News from Rutgers

Advancing Librarianship: Schoen Fellows Share New Research at the NJLA/NJASL Joint Conference

Three 2025-2026 Schoen Fellows, Toni-Anne McDermott MI'27, Lauren Popp MI'26, and Kaylee Ruiz MI'26, joined Associate Teaching Professor of Library and Information Science Brenda Boyer to share their presentation, " Come & Get It! Ready-to-Use Resources for Busy School & Youth Librarians," at the 2026 NJLA/NJASL Joint Conference, held February 17–19 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Schoen Fellowship is awarded annually to a select number of Master of Information students who are concentrating in School Librarianship.

"The fellowship provides students who are preparing for certification as school library media specialists in K-12 schools with a tremendous opportunity to make pre-service contributions to their field," Boyer said.

During the presentation, McDermott, Popp, and Ruiz discussed their research and the professional resources they are developing for their Schoen projects (Curating an Audiobook Collection, Philadelphia's School Library Crisis, and Gaming in Libraries, respectively). Each spoke about their research journey and fielded questions from the audience of over 120 people.

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Rutgers LIS Welcomes Two Scholars Advancing Social Justice and Privacy Innovation

The Department of Library and Information Science is pleased to welcome two new faculty members in Fall, 2026: Jeanie Austin and Ece Gumusel.

Welcoming them, LIS Department Chair and Associate Professor of Library and Information Science Rebecca Reynolds said, “This year our department’s tenure-track hiring priorities centered on Librarianship, and Information Policy. We are so excited to welcome Jeanie Austin as our Librarianship hire, and Ece Gumusel as our Information Policy hire. Our department is so fortunate to have attracted such talented, innovative scholars whose research will bring new expertise in key areas of development for the department. We can’t wait to warmly welcome our new colleagues to campus, and for our students, especially, to benefit very soon from their arrival. We are grateful to the SC&I Dean's office, and all LIS faculty for their active engagement and support in this important search.”

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