Jennifer Burek Pierce is professor in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa, jointly appointed in the University of Iowa Center for the Book. Her books include Sex, Brains, and Video Games, 2nd ed. (ALA Editions, 2017), What Adolescents Ought to Know (UMass, 2011), and Narratives, Nerdfighters, and New Media (UIowa Press, 2020). Narratives, Nerdfighters, and New Media has been praised by John Green and The Lion and the Unicorn, which called it “an important book . . . drawing attention to a significant we-are-living-through-it shift in the history of reading.” She has been awarded research fellowships at the American Antiquarian Society; Winterthur Museum, Library, and Gardens; and the De Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her research has won the Donald G. Davis Article Award and the Windsor Library History Essay Award from the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association.
Nancy A. Henke is an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado Libraries. As the Textbook Affordability Librarian, she focuses on developing, curating, and advocating for affordable and open educational resources. In addition to her degree in LIS, she holds an MA in Literature from Colorado State University where she spent thirteen years as an instructor prior to her career in librarianship. In that role she taught undergraduate composition and literature courses, mentored and supported professional development for graduate teaching assistants in the First-Year Composition Program, and directed the Composition Placement Program.
Danae Bassett is a graduate student in Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in English. As a graduate assistant, she has helped with the development of the OER textbook Librarians Learning Together, focusing on enhancing the technical functions of the website so that their purpose and presence are more transparent. In doing so, she aims to improve the reader’s experience and the student’s understanding. Prior to this role, she worked as an editor for the review company You Don’t Read Comics.
Theo Prineas is a graduate student pursuing a Masters in Books, Library, and Information Science (BLIS) at the University of Iowa. He graduated Grinnell College in 2023, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science. He started volunteering at the Iowa City Public Library in 2013, where he was hired as a CAS Aide in 2016 and again in 2023; he worked the reference desk in the Grinnell College Library System; and he has served as a graduate student lead at the University of Iowa Special Collections. As a graduate student, Theo is assisting with technical functions of the OER textbook Librarians Learning Together, and the research project Libraries as Resilience Hubs: Assessing Social Impacts and Learning from Best Practices. Theo is currently serving as personal assistant to ALA president-elect Sam Helmick.
Fall 2023 Contributors: Tyler Berrio, Charlotte Brookins, Kate Burke, Corey Epley, Anna Luria, and Josée Varbonceur.
Fall 2024 Contributors: Madison Creery, Nolan Rochford-Volk.
