Alumni and Friends

Alumni

Nearly every year, the School of Information has recognized members of in the Library and Information Science community with events such as the Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumni Award and the Alice G. Smith Lecture.

The School of Information through the years has seen the graduation of over 3,000 students from its Master's program, since its inception in 1974. Graduates have gone on to succeed in a wide variety of interesting positions in all parts of the United States and abroad. Some graduates of note:

Lydia Acosta was Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian Nova Southeastern University and was responsible for setting the strategic direction and managing the daily operations of the NSU library system, including the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center on NSU’s main campus, a joint-use facility between the Broward County Board of County Commissioners and NSU. As the largest library facility in Florida, the Sherman Library is a national model for a successful public-private partnership. 

Ethan J. Allen ('00) is the Director at John D. MacArthur Campus at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Libraries.

Roy Balleste ('02) is the Law Library Director and Professor of Law at Stetson University School of Law.

Rose Bland ('92) is the Director of the Shimberg Health Sciences Library, University of South Florida. She serves on the USF SI Advisory Board.

Andrew S. Breidenbaugh ('96) is the director of the Tampa-Hillsborough library system. He has been principal librarian for the John F. Germany Public Library, chief librarian for the South Tampa region, manager of library technology and collections, and manager of library technology and collections for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries

Todd Chavez is Dean of the USF Libraries and serves on the USF SI Advisory Board.

Lauren Christos ('00) is a FIU University Reference and Research Librarian. 2009-2010 Chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT).

Courtney Crummett ('06) is a Biosciences Librarian at MIT Libraries. National Library of Medicine Associate Fellow, 2006-2008.

Alexandra Curran ('13) was selected to be a resident for the National Digital Stewardship Residency Program, run by Harvard University, for 2015-2016. She will be working with the MIT project.

Mike Dahn ('97) is SVP at Global Head of Westlaw Product Management.

Susan Dillinger ('81) Director of New Port Richey Public Library. FLA proclaimed her Florida Librarian of the Year (2014).

Anne Ellis ('75) was the first Librarian Relations Director at Thomson Reuters and the former Chair of the Private Law Libraries division.

Angie Drobnic Holan ('10) is the editor of PolitiFact. She was a member of the PolitiFact team that won the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the 2008 election. She has been with the Tampa Bay Times since 2005 and previously worked at newspapers in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and New Mexico.

Nancy Fredericks ('01) is an acting Libraries Director at Pasco County Library Cooperative.

Sonja Garcia ('77) was a former USF Library administrator and a former member of the USF Board of Trustees. She was the first African American woman on the 12-member board.

Lucía Martínez Gonzalez ('91) is the Library Director at City of North Miami, 2010-2011 and past president of REFORMA. She is the author of the award-winning bilingual books The Bossy Gallito, winner of the Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal and named one of New York Public Library's 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know; and Señor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America, an Americas Award Commended Title. Gonzalez was named the 1998 Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumna by the University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science. Her new book, The Storyteller's Candle, is a bilingual picture book illustrated by Lulu Delacre, winner of the 2008 Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal.

Phyllis Gorshe is the Director of the Dunedin Public Library in Pinellas County, Florida. She is the 2020-2021 Vice-President and President-Elect of the Florida Library Association. Phyllis is also an active member of the community as a member of various civic organizations including the Dunedin Council of Organizations, Secretary: 2015-Present, the Garrison Jones School Advisory Committee, Community Liaison: 2014-Present, and the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, Education Committee Member: 2014-Present. 

William Harris ('11) is a Principal Librarian at Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library and supervises for the Florida History & Genealogy Library at John F. Germany Public Library. He is also the historian for the USF LIS Alumni Society.

Samantha Hastings is Director of School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina for the state of Florida. She was elected as the Director for Region V in the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

RoseMary Hedberg ('12) is a National Library of Medicine (NLM) Associate Fellow at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.

Jenny Hodges ('09) is a senior Librarian Hillsborough County Public Library System and also is head of youth services for New Tampa Regional Library.

Carrie Hurst ('00) is a Senior Librarian and branch manager of the Robert W. Saunders Public Library in Hillsborough County, Florida. Carrie was inducted into the  International Chapter of the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society in 2010.

Shirley Kennedy was an internet pioneer and edited Best Bet Internet: Reference and Research When You Don't Have Time to Mess Around as well as the editor for InfoToday.com.

Anne Leon ('94) is the Executive Director of Public Library Services at Alvin Sherman Library, Nova Southeastern University.

Lisa Broadhead Lilyquist ('93) is the director at Lakeland Public Library.

Alicia Long ('11) is a Library Specialist, Access Services & Outreach at the State College of Florida in Manatee-Sarasota. She was a 2009 Spectrum Scholar and 2012 ALA Emerging Leader,  and often teaches a course on Multicultural Literature at the University of South Florida, School of Information, as an adjunct instructor. 

Casey McPhee is the director at Largo Public Library.

Mika Nelson ('01) is the Library Director at City of St. Petersburg.

Kimberly Nordon-Parks ('13) is a Librarian I at Pasco County Library.

Roxanna Palmer ('15) is a Librarian for Hillsborough Community College.

Amy Parrott is the Supervisory Librarian at the Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP).

Celia C. Pérez is an author and her first book, The First Rule of Punk, was a 2018 Pura Belpré Award Honor Book, a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor book, a winner of the 2018 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, a Junior Library Guild selection, and was included in several best of the year lists. Her second book for young readers, Strange Birds, will be published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers in September 2019.

Glenda Phipps is the Library Director at Hialeah Campus Library, Miami Dade College.

Jennifer Pratt ('90) is the Executive Director at Southeast Florida Library Information Network.

Todd Puccio ('94) is the Director of Technical Services at Health Professions Divisions Library, Nova Southeastern University.

Dorothy M. Schirtzinger was the former library director at the Lee County Library System (LCLS).

Cecelia Solomon ('87) 2009-2010 president of Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME,) the school media specialists’ association.

Dr. Barbara Stites ('88) holds the rank of University Librarian and serves as the Associate Dean, Library Services for Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr. Stites is also on the USF SI Advisory Board.

Larry Treadwell IV ('99) is the Director at of the Fayetteville State University (NC)