2024-NCCU SLIS Alumni Association Officers.bak
2024-NCCU SLIS Alumni Officers
President
Jazmyne Baylor
Research & Instruction Librarian
Education Librarian
Hunter Library
Western Carolina University
jbaylor@wcu.edu
Pronouns: she/her/her MLS Library Science Class of 2020
Vice President
Tanya Williams
Director of Library Services
The Prezell R. Robinson Library
twilliams@st-aug.edu
MLS Class of 2015
Recording Sec.
Brittany N. Champion, MLS (she/her/hers)
Outreach Librarian
James B. Duke Library
Furman University Libraries
Email: Brittany.champion@furman.edu
MLS Library Science Class of 2018
Treasurer
Staci Wilson
Staci Wilson
Executive Director of the Office of Learning Support
Catawba Valley Community College
MLS – Library Science – Class of 2006
2024 Executive Board
Carlos Grooms
NCLA(Section Chair-Roundtable Ethic & Minority Concerns)-NC A&T State University
Carlos Grooms (he/him/his) is the Research and Instruction Librarian and Assistant Professor at North Carolina A&T State University’s F. D. Bluford Library. He is a liaison to the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and a Center for Excellence. Carlos holds an MLS degree from North Carolina Central University and a B.A. in History from Winston Salem State University.
Dwain Posey Teague (M.L.S. M.A.)
Executive Director of Philanthropy
North Carolina State University
Dwain Posey Teague serves as the executive director of philanthropy for the College of Design. Prior to joining NC State, Dwain served as the director of development for the North Carolina Central University School of Library & Information Sciences and the School of
Education. Dwain’s career as an academic fundraiser spans more than 20 years, securing philanthropic support for North Carolina Central University; UNC Chapel Hill; North Carolina State University; East Carolina University; and the University of Central Florida.
Kelvin Watson
As executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Kelvin Watson oversees 25 branches run by 600+ employees, spanning 8,000 square miles, with a budget of $77 million and a collection of 3.2 million items. Kelvin has brought innovative, award-winning leadership to Nevada’s largest library system and his deep experience in fundraising, technology, program development, and demonstrated success in addressing the digital divide has brought a new era to this library system. Kelvin earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Minor in Military Science from Lincoln University in Missouri. He earned his MLS Degree from North Carolina Central University.
Additionally, Kelvin has served in a diverse number of volunteer leadership roles: Member of 100 Black Men of Las Vegas; FLA Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility Task Force, bringing together young, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals to make their voices heard within the Florida Library Association; a member of the ALA Committee on Accreditation; New York State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries; Metropolitan New York Library Council Board of Trustees; Asian/Pacific Librarians Association Research and Travel Awards Committee; Coretta Scott King Book Award Juror; AASL Diversity Task Force member; Spectrum Scholarship Juror; Young Librarians ALA Presidential Task Force member; Legacy South Florida magazine’s 50 Most Influential and Powerful Black Professionals of 2020; Profiled in Black Issues Book Review Jan/Feb 2006 Issue as one of the “Influential African Americans in the Book Industry”; and Parkway Alumni Hall of Fame – Class of 2006.
LaKeshia Darden, Ed.D
Librarian. Educator. Advocate.
Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury Chair, 2023-2025
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2776-1454
lakeshia.darden@gmail.com
St. Philip’s College
San Antonio, Texas
Dr. LaKeshia NeShaun Darden(Chair, July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025)
Director of Library Services St. Philip’s College
Master of Library & Information Science MLIS, Academic Librarianship 2009-2011
Jason Alston (Black Caucus-American Library Association)
Assistant Teaching Professor
School of Information Science & Learning Technologies
Jason K. Alston earned his Ph.D. in library science from the University of South Carolina and most recently worked as an information literacy librarian at Coastal Carolina University near Myrtle Beach. His research interests include diversity in libraries, library fellowship programs, cultural heritage and the role of emotion in information verification. MLS from North Carolina Central University and a PhD in library and information science from the University of South Carolina.
He served 3 terms on the executive board, have been on the conference planning team for 3 NCAALs, have served as BCALA News editor for 6 years, have served on the social media team and now on the strategic planning committee.
Actively involved with: Missouri Library Association diversity task force Assisting with the creation of a library at KC Girls Preparatory Academy, which primarily serves Black and Latina girls at the middle school level. BCALA strategic planning committee American Libraries advisory board chair
Shannon Jones
Shannon Jones(she/her/hers) is the Director of Libraries for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Prior to her arrival at MUSC, Shannon worked as the Associate Director for Research and Education for Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Shannon focuses her research on staff recruitment and retention, diversity, equity, and inclusion in libraries, and leadership in academic health sciences libraries. Shannon is the co-editor of Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries: A Call to Action and Strategies for Success. She holds an MLS from North Carolina Central University and an M.Ed. in Adult Learning from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is currently pursuing an Ed.D in Educational Leadership at Charleston Southern University.
NCCU SLIS Alumni Faculty Advisors
Etta Baldwin,Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor-School Media Program
NCCU SLIS Class of 1983
Siobahn Day Grady, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Program Director of Information Science
NCCU SLIS Class of 2009
Kim P. Mayo, Ed.D.
Adjunct Instructor, School Media Program
NCCU SLIS class of 1991