Friday, February 19, 2021 via Zoom
About the Symposium
Bridging the Spectrum: A Symposium on Scholarship and Practice in Library and Information Science offers a knowledge-sharing forum and meeting place for practitioners, students, and faculty in Library and Information Sciences and Services. Presentations are selected to showcase innovative practices, projects, and research activities in a variety of library, archives, or information services activities. Because students, faculty, and practitioners all share their work, the Symposium encompasses many different aspects and points of view on library and information professional work. The program's goal is to foster unexpected connections across the spectrum of the information professions.
Keynote Address
The 2021 keynote address will be delivered by Richard Reyes-Gavilan, the Executive Director of the DC Public Library.
Description: Among the dominant topics in the news over the past few years is the intense focus on the significance of memorials and their namesakes. Beginning in 2014, DC Public Library was charged with fully modernizing Washington D.C.'s first memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., the new central library dedicated shortly after his assassination. This talk will explore how the Library's approach to design was rooted in Dr. King's vision of opportunity for all. Also, given the renewed spirit of activism and protest that has proliferated in the city and around the country following a summer of deep racial unrest, what role should a reimagined MLK Library play in amplifying Dr. King's message?
Richard Reyes-Gavilan was appointed the Executive Director of the DC Public Library inn March 2014, having previously worked for almost twenty years at both the New York and Brooklyn public libraries.
He was lured to Washington D.C. primarily to oversee the $211 million modernization of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the city's only building designed by legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The library is expected to open in 2020 and will serve as an inspirational destination for innovation, civic empowerment, and delight. Reyes-Gavilan is also aggressively building and renovating neighborhood libraries all over the District of Columbia. Two new libraries in the West End and Cleveland Park neighborhoods were awarded the American Institute of Architect’s D.C. Chapter Design and Urban Catalyst awards, respectively. Mr. Reyes-Gavilan holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the State University of New York at Albany, where he was recently recognized with the 2019 Excellence in Public Service award, and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Texas at Austin.
Program Agenda
(all times Eastern Standard)
9:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. - Opening session
9:20 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. - Keynote Address
10:20 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Break
10:30 a.m. - 12 noon - Sessions 1 & 2
12 noon - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch (on your own)
Poster Lightning Talk Presentations
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Sessions 3 & 4
2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. - Break
2:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. - Sessions 5 & 6
Accommodations and Special Needs
Please include any disability accommodations when you register, or contact the Symposium Committee at cua-slis-symposium@cua.edu or 202-319-5085. In all situations, a good faith effort (up until the time of the event) will be made to provide accommodations.
Symposium Committee
Dr. Sue Yeon Syn, Dr. Young Choi and Dr. Sung Un Kim
Committee shared email address: cua-slis-symposium@cua.edu
Sponsor
