Welcome to the 2024 APALA Elections! Elections open on Monday, February 26, 2024 (12:00 am Eastern Time) and end on Friday, March 25, 2024 (11:59 PM Eastern Time).
Please vote for Vice President/President Elect, Treasurer, and Member at Large (two positions).
Each eligible voting member will receive a ballot via email. Eligible members include active members (Free, Library Support Staff, Life, Personal, Retiree, Student, Unemployed, and Corporate) in good standing on or before February 26, 2024. Institutional members are ineligible to vote.
Thank you to all APALA members willing to serve!
Sincerely,
APALA Nominating Committee
Annie Pho, Ray Pun, and Sherise Kimura
nominating@apala.web
President-Elect/Vice President:
- Anna Coats
Treasurer:
- Saira Raza
Member At Large:
- Nicola Andrews
- Azeem M. Khan
Candidate Information
President-Elect/Vice President:
Anna Coats
Anna Coats is the Assistant Director of Public Services for Newark Public Library in New Jersey. There she oversees approximately 60 staff in 11 departments across 7 branch locations, all of which play an important role in the library’s services to the community. One of Anna’s first priorities when she took on this role was to increase and strengthen communication between departments, as well as to unify programming, introduce cultural programming to all branch locations, and create a space for librarians to share ideas. One of the highlights of her job as Assistant Director is to show staff how their work is valuable and contributes to the library’s mission. Prior to becoming an Assistant Director, Anna worked in Youth Services for 9 years working with both children and teens. During her time as a Youth Services Supervisor, Anna won the 2015 NJ State Library Multicultural Programming Award, the 2015 ALSC Curiosity Creates Grant, and was a 2015 ALA Emerging Leader. Anna has participated in panel presentations on the topics of leadership, microaggressions, graphic novels, and tarot in libraries.
Anna holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Library & Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Arts (M.A.) in English from Rutgers University-Newark. Anna was born and raised in New Jersey, and is multi-racial: half Indo-Guyanese and half white. Because of her mixed identity Anna has felt left out of certain spaces, but immediately felt welcomed with open arms in APALA.
Statement of Interest: I am both honored to be considered for APALA President Elect/Vice President and excited at the prospect of being APALA’s first Indo-Caribbean President. I have been an APALA member since 2012 and have been involved ever since. On the APALA Executive Board I served as Member-at-Large from 2013-2015, and as Secretary from 2015-2017. On APALA committees I served on the 2014 Philadelphia Local Arrangements Task Force, 2015-2017 Family Literacy Task Force Co-Chair, 2016-2017 Literature Awards Young Adult Committee, 2017 Chicago Local Arrangements Task Force, and served as a Mentor on the Mentoring Committee from 2018 – present. I have found APALA and its members extremely supportive and welcoming, and would not be where I am today without the support of APALA and the friends I have made through APALA. APALA has always felt like my professional home and I hope to continue APALA’s legacy of being inclusive and expand its support for South Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pasifika library workers as well as AAPI library workers who identify as mixed, disabled, and/or LGBTQ+.
Treasurer
Saira Raza
Saira Raza (she/they) is currently a business librarian at Emory University’s Goizueta Business Library in Atlanta GA. She is the liaison to the Executive MBA and PhD programs and the subject liaison for the organization and management area. In addition to providing instruction and research coaching to students across all levels and areas at the business school, she also serves as the business library’s lead for assessment. In 2021, Saira completed the Emory Executive Coaching Diploma Program and provides coaching services to library, academic, and creative professionals at various stages in their careers.
Saira is a practicing artist and musician and has been recognized in Atlanta’s local arts community with various grants, residencies, and critical reviews. She performs regularly with her band and as a solo artist and even started a band at work – The Periodicals, Emory Libraries’ periodic improvisational jam band. She has two adorable chihuahua mixes (Penny and Zuko), a 14-year-old kid/Roblox aficionado, and is working to transform her yard to a native plant and food oasis.
Statement of Interest: Thank you for considering my nomination to serve as treasurer for APALA. If elected for this role, I will provide timely, accurate information and guidance about APALA’s financial resources and needs to board members, committees, task forces, and membership. For any leadership role, I believe that clear communication, transparency, inclusive decision making, and openness to critical feedback are essential to success. I look forward to learning from individuals who have served in this role previously and working with relevant stakeholders to sustain APALA’s financial health into the future.
Having worked in corporate and academic business libraries for the past 18 years, I am an expert level user of Excel and other spreadsheet and visualization tools. I also regularly create high quality administrative reports for executive leadership as my library’s assessment lead and am experienced in communicating complex organizational plans in an accessible way to a wide audience. It would be an honor to use my skills and talents in service to this amazing community from which I have received so much encouragement and support over the years.
Member-At-Large
Nicola Andrews
Nicola Andrews (she/they/ia) is a registered member of the Ngāti Paoa iwi, currently living on Ramaytush Ohlone territory. They work as the Open Education Librarian for the University of San Francisco, where they attempt to alleviate the high cost of learning materials through Open Educational Resources. Their academic credentials include an MLIS from the University of Washington, and a Master of Indigenous Studies from the University of Otago. Her work in libraries has been supported as an ALA Spectrum Scholar, ARL CEP Fellow, ARL Kaleidoscope Scholar, ALA Emerging Leader, Minnesota Institute participant, and SPARC Open Education Leadership Fellow. Her previous committee work includes Co-chairing the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Jury, and currently serving on the editorial board for the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication. Her research interests include Indigenous information literacy, historical trauma within libraries, and Pasifika literature. In 2023, their contributions to librarianship were recognized with the University of Washington Information School Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Alumni Impact Award. In their spare time, they write poetry, and watch dinosaur documentaries with their cat.
Statement of Interest: Tēnā koe – thank you for considering my self-nomination as a Member-at-Large for APALA. I have been an on-again, off-again member of APALA since 2015, and in recent years, have been reflecting on how to best actively participate in an organization that often unintentionally excludes Pacific Islanders from its events and programming. Many Pasifika – myself included – do not see APALA as a space that represents them or advocates for their needs. However, I know that there are APALA members who have made substantial efforts to address this, and I feel compelled to contribute to this collective work.
The recent work of the APALA Engagement Task Force has laid a solid foundation to address the needs of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Southwest Asian, and Central Asian communities. APALA’s stated purpose includes, “To provide a forum for discussing problems and concerns of Asian American and Pacific Islander librarians”, and in seeking this position I hope to strategically uplift the concerns of Pacific Island library workers, resulting in concrete, positive, and lasting change. Previously, I have advocated for Pasifika while a participant in the “Path to Leadership: National Forum on Advancing Asian/Pacific Islander American Librarianship”; and more recently as part of a collective advocating for Pasifika representation in the APALA Literature Awards. If elected, I hope to build on the previous work of my peers, and support the Executive Board in assessing, revisiting, and realizing the APALA Strategic Plan. Ngā mihi – thank you for your consideration.
Azeem M. Khan
Azeem M. Khan is the Interim Director and Research and Instructional Librarian at Whittier College. During his time at the college, Azeem developed two single-credit library research courses, led the library’s workshop program, created online instructional material for students and faculty, supported Open Education Resources (OER) initiatives, served for two years on the Inclusion & Diversity Committee (IDC), and acted as the library liaison to several academic departments, offering subject-specific instruction and student support.
In addition to his master’s in Library and Information Science, Azeem has a master’s in Religious Studies from Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, with a focus in South Asian folk religion and mysticism, Sufism and material culture.
He has presented at conferences including the American Academy of Religion, the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii- Manoa, and The American Theological Library Association.
Statement of Interest: I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences I’ve had as a member of APALA. Serving as a mentor in the APALA mentorship program has been incredibly rewarding and enriching. I also attended the organization’s events at ALA last summer and local Southern California gatherings. Feeling inspired and supported, I aim to continue supporting others in the field and advocating for our communities.
As a multiracial Punjabi, I recognize the crucial need for representation and diverse voices in leadership, particularly for marginalized groups within the AAPI community. With a desire to uplift diverse voices in the library profession, I’m eager to bring my passion, skills, and dedication to APALA as a Member-At-Large, actively supporting the organization’s goals and supporting the needs of our members.