Speakers

Ed Le Brocq

Writer, music teacher, broadcaster & trans man who has performed & studied around the world.

Carly Findlay OAM

Carly Findlay OAM is an award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist.

Josh Pyke

Singer-songwriter, producer, musician and children's book author.

Michael Coyne

Michael Coyne has worked as a photographer for over 30 years, covering wars, revolutions, famine, natural disasters and other international events in places as diverse as the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Middle East and Afr

Dion Devow

Dion Devow is a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Man and father of 3. He was born and raised in Darwin and moved to Canberra in 1994 to attend university. After graduating in 1994 with a bachelors degree in Health Education, he decided to

Andrea McMahon

Andrea McMahon completed a Graduate Diploma in Librarianship at the University of Tasmania in 1986 and worked in a variety of roles in Tasmanian libraries, including Senior Cataloguer, before moving into the emerging field of library adult literacy.

Lara Pugh

Lara Pugh is the Project Leader Learning City at Wollongong City Libraries.

Freya Bruce

Freya is currently the Library Manager, Client Services for the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Brisbane campus at the Australian Catholic University.

Julia Atkin

Doctor Julia Atkin is universally recognised for her rich understanding of learning and thinking and providing practical ways to support teachers and leaders in enhancing learning for all.

Darcy Phillips

Darcy grew up in Perth, WA. She moved to Canberra two years ago to pursue opportunities for marketing in Government.

Michelle Harrison

Michelle leads a team who support librarians to create engaging and pedagogically sound learning experiences.

Michella McIntosh

During high school, my job was shelving books at the local library. I realised what an amazing community resource a library was, and I wanted to value add back to my community by working within one.

Catie Maher

Catie worked at Port Phillip Library Service branches for over nine years, winning multiple awards for both her displays and customer service. She worked in a range of roles, from rostering to programs to social media and marketing.

David Gutteridge

David is currently Manager of the Huonville Library based in the south of Tasmania. His catchment includes two smaller libraries in rural towns.

Adam Selinger

Adam Selinger is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Children’s Discovery, an educational charity established in 2001 with a mission to improve educational outcomes for children through the establishment of engaging, accessible and educational d

Leonie Rutherford

Leonie Rutherford (PhD, Australian National University) Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University where she leads the Teenagers Reading and Digital Practices research program.

Anthony Shaw

Anthony Shaw has had more than 25 years’ experience within the book industry across a wide range of roles; including national book buyer for a chain of 30+ stores

Thomas Griffiths

Tom is a Product Manager working with civic technologies used by governments in Australia and abroad to offer services to millions of citizens.

Hugh Kingsley

Hugh Kingsley is an educationalist and co-author of The Human Rights Game. He specialises in publishing, writing and distributing educational resources to empower people in Australia and internationally.

Mary Coe

Mary Coe is a PhD student at the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University (CSU). She is currently working as a metadata analyst at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare but also has extensive experience wit

Andrew Spencer

Andrew is currently the Manager, Library and Information Services at the NextSense Institute Library, a special library with a collection which focuses on vision and hearing loss. His previous experience includes roles in academic and health librarie

Sue Hutley

Sue Hutley is the General Manager, Library Customer Services at Bond University Library. During her career, Sue has worked in managerial positions in special, public and academic libraries as well as a not-for-profit Executive Director.

Melissa Brown

Melissa Brown is the Sustainability Librarian at Altona Library, looking after the EnviroCentre. She joined Hobsons Bay Libraries in March 2017 after a career in environmental education, having worked for Zoos Victoria, Parks Victoria

Wendy Preston

Wendy has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Phys Ed) and began her career teaching Physical Education, Outdoor Education and Science in government secondary schools in Victoria.

David Tordoff

A director at Hayball, David plays a key role in the practice’s national education and commercial projects, working with state governments and private clients.

Antonia Mocatta

Dr Antonia Mocatta is the Director of the Central Services Division at the University of Sydney Library, leading the Library's budget management, strategy implementation, analytics and reporting, process optimisation, quality and compliance, and proj

Simon O’Toole

Simon is a Senior Technical Consultant at a Fortune 500 technology company, leading their Emerging Technologies Innovation team, delivering next-gen tech to the Public Sector.

Rochelle Quigley

I am a newly graduated Master of Business Information student with a Library and Information Science specialisation.

Lori Korodaj

Lori is a TL practitioner with almost 30 years of experience in Australia and overseas, in school (K-12) and public libraries.

Karen Campbell

Karen has worked in the education and library sector for over 30 years, both in Australia and overseas.

Kat Cain

Full of ideas and what if questions, Kat Cain has an optimistic, enthusiastic but reflective approach to Library practice. Shaping Kat's work over the past decade has been an interest in technologies impact on people and their learning.

Nica Tsakmakis

Nica has worked in both private libraries and in the education sector at TAFE and universities in Melbourne and Brisbane. While she trained as a rare book librarian, she is fascinated by all things digital in the library world.

Dr Sara King

Dr Sara King is the Training and Engagement Lead for AARNet. She is focused on outreach within the research sector, developing communities of interest around training, outreach and skills development in eResearch.

Tara Cordina

Tara Cordina is currently employed by Canterbury Bankstown Libraries as a Children's & Youth Technical Specialist. She is responsible for Program Planning especially early literacy and all facets of library inclusion programs for ages 0-18 years.

Annie Bourne

Annie Bourne is the Team Leader Children's and Youth Services at Yarra Libraries. With more than half of her public library career in leadership roles, she has a passion for supporting teams to create welcoming spaces and inclusive programs

Helen Partridge

Professor Helen Partridge is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning at Deakin University. Prior to this she has held leadership roles at the University of Southern Queensland and Queensland University of Technology.

Maeva Masterson

A results-focused librarian with extensive experience providing public libraries with strategic advice and direction.

Sara Davidson

Sara Davidson’s current role as Member Services Coordinator at CAVAL Ltd., gives her the opportunity to advocate for things that are close to her heart.

Ronald Briggs

He trained as a schoolteacher, teaching primary schools in Moree and Sydney before starting work at the State Library of NSW in 1991.

Kathy Talbot

Kathy has been a teacher in the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese for almost 20 years, including 7 years working in a school library.

Alice Chik

Alice Chik is an Associate Professor at the Macquarie School of Education and the Associate Director of the Multilingualism Research Centre.

Bronwyn Reddan

Bronwyn Reddan is a Research Fellow on the ARC linkage project ‘Discovering a “Good Read”: Pathways to Reading for Australian Teens’.

Christine Vandor

Christine Vandor is the Team Leader for Children's and Youth Services at Maribyrnong Libraries in Melbourne's West.

Rebecca Muir

Rebecca (“Bec”) Muir is a librarian with ten years’ experience in the industry across both public and academic libraries.

Dr Jane Garner

Dr Jane Garner is a lecturer and researcher with the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia.

Kerryn Whiteside

Kerryn is the Adult and Community Programs and Engagement Officer at Moreton Bay Region Libraries. Her roles there include community liaison and developing our diverse 18+ offerings.

Lisa Given

Lisa M. Given, PhD, is Professor of Information Science (Centre for Design Innovation) and Strategic Advisor, Research Capability Development, at Swinburne University of Technology.

Shauna Miller

Shauna Miller began her library career working in public libraries in metropolitan Sydney, before moving to the University of Wollongong Library.

Jac Torres-Gomez

Jac Torres-Gomez is a passionate community development practitioner, teacher, facilitator and author.

Ola Wleklinski

Ola Wleklinski graduated from Wroclaw University in Poland (Librarianship and Scientific Information) in 1982. She continued to study in her area of interest after migrating to Australia, completing post graduate studies in Librarianship and Informat

Deborah Fisher

Deborah is a lecturer in Fashion Studies. Her approach to education focuses on developing a design mindset through innovative education, industry/student engagement and practical experiential opportunities for authentic learning.

Meredith Beardmore

Meredith Beardmore is a liaison librarian at Melbourne Polytechnic. Her liaison areas cover vocation and higher education courses in the arts, education, and IT, though she has regularly worked with students and faculty in other areas

Libby Levett

Libby completed a Grad. Dip. of Library and Information Management at the South Australian Institute of Technology in 1988. Her major project included recommendations on the design and delivery of a library-based adult literacy service.

Katya Johanson

Katya Johanson is Professor of Audience Research at Deakin University. She researches the ways that the work of creative industries impacts on people’s lives.

Elham Hafiz

Elham is a Medical Science Honours student researching accessible teaching and inclusivity in science.

Margot Riley

Margot Riley has worked in cultural institutions across NSW since 1988, and for over 20 years at the State Library of NSW. She contributes expertise across a variety of collection functions including research, acquisition and interpretation.

Liz Khater

Liz Khater is a Children's Librarian with City of Canada Bay Libraries. Liz specialises in the development, coordination and delivery of children's programs

Trish Hepworth

Trish Hepworth is the Director of Policy and Education for the Australian Library and Information Association, in which role she is overseeing the Association’s Professional Pathways Initiative.

Sarah Fennelly

Sarah Fennelly is a Digital Designer for Deakin University Library who brings a wealth of expertise to visual and user interface design for the Library's digital ecosystem.

Sarah Thompson

Sarah Thompson has been in the library industry for over a decade. Currently she is the manager of Manly Library, part of the Northern Beaches Library Service.

Laura Shelley

Laura Shelley has a passion for marketing, communications and event management which can be traced back to before on-demand TV where TV commercials were king.

Bethlehem Mekonnen

Bethlehem is a medicinal chemistry honours student researching access to high quality work integrated learning in science.

Cathie Oats

Cathie Oats is from the National Library of Australia and works in the Engagement Branch. She has the dream job of sharing and promoting the services of the National Library to the general public.

Joey Chung

Joey was born and raised in Hong Kong and move to Australia in 2004. A self-proclaimed crazy librarian, who likes to spice up the library tour and presentation with a sense of humour.

Mark Norman

Mark Norman is the Wollongong City Libraries Manager who has also worked in managerial and strategic roles in Kogarah and Rockdale libraries.

Kay Pisel

Kay Pisel has several years' experience in public library management and as a teacher librarian in the education sector.

Mary Anne Kennan

Dr Mary Anne Kennan is Associate Professor, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. Mary Anne researches and publishes mainly in the areas of scholarly communication, changing academic library services

Wendy Ratcliffe

Wendy Ratcliffe has explored various roles within La Trobe University Library, from Collection Delivery team leader to Faculty Librarian.

Kylie Carlson

Kylie Carlson is Yarra Libraries Senior Coordinator of Community Engagement and Partnerships. Kylie has over 25 years experience in leadership and management roles, and is currently leading the community engagement and partnerships, outreach and prog

Abby Dawson

Abby Dawson works as the Coordinator, Collection Services in the Public Library Services branch of the State Library of NSW.

James Nicholson

James is the Program and engagement Lead for Moreton Bay Region Libraries. In his current role his team looks at region wide programming for the 10 libraries in the service.

Cory Greenwood

Cory Greenwood is a librarian, leader & troublemaker with over 15 years' experience in public libraries.

Rebecca Bateman

Rebecca is a Weilwan and Gamilaroi woman with family from Warren in North West NSW and connections to the Gunnedah region of NSW and Charleville in QLD.

Catriona Bryce

Catriona has been working in libraries since 1999. The first two years were spent in the ACT Library Service, doing everything from digitising historic photos to running a children’s program.

Jennifer Douglas

Jen Douglas is the Metadata Coordinator for the AIATSIS library. She graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in History (HONS) and also holds a Diploma of Library and Information Science.

Nada Antoun

Nada has worked at City of Parramatta Libraries for almost fifteen years. She worked for many years in the Multicultural team - delivering programs, building a number of important partnerships and working on major projects.

Amy Rake

Amy is a qualified high school and primary teaching specialising in Early Literacy Development and Learning Support. She joined the Central Northern Regional Library in 2019 as the Children's Services Officer and has a special interest in Early Lite

Nisa Alam

Nisa has worked in libraries for fifteen years, mainly in frontline customer service roles. She is the host of Parra Pods, City of Parramatta Library's podcast show. She is also an occasional contributor to Parra CALD (the multicultural counterpart).

Elizabeth Little

Elizabeth Little has been the Manager, Research Library of Archives at NGA since May 2020. She has an extensive background in fine arts and research libraries, having worked at both the National Art School Sydney and State Library of NSW.

Bhuva Narayan

Dr. Bhuva Narayan is Associate Professor of Digital and Social Media Studies in the School of Communication, and the Director of Graduate Research at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

Jessica Anderson

Jess has been recognised by her library management at Goulburn Valley Libraries as a future leader.

Rachel D’Arcy

Rachel is a Senior Library Services & Programs Officer at Brimbank Libraries, Victoria.

Dr. Susan McLaine

Dr. Susan McLaine is a leading practitioner of bibliotherapy—using literature and storytelling to support wellbeing. For more than 12 years, she has researched, delivered, written, and spoken about bibliotherapy in Australia and internationally.

Alycia Bailey

Alycia has been a librarian for 12 years, working in TAFE, public, school, and academic libraries teaching young people information literacy skills by inviting them to be joyfully curious.

Dr Holly Randell-Moon

Dr Holly Randell-Moon is a lecturer in the School of Indigenous Australian Studies at Charles Sturt University. She has published in the areas of critical race and whiteness studies, communication, education, and the knowledge economy.

Dr Simon Wakeling

Dr Simon Wakeling is a lecturer in the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University. His current research focuses on the role and function of public libraries in Australia.

Anne Rauch

Anne has an extensive career in the disability and community sectors. She has worked with children and adults who have a range of disabilities including intellectual disability, autism, mental health issues, physical disability

Dr Jo Kaeding

Jo Kaeding has a Doctor in Philosophy from the University of South Australia. Her research focus is inclusive public libraries for children with disability and their families.

Dr Shirleene Robinson

Dr Shirleene Robinson is a Director of Curatorial and Collection Research at the National Library of Australia where she leads the curation of oral history and manuscript material.

Libby Cass

Libby Cass joined the National Library of Australia in 2016, following 10 years of work in the Pacific. Libby is passionate about contemporary collecting, connecting communities with collections, and collaborating with others to maximise the national

Elisa Lee

Elisa Lee, Creative Director and Business Owner of Unstacked, is a Sydney-based interaction designer and visual communicator passionate about storytelling and inspiring conversation by creating new ways of generating and experiencing data.

Annie Breslin

Annie Breslin is currently the Moving Image Specialist on a mass film and video digitisation project at the State Library of NSW. Previously an archivist with roles covering research, curatorial and preservation activities at Special Broadcasting

Jacqueline Auhl

Jacqui Auhl has always been a librarian at heart, and started her library career at the age of 15. After finishing a Bachelor's Degree in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Monash, she went on to complete a Master of Information Management.

Susan MacLaine

Dr Susan McLaine is a leading practitioner of bibliotherapy - using literature and storytelling to support wellbeing. For more than 12 years, she has researched, delivered, written and spoken about bibliotherapy in Australia and internationally.

Dr Nicole Johnston

Dr Nicole Johnston is the Associate University Librarian of Digital and Information Literacy at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.

Philip Kent

Philip joined Sydney University in 2020 following an extensive career in Australian and UK universities and the CSIRO. This is his fourth post as University Librarian. He is the first to hold this role at both Sydney and Melbourne.

Corinna Pierce

Corinna is Library Customer Service Coordinator at Woollahra Libraries. She has worked in public libraries for the past 12 years and before that had a varied career in the corporate sphere, small business and in hospitality.

Kathryn Eyre

Kathryn is a passionate believer in the power of literature to enhance our society and improve educational outcomes.

Neil Doherty

Neil Doherty is Vice President of International markets at NewsBank, based in Florida, USA. Neil has extensive experience in the international education arena having led several educational publishers’ operations in primary, secondary and higher educ

Brett Wilson

Brett Wilson, VP Oceania at EBSCO. Brett Wilson has been involved with the higher education sector for 21 years, both in publishing and IT.

Alison Jones

Alison Jones recently joined Atlassian in the new role of Senior Research Librarian. Atlassian is an Australian based global software company creating software, such as Jira and Confluence, to unleash the potential of every team.

Damien Almeida

Training executive - Gale ANZ

Craig Pett

Craig Pett is the National Sales Manager at Bezi Publishing Services, NewsBank’s local representative in Australia.

Tony Zanders

Tony Zanders is an award-winning software entrepreneur and library technology executive. He currently serves as the founder and CEO of Skilltype — a software platform for information professionals and their teams to analyze, develop, and share expert

Sue Ollerhead

Sue Ollerhead is a researcher and senior lecturer in Languages and Literacy Education and the Director of Secondary Teacher Education at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

Dr Kasey Garrison

Dr. Kasey Garrison is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University. Kasey has experience teaching in primary schools as well as the university level.

Patricia Adjei

Patricia is a Wuthathi, Mabuiag Islander and Ghanaian woman from Warrane/ Sydney. She has a Bachelor of Arts and Law from UNSW and is the Head of First Nations arts and culture at the Australia Council for the Arts.

Dr Sascha Jenkins

Sascha Jenkins has experience working within the higher education sector both within and outside of libraries. Sascha is well recognised for her work in creating both digital and physical user experiences to support client and community engagement.

Oriana Acevedo

Oriana works at the State Library of NSW. In her role as the Multicultural Consultant for Public Libraries, she provides advice and supports the development of multicultural library services within the State Library of NSW, and NSW public libraries.

Dr Sabine Wardle

Dr. Sabine Wardle is a lecturer in the School of Social Work and Arts at Charles Sturt University. Sabine has extensive teaching and training experience in vocational education and at the university level.

Lea Simpson

Lea holds a Bachelor of Art Theory from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the Kenneth Karmiole Fellow 2019-2020.

Dr Georgie McClean

Dr Georgie McClean has 20 years experience in policy, research, strategy and partnerships in key creative organisations and institutions, including senior leadership roles at the Australian Film Radio and Television School, Screen Australia and SBS.

Mia Turner

With experience in the higher education industry, Mia received the opportunity to take on the project officer role in the Student Learning Hub.

Anita Sallenbach

Anita is Coordinator, Collection Development & Discovery at Curtin Library, where her responsibilities include the selection and renewals process of information resources, the management of ebook products and the evaluation of different acquisition m

Dr Petra Dumbell

Petra is one of Curtin University Library’s Academic Skills Advisors. She is responsible for organising and delivering GRASP, the Graduate Research Advanced Skills Program.

Nicole Clark

Nicole Clark (she / her) is the University Librarian at QUT Library. She is passionate about the role libraries play in creating positive social change and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.

Kirsten Thorpe

Kirsten Thorpe (Worimi, Port Stephens) Senior Researcher, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research University of Technology Sydney, has broad interests in research and engagement with Indigenous protocols and decolonising practices in

Kelly Gibbs

Kelly Gibbs is the Product Manager for the Spydus integrated library management solution at Civica.

Rose Barrowcliffe

Rose Barrowcliffe is Butchulla and a Doctoral candidate at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Rose’s research has led her to work with libraries and archives around the country

Brendan Somes

Brendan Somes works at the State Library of New South Wales. His work involves collection policy, coordinating selection of material for digitisation, and collecting initiatives such as collecting COVID related material and social media.

Brendan Fitzgerald

Brendan Fitzgerald is Director of Library Consultancy 641 DI. He works on library and NFP strategy and planning with a particular focus on library infrastructure, Digital Inclusion, and understanding the impact of societal issues.

Felicity Macchion

Felicity Macchion is Manager Yarra Libraries, at Yarra City Council. Managing an innovative approach towards council services.

Anna Burkey

Anna Burkey is a creative entrepreneur and storyteller, with a passion for books, reading, the arts, and education. Hailing from Scotland, where she was on the founding team of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, Anna now lives in Melbourne, on Wuru

Dr Lyn Hay

Dr Lyn Hay has worked in K-12 and tertiary education for over 35 years as a teacher, teacher librarian, university lecturer and researcher, and educational consultant

Bruce Carter

Dr Bruce Carter has worked at the State Library of NSW since 2011. He was co-curator with Margot Riley and Ronald Briggs on the State Library of NSW’s 2020/1 'Coming Out in the 70s' exhibition.

Aimee Hay

Aimee Hay is a librarian with more than 20 years’ experience in the public library sector. She has worked in numerous libraries across Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Marie Vlahakis

Marie loves being part of the amazing diverse team at Plumtree. Marie is very passionate about the importance of supporting families to learn and share with and from one another whilst encouraging a strengths-based, growth mindset approach.

Edward Luca

Edward Luca is a library practitioner and researcher. He is currently Associate Director, Academic Services at the University of Sydney Library.

Ramon Martinez-Mendoza

Ramon has over 20 years of experience working closely with diverse communities to help develop and implement social policy reforms for the Australian Government, Higher Education Sector, LGAs and private sector.

Sharon Burden

Sharon is a public policy professional with over 20 years’ experience in the Australian Government.

Katherine Session

Katherine is an Assistant Manager in the International Strategy and Futures at eSafety Commissioner. Katherine works with social media platforms and industry in leading eSafety’s Safety by Design initiative.

Helle Lauridsen

Librarian, Innovator, change instigator - from a background in Academic libraries, spearheading the move to e-resources, I recognized the need for better discovery and moved to work for CSA (later ProQuest) on the development of the first discovery s

Sam Kingsley

Sam Kingsley is the Head of STEM Education and Assistive Technology at the Brainary. He works with Schools, Libraries, Universities and NDIS clients to implement digital technologies.