Welcome to the Liberty Chapter Newsletter, a quarterly blog post that will highlight chapter initiatives, committee activities and the achievements of our members.
Business Meeting Recap
By Allison Piazza, Chair
On October 7, 2025, the annual business meeting was held via Zoom with over 60 members in attendance. The meeting kicked off with Faith Steele (Executive Director, Region 1) and Jessica Kilham (Associate Director, Region 7) of the Network of the National Library of Medicine, followed by Heather Holmes, 2025-2026 MLA President.
Jaclyn Morales then opened the Liberty Chapter board meeting by giving the Chair’s report, which provided membership with a high-level overview of the Chapter’s accomplishments from the past year. The Treasurer (Matthew Bridgeman) and each Committee Chair also provided brief reports. A highlight of the meeting was the announcement of the election results by Nominating Committee Chair, Gregg Hendrick and Chapter Award Announcements by Professional Recognition Chair Helen-Ann Brown Epstein (results below). The meeting ended with the virtual passing of the Liberty Chapter Chair’s gavel from Jaclyn Morales to incoming chair, Allison Piazza, who introduced herself and provided a quick overview of her goals as Chair for the next year.
This year’s Continuing Education program was “Tips and Tools for Continuous Process Improvement.” Led by Michele Vellucci and Thomas Bimmer of Virtua Health, this interesting program helped define Continuous Process Improvement and explored key principles, tools, and rules of engagement to foster team participation, effective communication, and sustained improvement.
Annual Meeting Highlights
By Allison Piazza, Chair
On October 9, 2025, over 100-chapter members and vendors met in-person at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, NJ and online for the 2025 Annual Meeting, themed “Keep Calm and Power On: Moving from Planning into Action.”
The event commenced with a warm welcome from our chair, Jaclyn Morales. This was followed by an engaging and empowering keynote address from Andy Hickner, Education and Outreach Librarian at Weill Cornell Medicine and a Director of the Medical Library Association (MLA). During his talk, which was entitled, “Finding Agency by Practicing Advocacy,” Andy shared a personal example of how he practices advocacy and provided tips and resources for staying optimistic and avoiding burnout.
Members then showcased their work during lightning talks and poster presentations, highlighting various librarian-led research and programming initiatives. The posters and lightning talks can be accessed HERE.
The afternoon session, “Table Topics,” provided members with an opportunity to discuss issues of particular importance to them and their careers. Subjects covered included AI, advocacy, public health, data librarianship, and programming and outreach.
The meeting concluded with the Liberty Chapter's award ceremony and announcement of the “Vendor Game” winners.
Special thanks to our vendors (McGraw Hill, Covidence, Third Iron, Gideon, Wolter Kluwer, Elsevier, Springer Nature, EBSCO, Thieme, Cabells, Merck Manuals, BMJ Group, TDNet, and Matthews Medical Books) for sponsoring this year’s program!
Photos from the event can be found HERE. Thank you to everyone who made this year’s meeting a success! If you have photos from the annual meeting to share with us, please deposit them here (Google Drive, log in required)!
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Advocacy Section
By Jordan Correia
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance for low-income families, with most SNAP beneficiaries being the elderly and disabled. Because of the current government shutdown, benefits have been suspended, leaving millions of US Americans without help for November and probable future months. Some states are enacting their own policies and procedures to provide relief, but the future is uncertain for too many. This, combined with high food prices and stress of affordable living for everyone, not just SNAP beneficiaries, makes it feel like there is too much to overcome.
The advocacy section for this issue is not specific to medical librarianship and that's on purpose. I am always an advocate of not assuming too much about a person. I went to a "prestigious" university and met people who lived in their car, who were on SNAP, who went hungry some nights because they could not afford basic necessities. I am sure there are medical students, residents, staff, librarians, and faculty who simultaneously rely on SNAP and walk the halls of our institutions.
It's too hard to learn when you are hungry. It's too hard to do your job when you are worried about affording groceries. And it can be too hard to be positive when it feels like there's no assistance or support. Feeding America has a tool that allows you to find local food banks and soup kitchens or directs you to resources to find options: https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank
It's never a shame to reach out for help and make use of community resources; always feel free to do so. If you can, contact your local food bank about making a donation. I would also encourage making a sign, a post, etc. about local food banks and having it in your library. No one knows how long this will last, but whether the government shut down ends today or next month, there will almost certainly be someone who will still need these resources.
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"What Healthcare Looks Like: Exploring Non-Clinical Healthcare Professions” – A panel presentation at The New York Public Library
By Trina Keith, Membership Committee Chair
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The New York Public Library (NYPL) held their Annual Job Fair and Expo at the Bronx Library Center on Friday, September 12. This year’s theme focused on employment opportunities in the healthcare sector. My colleague, Roberto Ortega, (third-year MD-PhD trainee at Albert Einstein College of Medicine) and I were invited by Career Services at NYPL to participate in a panel presentation titled: “This is What Healthcare Looks Like: Exploring Non-Clinical Healthcare Professions.” We shared how our careers began, work experiences, and what inspired us to pursue our chosen career paths, among other topics. The event was well-attended and even after the session ended, many members of the audience stayed and engaged with us to follow up with their own questions. It was a wonderful experience describing my journey into the healthcare industry with such a receptive crowd. This collaboration with the NYPL was not only a great outreach opportunity for my institution but also exposed future health sciences librarians to new and exciting opportunities.
Membership Spotlight
By Rie Goto, Communications Committee Chair
Introducing Marianna Czeisel! 
Marianna is a Head of Electronic Resources and Access Services at Zucker School of Medicine (Hofstra University/Northwell Health). She manages technical needs that arise with library resources and services. She also oversees interlibrary loan and other access services.
Why did you become a librarian?
“While getting my master's in music degree, I worked part-time at the college's music library. That experience stuck with me, and I eventually realized that being a librarian was my true calling.”
What project are you working on now?
“Improving accessibility of the library website.”
What’s your hobby outside of work/school?
“Playing board and card games (e.g., Wingspan, Magic The Gathering)”
What/who is your favorite Librarian character in popular culture (movies, TV shows, songs, etc..) and why?
“Barbara Gordon(Batgirl/Oracle) - most librarian characters are depicted as disliking computers, and Barbara Gordon uses her computer skills to save people (like health sciences librarians!).”
Make some noise to welcome Marianna!!
If you want to be featured or know someone you want to introduce, please fill out this form.
Kudos for Chapter Members
Congratulations to our fellow Chapter members!
By Trina Keith, Membership Committee Chair
Stephanie Kerns, MLS, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Stephanie has recently accepted the position of Director of the MSK Library at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
In her new role, she leads the library team to cultivate innovative library services and drive user engagement in a mostly virtual environment. Her work focuses on delivering strategic leadership and vision for library services and collections, addressing information and technology needs with a future-focused and user-friendly view, and building collaborative relationships in the MSK community and beyond.
She received her MLS and her BA in English with a certificate in Women’s Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington. Prior to joining MSK, she held positions at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, OHSU, Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and Georgetown University.
As a recent transplant to New York City, she is spending lots of time exploring the city and the area!
Welcome to the Liberty Chapter, Stephanie!
Theresa A. Rienzo, BSN, RN, MS, MLIS, AHIP, Molloy University
Congratulations to Theresa who received her AHIP renewal at the distinguished level.
Kristine Alpi, MLS, MPH, PhD, AHIP, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jeannine Creazzo, MLIS, MBA, AHIP, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset Jenny Pierce, MLS, Temple University
Kris, Jeannine, and Jenny were co-authors of this article:
Pierce, J., Bakker, C., Jo, P., Creazzo, J., Thompson, H., & Alpi, K. (2025). Content Access via Resource Sharing Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Nine Health Science Libraries. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (111). https://doi.org/10.29173/istl2829
John Mokonyama, MS, MBA, MSLS, AHIP-D, Penn Medicine
Congrats to John for his successful mentorship.
This past semester, Penn Medicine (CCH) had the privilege of mentoring a library science graduate student from Syracuse University’s Graduate School of Information Studies. Under the guidance of John Mokonyama (AHIP-D), the student successfully completed an impressive capstone project titled “QuickServ: Bringing Self-Service to Penn Medicine, CCH Hospital Library.”
The project focused on developing a self-checkout kiosk that offers hospital staff, patients, and students 24/7 access to both books and digital resources. Designed with accessibility and inclusion in mind, the kiosk features multilingual audio-visual instructions and is wheelchair friendly. The students’ research highlighted how this initiative could enhance access, improve service efficiency, and align with Penn Medicine’s commitment to excellence and innovation.
The student has recently completed her Master of Library and Information Science degree and is set to graduate from Syracuse University in the spring of 2026. She is poised to launch her professional library career in New York. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to our library science mentee for this remarkable achievement and wish her continued success in her career!
Congratulations to our 2025 Professional Recognition Award winners:
- Outgoing Chapter Chair Appreciation Award -- Jaclyn Morales
- Chapter Chair Award -- Rie Goto
- Outstanding New Member -- Jordan Correia
- Outstanding Members -- Gary Kaplan and Marlowe Bogino
- Katz Award for AHIP Registration -- Emmett Booth
- Recognition of Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker -- Andy Hickner
Congratulations to the 2025/2026 new and returning Chapter Board Members:
• Allison Piazza, Chair
• Jaclyn Morales, Immediate Past Chair
• Ben Hoover, Treasurer
• Matthew Bridgeman, Immediate Past Chair
• Jess Saunders, Secretary
• Elizabeth Blake, Member-At-Large
• Michelle Bass, Member-At-Large
• Joey Nicholson, Representative to the Chapter Council (October 2025 - May 2026)
• Mina Ghajar, Alternate Representative to the Chapter Council (October 2025 - May 2026)
• Robert Mackes, Representative to the Chapter Council (June 2026 - May 2029)
• Tony Nguyen, Alternate Representative to the Chapter Council (June 2026 - May 2029)
Congratulations to the members of the 2025/2026 Nominating Committee:
• Mina Ghajar
• Yingting Zhang
• Alexandra Short
• Katelyn Angell
• Gary Childs
