ALUMNAE/I HIGHLIGHTS Callan Bignoli ’12MS was selected as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in the Change Agents category. Bignoli has been vocal in her support of library workers throughout the pandemic, and her #ProtectLibraryWorkers campaign received local and national attention. In early 2020, Bignoli and fellow advocates launched Protect Library Workers, a website ofering advocacy strategies, resources for re-opening libraries safely, and tracking lay-ofs and furloughs in libraries across the Commonwealth. Simmons Research and Instruction Librarian Stacy Collins ’16MS/’16MA, was selected as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker 2021. Collins also co-presented “Confronting the Myth of Neutrality: Academic Libraries, Advocacy, and Free Speech” with Adriene Lim ’12MS and other co-presenters at the ALA Annual Conference, June 2021. Kristin Whitworth ’95MS named Librarian of the Year by the New Hampshire School Library Media Association. simmons.edu/slis
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In March of 2021, Christina M. Shutt ’10MS was named the new executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL). Previously the executive director of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, AR, Shutt is the frst person of color to lead the ALPL. The Simmons LIS Alumni Association Board selected Stacie Williams ’11MS as the 2021 SLIS Alumni Achievement Award winner. The award is presented annually to a SLIS graduate who has demonstrated signifcant achievement and excellence in the library and information professions. Williams is the inaugural Division Chief for Archives and Special Collections at the Chicago Public Library, and is a member of the independent Blackivist collective, which works to preserve Chicago-area Black history. She was recently published in Knowledge Justice: Disrupting Library and Information Science Through Critical Race Theory (MIT Press, 2020). A virtual event was held on October 21, at which Williams accepted the award and gave a presentation, “Learning Beyond the LIS.”
SLIS Year in Review 2021
