Millsap and Stripling To Vie for ALA 2013-14 Presidency

Two strong candidates have been selected for the 2013-14 presidency of the American Library Association (ALA), Gina J. Millsap and Barbara K. Stripling.

Gina Millsap

Millsap is the CEO of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, KS. Millsap has been a member of ALA since 1995, serving as the 2009-2010 president of the Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA), according to an announcement from ALA. She has served on several committees within LLAMA. She also served on ALA's Advocacy Coordinating Group, 2007-08 and as chair of the Elizabeth J. Futas Catalyst for Change Award Jury, 2002.

According to ALA, Millsap was president of the Iowa Library Association (2002) and has held leadership positions in the Kansas Library Association, the Missouri Library Association, the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, the Ames, IA, Chamber of Commerce, and the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau. From 2004-2009, she participated in the American Bulgarian Library Exchange. She has been a Rotarian for 15 years and a United Way volunteer in both Ames and Topeka. Current roles include serving on the United Way On-Grade Achievement Council and as the cochair of Heartland Visioning, a community-wide strategic planning process for Topeka and Shawnee County.

Millsap's honors include Library Journal Mover & Shaker (2007); Zonta Club, Topeka Chapter, honoree for International Women's Day (2007); and the State of Iowa Governor's Volunteer Award (2000).

She has both a B.A. and an M.A. in library science from the University of Missouri (1976, 1977).

Barbara Stripling

Since 2005, Stripling has been the director of School Library Services for the New York City Department of Education; in January 2012 she will assume the position of assistant professor of practice at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY

Stripling has been a member of ALA since 1977, serving as a member-at-large of ALA Council from 1992-1996 and 1998-present. She also served on the ALA Executive Board (2001-2005). She chaired the American Libraries Advisory Committee (1995-1996) and is a past or present member of the ALA Policy Monitoring Committee, 2010-present, Intellectual Freedom Committee (2006-present), Conference Committee (2002-2005), Committee on Education (1998-2002), and Nominating Committee (1999-2000).

She is past president (1996-1997) of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and has held numerous committee positions within AASL. She also served as a member and chair of the ALA-APA Certification Committee (2002-2007). Other ALA activities include work as cochair of ALA President Molly Raphael's initiative, Empowering Voices, 2010-present, and trustee of the Merritt Fund (2011-present).

Stripling received the Retta Patrick Award by the Arkansas Library Association in 1989 and was named Arkansas School Library Media Specialist of the Year in 1990 by the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media.

Stripling received a B.A. in speech and drama from Stanford University (1968), an M.A. in Communication and Theatre from the University of Colorado (1974), an M.Ed. in Instructional Resources from the University of Arkansas (1991), an Ed.S. in Educational Administration from the University of Arkansas (2003), and a Doctorate of Professional Studies, Information Management from Syracuse University (2011). She ran previously for the ALA presidency, losing in 2004 to Michael Gorman.