ODU MLIS

We're so excited to celebrate our very own ODU MLIS student, Michelle Oliver, who is featured in the latest issue of the @libraryofva 's broadSIDE magazine! 🎉 Michelle is currently serving as a Virginia Humanities HBCU Fellow, where her research explores the intersection of financial systems and African American life in the nineteenth century. We are incredibly proud of the impactful and inspiring work she is doing to advance historical scholarship and deepen our understanding of the past. Read Michelle’s feature in the newest issue of broadSide here: https://www.lva.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/chunked_uploads/Spring26Broadsideweb.pdf

Congratulations to our MLIS students who were recognized at @odueps 's 2026 Student Awards Luncheon! 🎉 Laura Lilly (ODU MLIS ’25) was honored as Student of the Year for School Library and Rachel Martin was honored as Student of the Year award for General MLIS. We’re proud to celebrate their achievements and dedication!

Our Spring Event with keynote speaker Shamichael Hallman is just a week away! Registration closes this Sunday, April 12th, so sign up now! If you register before Sunday you’ll be automatically entered in a draw to win one of three copies of Mr. Hallman’s book Meet Me at the Library. We really hope you can join us on Saturday, May 18th for an incredible day of community engagement with @odumlis @valibrayassoc @libraryofva @norfolklibraryva and more! REGISTRATION LINK WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN OUR BIO!

🎬 Mark your calendars for April 17! ODU MLIS and @odulibraries are teaming up to host a special FREE screening of the documentary, The Librarians! 📚✨ Grab a classmate, colleague, or family member and join us for a fun and inspiring movie night (popcorn and snacks included). We can’t wait to see you there!

Registration is now OPEN! Join us on Saturday, April 18th for our annual MLIS Spring Event: Meet Me at The Library: Building Connection and Community. This full-day symposium features leading library advocate Shamichael Hallman and all corners of the ODU MLIS community. Don’t miss out on our premier professional gathering of the year, designed to connect our graduate students with the faculty, alumni, and community partners who are leading the field! The registration link is in our bio!

MLIS faculty member Jonathan Lee has been hired by the Library of Virginia to curate their VA250 exhibition! As a visiting artist at ODU last semester, @jleerva joined Kyle Kogut @kylekogut @oduartdept in his multidisciplinary course Envisioning Revolution. With support from @libraryofva (who provided $500 student honorariums and librarian Sarah Falls, an ODU alum) and @oduhistory (who provided graduate student Daniel Conner to do research), students were asked to create portraits of previously unseen Virginians based on petitions submitted to the state between 1776 - 1786. Those portraits and petitions, along with related research, are the foundation of the exhibition, providing insight into the diverse voices and revolutionary spirit of the time. The @varevolution250 exhibition Envisioning Revolution opens Saturday, June 13 and runs through Thursday, December 31. There will be a satellite exhibition at @odulibraries during the Fall 2026 semester. More information and images to come, but for now, here are some photos from last semester, both inside and outside of the classroom, including works in progress for the exhibition.

SAVE THE DATE! On Saturday, April 18th, we will host our annual MLIS Spring Event. This full-day symposium features leading library advocate Shamichael Hallman and all corners of the ODU MLIS community. Don’t miss out on our premier professional gathering of the year, designed to connect our graduate students with the faculty, alumni, and community partners who are leading the field! Registration will open in March. We hope you'll join us!

Big congratulations to ODU MLIS ’21 alumna Tiana Skinner on opening her very own bookstore in Portsmouth, VA! 📚✨ Be sure to follow and visit @halffullbookstore to support her incredible new venture. We are so proud of Tiana and thrilled to see the meaningful community impact our alumni continue to make!

We are proud to announce that our MLIS School Library Program has successfully renewed its national recognition from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), a distinction our program has continuously maintained since 1992. This sustained recognition reflects our longstanding commitment to academic excellence, rigorous preparation, and leadership in school librarianship. We remain dedicated to advancing the field and supporting the professional development of future school library professionals.

We are thrilled to celebrate VLA’s 2026 VALLA cohort, featuring 3 ODU MLIS alumni and 1 future graduate! 🌟 Donovan O'Daniel, MLIS ’25 🌟 Jessie West, MLIS ’24 🌟 Kelly Pecora, MLIS ’23 🌟 Tray Reynolds, anticipated MLIS ’26 We couldn’t be prouder of our Monarchs and the incredible impact they continue to make in the library and information science community. Congratulations to our students, and to all of the outstanding candidates, on this well-deserved achievement!

Thinking about a future in Library & Information Science? Join us for an upcoming ODU MLIS info webinar on Feb. 22nd and Feb. 23rd! Zoom link in bio! ✅ 100% Online & Asynchronous ✅ ALA-Accredited ✅ 30 Credit Hours of Project-Based Learning ✅ Taught by Nationally Recognized Faculty We're now accepting applications for Summer 2026! 🎓 Priority deadline: March 1, 2026 We hope to see you there!

Our phenomenal faculty member, Dr. Kristie Escobar, served on the Newberry Award committee for the ALA Youth Media Awards this week in Chicago! We're so proud of her and her contributions to the field! 📚🎉