Liberty Chapter 2024 Election Candidates
Below you will find the bios of the candidates for the 2024 Chapter elections. After reviewing the candidates, please submit your votes. Voting will be open September 9 - October 9
For more information about the elected positions, see the Chapter Bylaws, Article IV. Officers, Section 2. Duties.
Chair-Elect
The elected officer will serve as Chair-Elect Oct 2024 - Oct 2025, as Chair Oct 2025 - Oct 2027, then as Past-Chair Oct 2027 - Oct 2028, and will be a voting member of the Liberty Chapter Board of Directors during that time.
Allison Piazza MHA, MLIS
Allison Piazza, AHIP, is a Clinical Medical Librarian at the Samuel J. Wood Library at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, New York. At Weill Cornell, she provides information services and resources to clinical departments, develops and promotes consumer health educational seminars, and participates on the library’s systematic review service. Allison received her BA from Fordham University, her MLIS from Pratt Institute, and her Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) from Seton Hall University. She is a 2024 member of the Research Training Institute (RTI), where her current research interest is in professional recruitment, especially how to encourage current MLIS students and new MLIS graduates to pursue medical librarianship. For more information about Allison, see allisonpiazza.com.
Medical Library Association, Member (2014 – Present)- Professional Recruitment and Retention Committee, Member (2016-2019), Chair (2017 – 2018)
- Janet Doe Lectureship Jury, Member (2020)
- Research, Development, and Demonstration Project Grant Jury (2024)
- Board Member (2023 – Present)
- Alternate Representative to the Chapter Council (2023 – Present)
- Programming Committee, Member (2021 – 2022), Chair (2022-Present)
- Communications Committee, Member (2022 – Present)
- Outstanding Contribution by a Member (Awarded by the Liberty Chapter on October 11, 2023)
Secretary
The elected officer will serve as Secretary Oct 2024 - Oct 2026 and will be a voting member of the Liberty Chapter Board of Directors during that time.
Jess Saunders MLIS
Jess Saunders (she/her) is an Information Services Librarian at Thomas Jefferson University. Previously, she was a Research Support Librarian at Tulane's Rudolph Matas Library of the Health Sciences. From 2021-2024, Jess served MLA's New Member Caucus as a Student Representative, Chair, Past-Chair and as a Community Council Representative. Originally from South Jersey, she is glad to be back in the region and looks forward to getting involved with the Liberty Chapter.
Sarah Bauman MSLIS, AHIP, MALS
Sarah Bauman, AHIP, is the Head Librarian at the Charles E. Krausz Library at Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine (TUSPM). In this role, she oversees library services, manages collections, and serves as liaison to faculty, students, and staff at both TUSPM and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine's Physician Assistant program. Sarah holds a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Drexel University and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, bringing a wealth of academic and professional experience to her position.
She has developed expertise in systematic review services, instruction, and collection management. Sarah's experience as Treasurer for the ALA student chapter at Drexel University and her frequent roles as a facilitator and note-taker at various meetings at Temple University highlight her strong communication and organizational skills. Her proficiency in managing correspondence, keeping meeting minutes, and handling administrative duties underscores her suitability for the role of MLA Secretary. Sarah's commitment to enhancing library services and promoting professional development exemplifies her dedication to excellence in librarianship.
Treasurer-Elect
The elected officer will serve as Treasurer-Elect Oct 2024 - Oct 2025, as Treasurer Oct 2025 - Oct 2027, then as Past-Treasurer Oct 2027 - Oct 2028, and will be a voting member of the Liberty Chapter Board of Directors during that time.
Ben Hoover MLIS
Benjamin Hoover has been working in Health Sciences Libraries since 2012 and in 2018 became the Associate Director and Coordinator for Innovative Technology Services at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey PA. He currently supports curricular integration of technologies and coordinates the library multimedia, 3d printing, 3d design services and outreach. His research is focused on how library patrons connect and access library resources, services and spaces. He enjoys hiking and 3d printing as hobbies. Ben has been active in the Liberty Chapter of the MLA since 2020 and has served on the conference planning committee on vendor relations since 2021.
Member-at-Large
The elected officer will serve as a Member-at-Large of the Chapter Board Oct 2024 - Oct 2026 and will be a voting member of the Liberty Chapter Board of Directors during that time.
Michelle Bass PhD, MSI, AHIP
Michelle B. Bass, PhD, MSI, AHIP, is the clinical information librarian at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Since moving into the region in August 2022, she became an active member of the Liberty Chapter during the 2022 election process when she volunteered and was elected as secretary. While her role as secretary is coming to an end, Michelle is running as a Member at Large to ensure continued support and energy behind initiatives started by the Board over the past two years, including local events planning , the MLA Liberty Chapter Digital Archive, and the board’s Microsoft 365 account. She will always be a strong advocate for hospital librarians in the chapter and will encourage more opportunities for informal networking between all chapter members as a Member at Large.
Elizabeth S. Blake MLS, AHIP
Elizabeth S. Blake is the 2022-2025 Eugene Garfield Resident for Science Librarianship at the University of Pennsylvania. Before Penn, Elizabeth worked as a cataloger and Head of Technical Services in public libraries. She holds a master's degree in library and information science from Pennsylvania Western University, formerly Clarion University, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Temple University. In 2024, Elizabeth became one of Temple University's 30 under 30 Awardees and a 2024 Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians graduate.
Nominating Committee
The elected committee members will serve on the Nominating Committee Oct 2024 - Oct 2026.
(select two)
Helen-ann Brown Epstein MLS, MS, AHIP-D,FMLA
Helen-Ann is celebrating her 50th year as a Health Sciences Librarian. She was a member of the NY/NJ MLA Chapter since 1991, serving on committees, chairing committees and serving as chapter chair. Now Helen-Ann continues to be active in the Liberty Chapter. From her 22 years at Weill Cornell in New York City and now almost 7 years at Virtua Health in southern New Jersey, plus her active participation in the Liberty Chapter, Helen-Ann knows many members and wants to use those relationships on the Nominating Committee to create slates of officers to move the Chapter forward.
Katelyn Angell MLIS, MA, AHIP
Katelyn (Kate) Angell, AHIP, is a Medical Librarian and Associate Professor at the CUNY School of Medicine in New York, New York. She previously worked as a librarian at Lehman College and LIU Brooklyn. Kate has published on various medical and information literacy topics in journals including Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, Journal of the Medical Library Association, and Communications in Information Literacy.
Gary Childs MS, MPA
Gary is the Engineering (STEM-H) Librarian at West Chester University, located in Southeastern Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Liberty Chapter since its inception, and he currently serves Immediate Past-Chair (2023-2024). In addition, he became a member of the legacy chapter, MLA-PHIL in 2000. He served MLA-PHIL as Programming Chair (2020-2021), Treasurer (2012-2016), and Membership Chair from (2002-2007).