Librarians on the Move
September 24, 2025
-
Compiled by Kaitlyn Weger, Olney Central College
Joshua Altshuler started in July 2025 as the new Education & Psychology Librarian at the Milner Library. Prior to arriving in Normal, Josh served as the Visiting Reference & Instruction Librarian at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. He looks forward to collaborating with IACRL professionals on strategies to engage new communities in creativity, interrogation, and reflection.
Carolyn Ciesla, Elmhurst University, is now president of the Illinois Library Association effective July 1, 2025.
Laura L. Barnes, Sustainability Information Curator at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, will be wrapping up her 34-year career and retiring on December 31, 2025. Laura served three terms on the Illinois Library Association Board of Directors. She also served as founding manager of the ILA Leadership Forum and co-chair of the Best Practices Committee and 2024 ILA Annual Conference Program Committee. During her career, she has written and given talks that advocate for libraries and librarians to be community sustainability leaders. Laura plans to continue to be involved with ILA, continue publishing Environmental News Bits, and work with librarians on fostering sustainability in their communities. She also plans to travel with her husband and do her best to shrink her enormous To Read pile.
Shoshana Frank is the new Student Engagement Librarian at Aurora University. Shoshana is an Academic Librarian and Community Activist in the suburbs of Chicago. An avid romance reader and audiophile, Shoshana loves bringing new listeners into the audiophile family! Shoshana adores sharing the vast library services through campus events, workshops, outreach, and everyday conversations. Outside of reviewing for professional journals and judging national book awards, Shoshana enjoys going on adventures around the world and plans to visit all seven continents.
Gwen M. Gregory, Associate Dean of Collections Management at Northern Illinois University, is now serving as the president of the board of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS).
James Nickras is the new Collections and Scholarly Communications Librarian and Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Illinois-Springfield. James has worked in or around libraries for over two decades, with experience in academic, public, and special libraries. He has an MLIS from Kent State University and will be working in collection development, scholarly communications, and making resources open to UIS and the world.
Morell Old is the new Digital Instruction Librarian and Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Illinois-Springfield. Morell has an M.A. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a B.A. in Classics and Biology from Grinnell College. At UIS, they look forward to working with colleagues across the institution to develop and implement student-centered library instruction.
Josh Sopiarz was reelected to a two-year term as Faculty Senate President at Governors State University on August 28th.
iREAD Summer Reading Programs
Latest Library JobLine Listings
