Emily Knox (Keynote)

Professor, iSchool at Illinois

Emily Knox is a professor and Interim Dean of the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her most recent book, Foundations of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Neal-Schuman), won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Prize for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom. Emily serves on the board of National Coalition Against Censorship and is the editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. Her research interests include information access, intellectual freedom and censorship, information ethics and policy, and the intersection of print culture and reading practices.

Sean Anderson

Montana Library Association

Description coming soon.

Sarah Widger

President, Montana Library Association

Sarah Widger is the President of the Montana Library Association and the Public Services Department Head at the Bozeman Public Library. She has worked in libraries for over 10 years in varying capacities and she got her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2019. She loves taking naps before noon and petting every dog she can on every walk she takes.

Doralyn Rossman

Dean of the Library, MSU Bozeman

Doralyn Rossmann is Professor and Dean of the Library at Montana State University. In 2024, she created a task force at the MSU Library to look at topics related to AI and libraries and make recommendations for library action. From this work, several policy considerations emerged both for internal AI use and in relation to working with library communities. She will share those ideas and examples of implementation in this session.

Eileen Wright

Library Director, MSU Billings

For the past 23 years, I've called MSU Billings home now as the Library Director and let me tell you—I've had an absolute blast! A big part of my job has been outreach, which basically means finding creative (and sometimes chaotic) ways to bring the university community together. I’ve raced through the stacks playing capture the flag, crafted like there was no tomorrow, hosted trivia nights full of friendly smack talk, and played human Hungry Hippo (yes, it’s as wild as it sounds). I’ve slingshotted rubber duckies down hallways, planned and hosted incredible authors and guest lecturers, and even spent the night locked in the library with a bunch of 4th and 5th graders—because why not? Trust me, I’ve had fun in my library! And we all know it is about making unforgettable memories.

Anne Kish

Electronic Resources Librarian, Montana Tech

Anne Kish is the Electronic Resources Librarian at Montana Technological University. In addition to the usual duties of an ERL, she provides information literacy workshops and classroom instruction and creates electronic research materials for Montana Tech's students and faculty. 

Bobbi Otte

Director – Library, Rocky Mountain College

Bobbi serves as the Director of the Library at Rocky Mountain College. She has a Masters of Science in Library Information Science from Drexel University and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with an emphasis in History and Political Science from Montana State University Billings. In 2015 she was part of the committee that helped determine the feasibility of an academic library consortium that in 2016 would become TRAILS. She loves library instruction and helping students find quality information that helps them to succeed.

Aaron LaFromboise

Director of Library Services, Blackfeet Community College

Aaron is the Director of Library Services at Medicine Spring Library, the academic library for Blackfeet Community College, the community library for the Blackfeet Reservation, and the home of the Blackfeet Community Archives. Aaron has been the director for eight years and has worked in Medicine Spring Library for a total of 15 years. In that time Aaron has achieved bachelor's and master's degrees, has been named an Emerging Leader for the American Library Association, has served on the Montana State Library Commission, has been an active member of the American Indian Library Association Executive Board, serving as president in 2022. Aaron is also an artisan who focuses on quilting and beading but also dabbles in watercolor, loom knitting, carpentry, and she loves to learn and try new things.

Kris Goss

Director of Library Learning Hub, Helena College

Kris serves as the Director of the Library Learning Hub at Helena College. He is also a attorney with the firm of Jackson, Murdo, & Grant, PC in Helena. Kris earned a law degree from the University of Montana School of Law, a Master of Arts in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin, and a Bachelor of Arts from Carroll College.

John Baken

Assistant Librarian, Little Big Horn College

John Baken has been in public and academic libraries for more than 20 years with most of his experience at the college and university level.  Before becoming a librarian, John was a high school English teacher in Montana, and he taught in Fromberg, Stanford and Hysham.  John also taught English at Chuo University in Tokyo, Japan for four years. John has been a librarian at Little Big Horn College for three years.