November Member Highlights: Celebrating ILEAD Ohio 2025
This month we celebrate the four talented teams and their mentors who collaborated to create impactful projects at ILEAD Ohio 2025. During 3-day sessions in April, July, and October the teams worked and learned together at Deer Creek State Park Lodge in Mt. Sterling, Ohio to create projects that span various library types.
The primary goal of ILEAD Ohio is to empower current and future library leaders across Ohio by providing opportunities for growth, regardless of their position or title. Through collaborative, team-based projects, participants develop valuable leadership skills while addressing real-world professional and community needs.
Read more about each of the teams and their projects below —
Ohio Library SPARK
Team Members (left to right): Kate McGowan, Toledo Lucas County Public Library; Kyra Nay, Cuyahoga County Public Library; Jozlyn Heckel, Monroeville Public Library; Kim Edsell, Lorain County Library System
Mentor: Gabriel Venditti (not pictured), Cuyahoga County Public Library
The 2024–2025 school year marks a major transition as Ohio schools implement literacy curricula aligned with the science of reading and educators complete related professional development. Team Library SPARK seeks to learn how libraries are supporting young readers, parents and caregivers, teachers, administrators, and communities at this critical junction through a statewide survey. From this, they hope to identify effective strategies, highlight barriers, and strengthen libraries’ role in supporting children’s literacy and building confident readers.
Team Source Sleuth
Team Members (left to right): Rebecca Wilden, Mechanicsburg Public Library; Sarah Mowery, INFOhio; Jennifer Seebauer, Teays Valley Local Schools; Amanda Martin, Columbus Metropolitan Library; Emily Rozmus, INFOhio
Mentor: Anastasia Diamond-Ortiz (not pictured), Lorain County Library System
The rise of mis-information, dis-information, and mal-information in the media impacts everyone, and many people use only social media to access news sources. With Meta’s new policy regarding fact checking information, the ability to recognize and access credible information is critical. Artificial intelligence also creates confusion, and its identification is essential for digital citizenship. To address these needs in communities across the state, instruction in information literacy is needed.
So far, Team Source Sleuth has held two webinars about information disorders featuring presenters Patrick Warren and Jennifer LaGarde and created a curated online collection of resources for public librarians, school librarians, and teachers to use.
New to Libraries Network
Team Members (left to right): Erin Kilkenny, OhioLINK; Chloe Browne, Ritter Public Library; Cara Calabrese (not pictured), Indiana University-Bloomington (formerly Miami University)
Mentor: Desiree Thomas (not pictured), Worthington Libraries
The New to Libraries Network (NLN) fosters a supportive community for aspiring and new to the field professionals, offering resources for professional growth, networking, and career development. The group has been inactive since 2020 but is reemerging in 2025 as a project of ILEAD Ohio. New to Libraries Network is a group open to anyone new to libraries — MLIS students, library staff, information professionals, librarians from any kind of library with 10 years or less experience, and those interested in working in libraries.
Young Library Ambassadors
Team Members (left to right): Shanna Hart, Kenyon College; Rebekah Hire-Santor, Huron Public Library; Annie Zwisler, Portage County District Library; Savannah Gould, Kent State University
Mentor: Terwase Ngur (not pictured), Toledo Lucas County Public Library
Many libraries struggle to engage teens and young adults, even as interest in physical libraries and print books grows through trends like BookTok. While young patrons benefit from library resources, reaching them effectively remains a challenge. The Young Library Ambassador Program aims to empower teens and young adults who already love the library to share its value with their peers through targeted communication and social media outreach, helping boost awareness, visitation, and resource use among this age group.
Special thanks to the ILEAD Ohio Planning Committee for their efforts in coordinating this year’s ILEAD Ohio experience:
- Erin Kelsey, Program Manager, State Library of Ohio
- Katy Mathuews, OhioNet
- Hannah Rosen, OhioNet
- Jillian Tuttle, OhioNet
- Evan T. Struble, State Library of Ohio
- Jeff Regensberger, State Library of Ohio
- Penelope Shumaker, State Library of Ohio
- Katy Hite, State Library of Ohio
ILEAD Ohio is made possible by the State Library of Ohio and OhioNet with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, we help communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage and lifelong learning. To learn more about IMLS, please visit www.imls.gov.
