the Region V Committee, the Legislative Committee, and on the VLA 2005 and 2011 Conference Planning Committees.  I have also served as ALA Chapter Councilor representing my colleagues in Virginia for six years.  As part of my responsibilities as Chapter Councilor, I sat on the executive council for VLA.  In February 2011, I was invited to join the ALA Committee on Chapter Relations and sat on that committee for two years.  For the VLA Conference in 2007 I presented a program, “Bridging the Gap: Serving Re-entry Students in Public and Academic Libraries” with Heather Groves Hannan and Bill Fleming. I have also presented other programs at the VLA conferences, 2008-2010.  I have  attended ALA’s National Library Legislative Day for several years and also assisted with coordinating the Virginia delegation.
 
Candidate Statement:
I am honored to be considered for the nomination of the Vice President/President Elect position for VLA.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my varied experiences with VLA and I feel those experiences have equipped me well for the challenge of this position.  My role as the ALA Chapter Councilor, introduced me to many VLA members and their concerns.  When I was on the executive council, I learned quite a bit of the responsibilities of the officers and about the VLA policies and manual.  I was an active participant on several conference planning committees which gives me a background for all the work that goes on behind the scenes with organizing and planning for our conferences.  My experience with the Intellectual Freedom and the Legislative Committees have given me a solid background for the important work the VLA committees provide for our organization.  If I were to be elected to this position I would like to continue the wonderful work VLA has been doing with; diversity in the profession, legislative concerns (VA and National), coordinating with the ALA Councilor to bring forward our chapter issues to ALA, and to coordinate and work with Council and the conference planning committee on having an inspiring and tremendous professional associates and annual conference.  In closing, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to be considered for the nomination of the Vice President/President Elect position for VLA.

Jennifer Beach for Vice President/President Elect

Biography:
Jennifer Beach's 17-year career spans service in public libraries, state libraries, and now academia. She is currently the Research and Instructional Services Librarian at Longwood University, and holds faculty rank of Assistant Professor.  Jennifer serves as the Information Literacy Competency faculty lead, serves on Faculty Senate, and was recently appointed to Longwood's Committee on the Core Curriculum.  Prior to her appointment at Longwood in 2016, Jennifer served as the Director of the Cumberland County Public Library from 2011-2016.  She has been a member of VLA since 2011 and served on the License Plate Committee in 2016.

Candidate Statement:
I am excited by the opportunity to serve VLA, and the libraries and library staff of Virginia.  As a late-career librarian (at least according to ALA), I would like to use my expertise to give back to the field that means so much to me. Through my experience in both the public and academic sectors, I feel uniquely qualified to take on this position.  Running for an office in VLA is not a task I take lightly.  The Vice President/President Elect is a busy, actively-engaged member of the Executive Committee.  Thankfully, my career has given me experience coordinating projects, working on a diverse team, and pivoting when change happens.  And change always happens.  I am confident I can fulfill the duties of this position and represent VLA well.  I am highly organized, devoted to our field, and strive to make sure that I leave any project better than I found it.  I look forward to serving the Virginia Library Associate and all its members.

Adrian Whicker for 2nd Vice President

Biography:
Adrian L. Whicker is Head of Cataloging & Technical Services for the Roanoke County Public Library System. He has served in reference, collection management, technical services, archives, and local history positions in public and academic libraries for more than a decade. From 2005-2009, Adrian served as Vice Chair of the North Carolina Library Association's Genealogy & Local History Committee. He has been Chair or Co-Chair of VLA Collections & Technical Services Forum (CaTS) for the past three years. Through CaTS, he regularly presents collection management forums throughout the state and is planning a similarly styled cataloging forum. He is Programming Director for VLA New Members Round Table, Immediate Past President of the Roanoke & New River Valley Library Association and the Social Media Director for the 2017 VLA Annual Conference. He holds a BA in history & political science, an MA in history and an MLIS from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Candidate Statement:
I am honored to be nominated for the Virginia Library Association Second Vice Presidency and to run against someone I deeply respect and admire. I have been actively involved in professional associations since I began my library career over a decade ago. I've been a forum chair or co-chair in both the North Carolina Library Association and VLA. To say that my time in VLA has been beneficial would be an understatement. Because of this, I would like to serve the Association and give back through serving on the Executive Committee as the 2nd Vice President. My attention to details, desire to continually learn, and ability to promote the organization would be an asset in this position, especially in working on the VLA Manual and in organizing member interest in committees and forums. As the Co-Chair of Collections and Technical Services (CaTS), we have rebranded and helped turn it one into one of VLA's most active forums with regular workshops, high Conference presentation submissions, and a popular Facebook page. As New Members Round Table Programming Director, I promote and help organize social and educational events throughout the Commonwealth, and as Social Media Director for the 2017 VLA Annual Conference our memes have garnered national attention and tremendous interest in #2017VLA. I also serve as a mentor to two professional associates/library school students through the NMRT Mentorship program. As President of the Roanoke & New River Valley Library Association, I combined that organization with the VLA Region I Socializers group, and our promotion efforts increased interest and paid memberships, and pulled a financially vulnerable group into the most active socializers group in the Commonwealth; holding monthly events, promoting the groups with an active social media and Web presence, and raising enough funds to present a scholarship to a local library school student. If elected, I would bring these same energies, a sense of fun, organizational skills, and tireless promotion efforts to the position of VLA 2nd Vice President to ensure VLA is one of the top state library associations in the nation. Thank you for considering my candidacy.

Nan Carmack, Ed.D. for 2nd Vice President

Biography:
Nan Carmack holds a BA from the College of William and Mary; her MLS from Drexel University; and a Doctorate in Education from Lynchburg College. She has been working in the library field for 13 years, 9 of which are as the Director of the Campbell County Public Library System. Her interest lie in organizational leadership, leadership development, and social justice aspects of public librarianship. In addition to professional involvement with VLA’s Leadership Development Forum and as previous program chair of  MALiA, she serves on several community boards, including those addressing homelessness and workforce development. She and her husband, Todd, are empty nest parents of three children and currently focus their parental attentions on a cocker spaniel, a corgi and a german shepherd dog, as well as a few random chickens. Nan loves to knit, garden, read and practice yoga.

Candidate Statement:
As a fan and beneficiary of VLA offerings, I consider it my duty to be actively involved in our professional organization. The position of 2nd Vice President interests me especially in its capacity in studying the organization’s policies and procedures to better understand the framework on which its activities hang and constantly testing its relevance and strength for the present needs of the organization. Further, the capacity of helping members find the best fit for the professional involvement, through council, committee and forum assignments, furthers my desire to grow our profession through passion, professionalism, and development of each member. As 2nd Vice President, I not only look forward to serving the organization, but the individuals of which it is made, as I continue my own journey of lifelong learning and service.

Cori Strickler for Treasurer

Biography:
After completing a B.A. in Creative Writing from Susquehanna University, Cori Strickler received her M.L.S. from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and is currently the Learning Services Librarian at Bridgewater College. Arriving in 2007, she rebuilt the college’s information literacy program, and actively seeks collaboration with other departments across campus. She currently co-facilitates the campus Digital Scholarship Working Group and works with the faculty’s Annual Pedagogy Project and serves on the Academic Citizenship Committee and campus Wellness Committee.  She has been a member of VLA since 2007 and started serving on VLA’s Continuing Education Committee in 2012, becoming committee chair in 2015. She is also a member of the VLA Leadership Development Forum, attending its Virginia Library Leadership Academy in 2014. She has served as a mentor for VALLA in 2016, and as a member of the Annual Conference Committee in 2016 and 2017. She is the 2017 Volunteer Coordinator for the Conference.

Candidate Statement:
I moved to Virginia ten years ago and I can still remember the warm welcome that I received from VLA. The association has helped me grow in the library profession, and has given me opportunities to be part of the larger library community. As treasurer, my priority is to be a good steward for the association’s funds, and ensure that VLA remains strong so it can continue to serve current and future members. I am very detailed orientated, and have had budgeting experience facilitating grant awards from the Virginia Foundation of Independence Colleges. As Chair of the Continuing Education Committee, and member of the Annual Conference Committee, I have witnessed firsthand the Executive Committee’s tireless work towards its purpose of supporting and promoting libraries and other information services throughout the state.  In today’s society these are essential goals to have, and I would love the opportunity to continue to support VLA in this endeavor.

Monena Hall for Treasurer

Biography:
Monena Hall is the Branch Supervisor at the Blacksburg Library, part of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library system, in beautiful Southwest Virginia, and has been with the MFRL system since January 2016.  In her current role, she manages a team of 16 full- and part-time paraprofessionals, as well as the busiest branch library in the four branch system.  She also sits on the Board for the Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley, a local adult literacy and basic education non-profit, where she is the Treasurer.  Before joining the management team at MFRL, Monena was the Community Engagement Librarian, as well as the Learning Commons and Assessment Librarian at Virginia Tech from 2012-2016, where she managed student workers, wrote grants, conducted ethnographic space research and other assessment projects, and worked with the departments of Communication, Sociology, and Children’s Literature.  After completing her MLIS at the University of North Texas in 2006, Monena held three positions with the Dallas Public Library from 2006-2011, including Library Assistant,  Children’s Librarian, and Assistant Branch Manager.  Monena has published on a variety of topics including effectively using volunteers in the library, data management, ethnographic research tools, and library assessment.  She thinks her broad areas of experience will help her understand VLA members from across the Commonwealth.

Candidate Statement:  
It would be an honor to serve the Association and to work with the Executive Board to maintain the current strategic directions of the Association while developing new directions and member services.  Having managed budgets for grants as well as for local non-profits, I understand how important it is to keep accurate records, report financial information clearly and timely, and create a budget that is both comprehensive and easily understood.  My interest in serving VLA comes from working through a variety of committees with ALA, namely LLAMA-MAES (Library Leadership and Management Association – Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation Section) on the Executive Board as Member-at-Large, and on committees within the Section.  I find service to professional organizations incredibly rewarding and fun, and know that this experience would be just as enriching.

–Last updated 8/1/2017