Steve chats with Peter Hepburn and Wanda Brown, 2018 candidates for American Library Association President, about why they want to be president, how to increase diversity in the profession, and what the degree requirements should be for the ALA Executive Director.

Read the transcript.

Canadian-born and raised, Peter Hepburn earned his BA (Honours) in Political Science from the University of Victoria (1992) and his MLIS from McGill University (2000).  On earning his masters degree, he started as a resident librarian in the Reference Department of the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  He eventually earned tenure and became head of the Digital Programs department before moving to California in 2013 where he took on the head librarianship of the College of the Canyons, a community college in Santa Clarita. In his spare time, Peter enjoys swimming, running, and food and cooking. He lives in Pasadena with his husband, Conrad.

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Wanda Kay Brown is the Director of Library Services for the C. G. O’Kelly Library at Winston-Salem State University. A 1977 graduate, she returned home after nearly three decades of comprehensive library experience. Prior to her appointment, she served as the Associate Dean of Wake Forest University’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library. Wanda Brown has been an ALA member for 30 years and is an active member of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association for Libraries Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA). She has held multiple leadership positions within each division.  Brown holds a BA in English, with a minor in psychology from Winston-Salem State University, and an MLS from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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