ACRL Executive Director, Mary Ellen Davis on: Equity Diversity and Inclusion

Sponsored by The Association of College and Research Libraries

Recorded on 01/23/2019
Posted in The Authority File

Episode 71

For this mini-series, Bill chats with Mary Ellen Davis, ACRL’s executive director about the upcoming ACRL conference in Cleveland Ohio, Project Outcome, and the ACRL’s efforts around Equity Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). In this episode, Bill and Mary Ellen discuss the ACRL’s recent action to adopt EDI as a core commitment. Mary Ellen articulates exactly what the ACRL board has committed to, what it means for the ACRL to have made such a commitment, how that commitment is changing the way the ACRL operates. She takes a few moments to talk about the ways EDI has been a longstanding value within the organization, and lists just a few of the ways ACRL’s activities promote inclusivity.

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About the guests:

Mary Ellen Davis
Mary Ellen K. Davis is ACRL Executive Director. She represents the association to the higher education community and has advanced ACRL’s stands on scholarly communication, information literacy, and assessment through presentations, conversations, and collaborative activities. She works closely with the ACRL Board of Directors on strategic planning and governance and with the Budget & Finance Committee.

Mary Ellen has served in various capacities at ACRL including chief operating officer, editor of C&RL News, and professional development program manager before becoming the executive director in 2001. She has an M.S. in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. in education from Central Michigan University, where she worked as a reference and instruction librarian.

A Chicago native, Mary Ellen loves the outdoors and tries to find something in each of Chicago’s seasons to enjoy. In the summers you will find her kayaking or gardening and in the winter cross country skiing (when there is enough snow!) and in every season she walks Layla, her family’s Siberian Husky.