Kent State Professor to Lead World's Largest Organization for Library Service to Children

Carolyn S. Brodie, Ph.D., Kent State University professor in the School of Library and Information Science, has been elected vice-president/president-elect of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). 

ALSC is the world's largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. ALSC's network includes more than 4,200 children's and youth librarians, children's literature experts, publishers, education and library school faculty members, and other adults dedicated to creating a better future for children through libraries. Members of ALSC are also responsible for some of the world’s most noted and oldest children’s literature awards including the Newbery and Caldecott.

“Dr. Brodie’s leadership within the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State is extraordinary,” said Stan Wearden, Ph.D., dean of the College of Communication and Information at Kent State. “Her years of real-world experience and her dedication to the next generation of librarians are just two of the strengths she will bring with her to office.”

Brodie received her Ph.D. in library and information science in 1988 from Texas Woman's University, Denton, and has been an ALSC member for 22 years. She is currently serving a second term on the ALSC Board of Directors and also has been a member of several ALSC committees including the Newbery (2000 chair) and Caldecott, among others.  From 2006-2009, Brodie was an ALA Councilor-at-Large and served as Ohio’s ALA Chapter Councilor from 1996-2004.  She received the 2008 American Library Association’s Scholastic Library Publishing Award that is given to a librarian whose "unusual contribution to the stimulation and guidance of reading by children and young people exemplifies outstanding achievement in the profession.”

In addition to ALA, Brodie has been active in the Ohio Educational Library Media Association and the Ohio Library Council. She has been a prolific author of professional books, chapters, articles and more than 300 columns and articles in School Library Monthly (formerly School Library Media Activities Monthly) since September 1989. In addition, she has presented hundreds of workshops on topics related to children’s and young adult librarianship and information literacy.  

Brodie has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator for more than 15 grants totaling more than $6 million from the Institute for Museum and Library Services and other funding sources.  She is the director of the Reinberger Children’s Library Center, the Marantz Picturebook Collection and the Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth.  She received the Kent State University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006.

Kent State’s School of Library and Information Science offers the only Master of Library and Information Science degree program in Ohio that is accredited by the American Library Association, and one of the nation’s few master’s degrees in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management. The school is recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation’s top 20 graduate programs in the field, and its youth librarianship program is ranked 13th. It is one of the largest library schools in the country, with nearly 700 students enrolled.

Media Contact:

Flo Cunningham, 330-672-0003, fcunning@kent.edu