Jenna Spiering, Ph.D, Principal Investigator

Jenna Spiering, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the School of Information Science at the University of South Carolina. Before receiving her doctorate from the University of Iowa in the College of Education, she worked in junior high school libraries in Iowa City, Iowa, for seven years.

Spiering's research is broadly focused on issues within school librarianship with a more specific focus on issues of selection and censorship and young adult literature as well as the impact of professional development models for SLs.

She currently serves as the PI on a Library of Congress Teaching with primary sources Grant ($249,675.28) and was a 2021 recipient of the AASL Research Award. 

Spiering teaches various classes within the school librarianship track at USC including School Library program Development, Young Adult Materials and Internship in Library and Information Science.

She also serves on the Board of the South Carolina Association of School librarians. 

Raphael Ebiefung, Project Research Assistant

Raphael Ebiefung is a doctoral student in the School of Information Science at the University of South Carolina. 

Before joining the iSchool, he served as the pioneer university librarian and faculty member at Topfaith University, Nigeria. He is an emerging scholar who is determined to make a difference in the field of LIS. 

Ebiefung holds a Bachelor’s degree (First Class Hons.) in Library and Information Science from the University of Maiduguri and emerged as the Best Student of the Graduating Class in 2015. He obtained his Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from Nigeria’s premier University, University of Ibadan. 

Kafi D. Kumasi, Ph.D. 

Kafi D. Kumasi (she/her/hers) is a professor in the School of Information Sciences at Wayne State University. She is a leader in research on critical race theory and equity in education. Her scholarship engages critical theoretical explorations of race, power and privilege as means to explore culturally sustained learning to help prepare future and practicing library and information science professionals to meet the needs of all learners.

Kumasi's work has been funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for an equity literacy project aimed at restoring school library services to students in under resourced urban public schools. Her work has been recognized by the National Center for Institutional Diversity with an Exemplary Diversity Scholar Citation. She helped create and amplify the Future Librarians for Inclusivity and Diversity (FLID) student organization in SIS, which she has served as faculty advisor for since its inception for over a decade.

In her service roles at Wayne State, Kumasi has brought awareness and research knowledge to the implicit biases occurring during leadership assessment and hiring. She also developed a popular elective course in SIS on Culture Matters: Decolonizing Information and has published research on infusing DEI across the core LIS curriculum. She has delivered national and international talks and workshops on DEI spanning LIS, Education and interdisciplinary audiences.

Kumasi received her bachelor's degree in education from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, her MLIS degree from Wayne State University and her Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington. 

Ann Weeks

Prior to her retirement in June 2019, Ann Carlson Weeks was professor of the practice, director of the School Library Specialization, director of Professional Education, and associate dean for academic programs during her nineteen years in the College of Information Studies.

Weeks was a founding director of the International Children’s Digital Library and creator of The LILEAD Project, a national leadership and professional learning initiative for school district library supervisors.

In 2016, she was the recipient of the UMD Provost’s Award for Service by Professional Track Faculty. Prior to her appointment in the iSchool, she was director of Library and Information Services for the Chicago Public Schools, executive director of the three youth divisions of the American Library Association, and coordinator of the National Library Power Program, a major initiative of the DeWitt- Wallace, Reader’s Digest Foundation. 

Tamara Cox 

Tamara Cox is a high school librarian at Wren High School in South Carolina.

Cox is known for school library advocacy and leadership within her school, district and the state. She currently serves as the past president of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians.

Cox brings over a decade of experience working as a school librarian to ensure successful implementation and evaluation of the various stages of the project.  

Her work, library leadership and administrative prowess will greatly influence the project's success, especially towards meeting the leadership of school libraries across the state.