2024 AAHSL Annual Meeting Program Details
November 7-8 | Atlanta, GA

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Library (AAHSL) Annual Meeting is held in conjunction with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Annual Meeting. While they are held in conjunction, the programs are completely separate this year. The AAHSL Annual Meeting activities will take place on November 7-8 in Atlanta, GA.  

Workshop: Fostering an Inclusive Environment for Academic Health Sciences Library Staff

Lisa Fenn, BA, MA
Senior Director of Belonging, Diversity and Equity for Emory Libraries, Carlos Museum

Lisa Fenn is the inaugural Senior Director of Belonging, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Emory University Libraries & Museum, in Atlanta, Georgia. She has cross-unit responsibilities within Emory Libraries, the Center for Digital Scholarship, and the Michael C. Carlos Museum and collaborates extensively among each to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and infrastructure to support strategic directions. Lisa joins Emory University Libraries & Museum, from Tufts University, in Boston, Massachusetts. While at Tufts, Lisa served in several roles. Among her administrative titles were interim chief diversity officer, director for inclusive strategic initiatives, and program director for antiracism. Lisa brings to her current responsibilities a range of diverse industry experiences – banking, healthcare, hospitality, tech, retail, manufacturing, etc.

Prior to making a transition into the higher education sector, Lisa held consulting positions at Korn Ferry International in the Leadership & Talent Practice Group, and at J. Howard & Associates, which was a premier diversity and inclusion training company. Lisa gained extensive experience during her 15+ year consulting stint and contributed to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at many businesses ranked “Best Places to Work.

Lisa is a native New Yorker with deep southern roots. Her parents were part of the Great Migration of Black Americans out of oppressive, Jim Crow southern states, who sought for their children the educational opportunities that they had been denied. Lisa’s educational credentials include a master's degree from Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York City, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. She also earned her coaching credentials from The Columbia Coaching Certification Program at the Advanced Coach Intensive (ACI) level – the highest offered by the program.

A former Peace Corps volunteer, diversity, equity, and inclusion have always been guiding principles for Lisa. She took on a wide variety of diversity, equity, and inclusion challenges during her three-year tour in West Africa. Navigating unfamiliar cultural norms and different languages as an American, living and working abroad was one, but one that was critical to informing her philosophy on identity.

Global learning and service are also core values that Lisa holds. She currently serves as a member of the conference planning committee for the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and is in training to become a docent for the Michael C. Carlos Museum.

Lisa calls “the ATL” home, and spends her spare time focused on being well. Reading, drawing, listening to relaxing music, swimming, somatic movements and other artistic hobbies, where she loses track of time, are a few of Lisa’s favorite acts of resistance.

Workshop Description

Recent years have witnessed enormous disruptions for the world of academic libraries and the people who staff them. The landscape within which academic health sciences libraries operate has undergone major changes. As more recruitment and retention changes are predicted in the coming years, this workshop aims to equip librarians with leadership strategies to respond effectively.

Workshop Objectives

As a result of participating in Fostering an Inclusive Environment for Academic Health Sciences Library Staff, participants will:

• Discover effective strategies and acquire essential skills for fostering inclusive environments within our libraries
• Assess individual and institutional alignment and learn engagement strategies to support career momentum.
• Increase commitment to their roles in facilitating professional development
• Develop a disruptive thinking approach to managing obstacles that impede risk-taking and stepping up

AI Case Presentation

Artificial Intelligence is on everyone’s minds and has been the topic of the past two Matheson Lectures. But, what is the role of academic health sciences libraries? Moving the theoretical into practical, seven of our colleagues will present real-life case studies.What worked - what didn’t - what would they do differently?

Moderator
Jennifer Raynor, University of Rochester Medical Center (NY)

Panel
Tiffany Garrett, Roseman University of Health Sciences
Joey Nicholson, NYU Langone Health
Philip Walker, Vanderbilt University
Marie Ascher, New York Medical College
Jan Kuebel-Hernandez, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences
Jeff Slagell, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Emily Glenn, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Onboarding and Education of Librarians New to Health Sciences Task Force Sharing and Member Feedback Roundtables

The Onboarding and Education of Librarians New to Health Sciences Task Force has drafted a framework for training librarians new to health sciences librarianship and compiled some existing resources, designed for library directors and other administrators to address the issue of new hires who lack training or experience in health sciences librarianship. Through round table conversations, we seek feedback on refining the framework and on suggested resources to incorporate into the model.

• Attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops in order to collaborate with others in their group during the session.

Open Sciences and Libraries

Open Science is “the principle and practice of making research products and processes available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, maintaining security and privacy, and fostering collaborations, reproducibility, and equity” (Science.gov). In conversation, three panelists will discuss their experiences with open science, the role of libraries, the resources needed to participate in open science, and how AI has impacted the conversation around open science.

Moderator
Heather Holmes, Medical University of South Carolina

Panel
Jason Burton, UCLA
Hsinliang Chen, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Liz Lorbeer, Western Michigan University of Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine