# NoveList Advisors

These experts help make the products of NoveList better by writing articles, suggesting read-alikes, and evaluating titles.



 

 

 

 

    **Stephen Ashley**  
Stephen Ashley is a librarian and writer living in North Carolina. He has worked in school, public, and government libraries and book publishing. He likes books, music, and snacks.

**Tracy Babiasz**  
Tracy Babiasz has been working in public libraries since her sixteenth birthday. By day, she is the acquisitions and collections manager at the Chapel Hill Public Library in North Carolina. Her free time is spent reading multiple books at a time (because a cat is sitting on one), listening to audiobooks where the narrator doesn’t irritate her, and reviewing for *Booklist.*

**Audrey Barbakoff**  
Audrey Barbakoff is the Adult Services Manager at Kitsap Regional Library and a 2013 LJ Mover & Shaker. She is the author of *Adults Just Wanna Have Fun: Programs for Emerging* Adults (ALA Editions, 2016). Check out her website, [*The Bookaneer*](http://www.the-bookaneer.com/)*.*

**Megan Frazer Blakemore**  
Megan Frazer Blakemore is a self-employed author who lives in Kennebunk, ME. She has a background in school media with an emphasis on makerspaces and STEM.

**Emily Booth**  
Emily Booth is a doctoral candidate at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia, researching Australian teenagers’ reading practices. She has worked as a specialist youth literature bookseller since 2012, during which time she has hosted over 60 events and interviewed many authors, including Victoria Aveyard and Sarah J. Maas.

**Heather Booth**  
Heather Booth is the Teen and Tween Services Coordinator at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, Illinois. She is the editor of *The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services* (ALA Editions, 2014) with Karen Jensen, a contributor at the Teen Librarian Toolbox, and a speaker on readers' advisory and teen services librarianship.

**Robin Bradford**  
Robin Bradford, a 2018 *Library Journal* Mover & Shaker and 2016 RWA Cathie Linz Librarian of the Year, is a Collection Development Librarian at Pierce County Library System.

**Robin Brenner**  
Robin Brenner is a Reference and Teen librarian currently working at the Brookline Public Library in Brookline, MA. She has been an advocate for comics and graphic novels for over ten years as a librarian and as editor-in-chief of the review site *No Flying No Tights*. She has written for journals including *School Library Journal, Library Journal, VOYA*, and *Early Word*.

**Susan Brown**  
Susan Brown came up through the ranks of reference, reader's advisory, adult programming, and marketing and is currently the Director of Chapel Hill Public Library (N.C.) She reads widely, from horror to quirky nonfiction to historical fiction, and especially enjoys anything with haunted houses, young female protagonists, and/or circus folk.

**Alicia Cavitt**  
Alicia Cavitt is an Information Specialist at Forsyth County Public Library in Georgia. She enjoys readers’ advisory and adult programming. Alicia leads a monthly writers’ group that offers manuscript feedback to local writers and is an editor and contributor to the library's blog, Bookmarked. Her favorite genres include literary fiction, magical realism, science fiction, historical fiction, suspense, and horror.

**Teresa Chung**  
A graduate of the iSchool at San José State University, Teresa Chung has many years of experience volunteering in libraries and teaching college English. She enjoys reading and writing about science communication, speculative fiction, and diverse literature.

**Catherine Coles**  
Catherine Coles is the Manager of Library Services/County Librarian for the County of Lennox & Addington, located in eastern Ontario. She is also the Instructor of Genre Fiction and Readers’ Advisory Services for Mohawk College.

**Julie Corsaro**  
Julie Corsaro is a librarian who has worked in public and private schools, public libraries, the private sector, and professional associations. She has reviewed for *Booklist*, *School Library Journal,* and *Kirkus* and served on the Newbery and Caldecott Award committees. A former fellow at the International Youth Library (Germany), she currently lives in Chapel Hill, NC.

**Ruben Cortes**  
Ruben Cortes is a Collection Development Librarian for the Orange County Library System in Orlando, FL, and is responsible for selecting in the areas of nonfiction, picture books, and world languages. He has a special interest in diversity in children's and young adult literature and has presented on the topic at the Florida Library Association, the Florida Association for Media in Education, and the Public Library Association conferences. For fun, he enjoys reading graphic novels and YA from diverse authors, but especially anything with LGBTQIA+ representation.

**Heather Miller Cover**  
Heather Cover never planned to be a librarian, but 23 years and an MLIS later, she’s loving her job at Homewood Public Library (AL) as a Special Projects Librarian. She’s worked across the library in Children’s, Teen, and Adult, and still reads titles from all three age groups. Favorite genres are mystery, romance, fantasy, and true crime.

**Ann Cox**  
Ann Cox is a collection development librarian who works for a major book vendor and has over twenty years of experience in libraries. She co-hosts Well-Read, a biweekly podcast about books and reading, and serves as a judge for the Audie Awards. She's always in the mood for a good mystery or anything that can be labeled as Gothic. Find her at [wellreadpodcast.wordpress.com](https://wellreadpodcast.wordpress.com/).

**Andrienne Cruz**  
Andrienne Cruz is a public librarian at Azusa City Library in California since 2006. She reads about 3-5 books a week and is a LibraryReads board member. She reads all genres, but her favorites are literary fiction and psychological thriller. You can find her on Twitter @deienara, which reflects her love of Greek mythology.

**Heather Cunningham**  
Heather Cunningham is the Teen Services Librarian at the Saratoga Springs Public Library in NY and has worked in public libraries and schools since 2011. She is an avid reader of dark fantasy, historical fiction/romance, and atmospheric mysteries. She sneaks in reading when she's not chasing her toddler around the house.

**Erin DeCoeur**  
Erin DeCoeur is an Adult Services Librarian with Wake County Public Libraries. Until its closure in 2017, she managed one of the few used bookstores located inside an airport. Erin's primary reading passions are historical literary romance fiction (but not all in one book, typically). Her HamilTEA program was published on Programming Librarian. She likes cats.

**Gail De Vos**  
Gail de Vos is a professional storyteller, the author of nine books about storytelling and folklore, and has been an adjunct instructor at SLIS at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for three decades, teaching courses in Storytelling, Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Education, Indigenous Canadian Literature, and Canadian Children's Literature. Her research focus is folklore in popular culture.

**Bethany Dietrich**  
Bethany Dietrich is the Young Adult Librarian at Bastrop Public Library in Texas. She wears many hats in her role, including teen and tween programming, YA and adult collection development, and social media manager. She enjoys reading YA, romance, historical fiction, and fantasy.

**Amy Drolet**  
Amy Drolet is an English Subtitle Editor with SDI Media, as well as a freelance writer and storyteller in Los Angeles, California. Her genres of choice include horror, true crime, fantasy, and the occasional smutty historical romance.

**Elizabeth Elsbree**  
Elizabeth Elsbree has worked in libraries since 2007, first in the children’s department of a public library and now as an elementary library media specialist in the East Aurora (IL) School District. She is currently serving on the steering committee of the Bluestem Award, an Illinois readers’ choice award for 3rd-5th graders, and writes audiobook reviews for *School Library Journal.*

**Alicia Evans**  
Alicia Evans has been working in libraries for nine years and is currently the Head of Youth Services at the Geauga County Library Chardon branch in Ohio. When she's not reading, organizing library programs, or making impressive lists utilizing the Oxford comma, Alicia can be found quilting or watching horror movies.

**Brian Flota**  
Dr. Brian Flota is a Humanities Librarian (Associate Professor) at James Madison University Libraries. He has produced scholarship on comics and pulp magazine collections in libraries, post-9/11 popular music, multi-ethnic American literature, Ishmael Reed, Richard Pryor, Richard Wright, and the Beat Generation.

**Francisca Goldsmith**  
Francisca Goldsmith is a consulting librarian who has specialized in advisory work in public libraries and teaches regular courses in multimodal advisory work to library staff. She has served on a variety of award committees and juries, including as an Eisner judge, an Audie Awards judge, and on YALSA's Printz Award committee.

**Sarah Hannah Gómez**  
Sarah Hannah Gómez holds an MA in children's literature and an MS in library science from Simmons College. She is a doctoral student in children's literature at the University of Arizona.

**Andrea Gough**  
Andrea Gough is an Adult Services Librarian at the Seattle Public Library with a passion for readers' advisory and collection development. She is currently a member of the RUSA CODES Reading List Committee.

**Beatriz Guevara**  
Beatriz Guevara is a library manager at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library with a passion for serving minority and underrepresented populations. She served as President of REFORMA from 2015-2016, where she was also part of the Program, Scholarship, Recruitment and Mentoring, and Education and Membership committees. She loves to attend international book fairs and spend time reading with her son.

**Natalie Harvey**  
Natalie Harvey has nearly a decade of experience as a librarian in public and independent schools in Illinois and North Carolina. She enjoys renovating library spaces, creating and hosting reader's choice awards, and hugging lovely picture books.

**Jennifer Stubben Hatch**  
Jennifer Stubben Hatch is a librarian and former staff member at NoveList. She currently lives in Austin, Texas.

**Lauren Havens**  
Lauren Havens is the Project Manager for Digital Collections for the University of Michigan Library. In this role, she works with a wide range of content, from ancient scrolls to herpetology specimens, archival letters, and more. She also enjoys poetry, fantasy fiction, and sharing children’s literature with her daughter.

**Christen Higgins**  
Christen Higgins is a School Library Media Coordinator with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. She has been working to connect children and books for 14 years in both the public library and public school system. She delights in zany stories that tickle the funny bone and abound with cleverness. Find her at @Storyowl on Twitter.

**Sylvia Huerta**  
Sylvia Huerta is a Reference Librarian at Central Public Library in Conroe, TX. Being bilingual has given her the opportunity to help the Spanish-speaking community of this area by providing services and materials to better suit their needs. She selects Spanish printed materials for all age groups, fiction and non-fiction. Her passion is reading, but exercising, listening to music, and visiting with friends are also important. She loves dogs, especially Yogi, her favorite rat terrier.

**Steven Jablonski**  
Steven Jablonski, Collection Development Librarian at Skokie Public Library and occasional contributor to Library Journal, still cannot believe he actually gets paid to connect readers with good books. When not reading or listening to books, he spends his time reading book reviews and listening to bookish podcasts.

**Michael Jenkins**  
Michael Jenkins is a writer, community activist, and avid vegetable gardener in Wilmington, NC.

**Abby Johnson**  
Abby Johnson is the Collection Development Leader at the Floyd County Library in New Albany, Indiana. She served on the 2015 Newbery Committee and blogs at [abbythelibrarian.com](https://www.abbythelibrarian.com/).

**Jane Jorgenson**  
Before becoming a neighborhood library supervisor, Jane Jorgenson was a page, a clerk, a library assistant, and a librarian, all at the Madison Public Library in Wisconsin. She has also worked in a mystery bookstore, reviewed for a romance website, and served on statewide literary awards committees. She has helped choose *Library Journal's* Best Pop Fiction for the last two years.

**Sophie Kenney**  
Sophie Kenney is the Assistant Manager of Children's Services at the Aurora Public Library (IL) and focuses on early literacy and diverse programming. She reviews for *School Library Journal* and *Kirkus Reviews*. She has served on several ALSC committees, including the Randolph Caldecott Award, and currently co-chairs the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force

**Mary Kinser**  
Mary Kinser is a Collection Development Librarian for Whatcom County Library System in Washington State, focusing on adult collections and readers' advisory. An unrepentant book nerd, her passion is spreading the joy of reading, and she talks books with absolutely everyone she meets.

**Bethany Latham**  
In her day job, Bethany Latham is a Professor and Digital Assets & Special Collections Librarian at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. An avid fan of historical fiction, she is Managing Editor of the Historical Novels Review, for which she also reviews and contributes features and author interviews. She is a regular reviewer for *Booklist.*

**Angela Leeper**  
Angela Leeper is the director of the Curriculum Materials Center (a fancy name for the education library and studio) at the University of Richmond in Virginia. She also reviews children’s and young adult books for *Kirkus* and *Booklist*.

**Hannah Lewis**  
Hannah Lewis works as a youth paraprofessional at the Kent District Library Wyoming Branch in Michigan. She specializes in teen and STEAM programming, readers' advisory, and technology assistance.

**Elizabeth Lopez**  
Elizabeth López is a library supervisor and specializes in youth services, including STEAM programming and outreach. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and enjoys going on walks, dancing, and consuming true crime content.

**Pamela Manasco**  
Pamela Manasco is a writer and editor living in Alabaster, AL.

**John Meier**  
John Meier is the Head of STEM for Engagement and Outreach in the Penn State University Libraries, where he has worked since 2007 and now holds tenure and the rank of full Librarian. He serves on the advisory board for the Lynd Ward Prize for Graphic Novel of the Year and has published on science comics and graphic novels.

**Diana Miranda-Murillo**  
Diana Miranda-Murillo is a Collection Development librarian at the Austin Public Library. She has been in charge of the Spanish and World Languages selection since 2005. She also assists with Library outreach efforts so she can be in touch with the community she serves. Before coming to Texas, Diana worked in school libraries, academic libraries, and specialized documentation centers in her birthplace, Costa Rica.

**Tracie Padal**  
Tracie Amirante Padal is a readers' advisory librarian in the Popular Materials Department of the Palatine Public Library and a poet whose work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

**Julie Paladino**  
Julie Paladino worked in school libraries for twenty years in Ohio and North Carolina. She enjoys being retired in Southport, NC (more time for reading!) and continues to be passionate about YA literature. She also reviews YA audiobooks for *School Library Journal*.

**Selenia Paz**  
Selenia Paz is a librarian in the Houston area who has worked largely in youth services and has a passion for early literacy. She reviews for School Library Journal and Booklist, enjoys writing, and loves spending time with her dogs.

**Marcela Peres**  
Marcela Peres is the Library Director of the Lewiston Public Library in Maine. She is a lifelong champion and devoted reader of comic books and currently serves as Member-at-Large on the inaugural board of ALA's Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table. She has been a featured speaker on panels about comics in libraries at numerous Comic-Cons, as well as ALA Conferences.

**Sarah Polace**  
Sarah Polace is the Children’s Services Supervisor at the Bay Village Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library system in greater Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys connecting readers with books through one-on-one readers' advisory interactions, sharing book talks during school visits, leading youth book discussions, providing online readers' advisory services, and selecting titles for booklists.

**Natalie Romano**  
Natalie Romano is a librarian and grant writer at Denver Public Library, where she's worked for 11 years. After spending nine years as a branch librarian, she recently transitioned to a role in library grants administration. She holds an MLIS, an undergraduate degree in Spanish, and is currently earning a certificate in nonprofit administration. In her spare time, she reviews children's books in English and Spanish and serves as a volunteer grant reviewer.

**Michael Shumate**  
Michael Shumate is a freelance writer living in Durham, North Carolina. His short stories and essays have appeared in *Gettysburg Review*, *Crescent Review,* and other journals.

**Becky Spratford**  
Becky Spratford co-created the Readers' Advisory Department at the Berwyn Public Library \[Illinois\] in 2000, transitioning to full-time consulting and training in 2015. Follow Becky’s RA exploits across the world on Twitter @RAforAll and at RA for All: <http://raforall.blogspot.com>. Becky also reviews horror for *Booklist* and *Library Journal.*

**Jennie Stevens**  
Jennie Stevens is a teen librarian in the greater Chicagoland area with a passion for readers' advisory and programming for all ages. She has worked in public and academic libraries for the past six years and is currently reading her way through the PBS Great American Reads List.

**Kaite Mediatore Stover**  
Kaite Stover is the Director of Readers Services for the Kansas City Public Library and was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2002. She’s served on almost every reading committee ALA RUSA supports and will read almost anything: subtitles, thrillers, literary fiction with a twist, quirky nonfiction, and tarot cards are just a few. She likes/tweets/grams @MarianLiberryan and @kaitestover.

**James Stubbs**  
James Stubbs is a librarian and self-published author who works for the Florence County Library System in Florence, South Carolina. He has a particular fondness for old pulp fiction and westerns**.**

**Konrad Stump**  
Konrad Stump is a Local History Associate for the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library, where he acts as department programming coordinator and works district-wide on Big Read, ASRP, and Springfield-Greene's popular "Oh, the Horror!" series.

**Sarah Bean Thompson**  
Sarah Bean Thompson is a Youth Services Manager for Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library. She is a self-proclaimed geek and loves board games and Star Trek. Sarah was born to be a librarian -- her first word was “book!” She is passionate about readers’ advisory and loves sharing books with readers as well as planning storytimes and programs at her library.

**Barry Trott**  
Barry Trott is Special Projects and Technical Services Director at the Williamsburg (VA) Regional Library. He served as editor of RUSA's journal, *RUSQ,* from 2012-18, and was series editor of ABC-CLIO's *Read On...* series, and is a past president of RUSA. He is a frequent presenter on readers' advisory topics.

**Rebecca Vargha**  
Rebecca B. Vargha is the Head of the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Library at UNC-CH. She is also a member of the SILS Faculty, teaching classes on reference, collection management, special libraries, and knowledge management. Outside of libraryland and teaching, her passions are reading mysteries and taking walks with her dog, Hailey, who is an Australian Shepherd.

**Kay Weisman**  
Kay Weisman is a youth services librarian and writer who currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has worked in school and public libraries, served on numerous book award committees, and currently reviews for ALA *Booklist*.

**Lynne Welch**  
Lynne Welch is an Ohio librarian specializing in Readers' Advisory and Electronic Reference Services.

**Susie Wilde**  
Susie Wilde is passionate about children’s books, whether she’s reviewing, teaching about them, helping people write them, or sharing them with children &amp; adults. Discover more at [ignitingwriting.com](http://www.ignitingwriting.com/)

**Tara Bannon Williamson**  
Tara Bannon Williamson is the Senior Librarian at the Park Hill Branch of the Denver Public Library, founder and facilitator of Denver Public Library's current Adult Advisory group, and an adjunct instructor at the University of Denver's Library Information Sciences Program. She is also on the advisory board and a judge for the Excellence in Graphic Literature Award.

**April Witteveen**  
April Witteveen works as a Community Librarian for the Deschutes Public Library, located in the high desert of Central Oregon (where it's much sunnier than Portland). She specializes in teen services and loves all the challenges and opportunities the age group brings. Once, a sixth-grader said, "That was fun!" after a database presentation. It was a very proud moment.

**Anne Woodrow**  
Anne Woodrow just celebrated her 25th anniversary as an elementary school librarian in Ontario, Canada. Starting out with a card catalogue and an old typewriter, she’s thrilled to have seen school libraries transition from quiet, reserved spaces to vibrant community hubs. Anne has been a NoveList contributor for 10-plus years.

**Jessica Zellers**  
Jessica Zellers is the Collection Development Librarian for Western Carolina University. She has a weakness for fat Russian novels.

**Mara Zonderman**  
Mara Zonderman is the Head of Reference and Adult Services at the Westhampton Free Library in Westhampton Beach, NY. Her favorite part of the job is spearheading Reader's Advisory services and leading book clubs. The mother of two boys, she still finds time to read over 100 books a year.