VCU Libraries continued its role as a convenor of important conversations about librarianship, and its faculty carried on in assuming high-profile leadership roles in national and regional organizations. VCU librarians are active in varied committee, service and leadership roles. A sampling of current appointments:

• Processing Archivist Keahi Adolpho is a member of the Homosaurus Editorial Board (August 2022-May 2025). Starting May 2025, the Homosaurus Editorial Board is restructuring into the Homosaurus Collective. Under the new structure, Keahi is co-convener of the Term Development Board and the English Language Term Development Committee as well as a member of the Organizing Board.
• Assistant Director, Head of Research and Education, Kelsa Bartley served as Chair of the Medical Library Association’s Community Building and Belonging Committee (Chair Elect May 2022-June 2023, Chair May 2023-June 2025).
  • She is also a member of the MLA Be Well Committee (2023-Present).
  • She is also a member of the MLA Reads Book Discussion Program Planning Committee (2018-Present).
  • She is also a member of the African American Librarians Alliance Caucus’ Virtual Engagement Committee (2020-2025).
  • She is also a member of the Journal of Medical Library Association’s Equity Work Group (2021-2025).
• Head, Digital Libraries and Publishing, Karen Bjork is the Chair of the Research Committee for the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC).
• Collections Care Librarian and Conservator Nora Bloch is the Membership Chair and Board Member (elected) for the Virginia Conservation Association (VCA) (2024-2026).
• Associate Dean of Organizational Development Kathy Bradshaw is the Conference Chair of the 2025 Virginia Library Association (VLA) Conference (to be held in Richmond).
• Research and Education Librarian Roy Brown is a member of the MLA Competencies Revision Taskforce – Education (June 2025-May 2026) and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of MLA: MAC Membership and Recruitment Committee (2025-2026).
  • He is also a member of the AAHSL Scholarly Communication Committee (2023-present).
  • He is also a member and the Chair of the MLA Fellows & Honorary Members Jury (2024-2025).
• Head, Special Collections and Archives, Chrystal Carpenter is a member of the Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS) Governance Team.
  • She is also an appointed member of the Crisis, Disaster and Tragedy Response Working Group (Chair Elect August 2025-July 2028).
  • She is also a member of the Old Dominion University Advisory Board for the Masters of Library & Information Studies.
• Science Research Librarian Erin Carrillo is a member of the Virginia Libraries editorial board and the STEM Librarians Collaborative 2024 conference committee.
• Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Librarian Kelsey Cheshire is the 2nd Vice President for the Virginia Library Association (VLA).
• Open Educational Resources Librarian Abbey Childs is a co-convener of the Virginia Scholarly Communications Interest Group.
  • She is also a co-convener of the Open Education Interest Group for the Association of Research Libraries.
  • She is also a member of the Open Education Network’s Event Planning Committee and the VIVA Open and Affordable Course Content Committee.
• University Archivist Ruth Cody is a steering committee member for the Society of American Archivists: College and University Archives Section.
  • She is also a working member of the Web Design Team for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC).
  • She is also a member of the ASERL Special Collections Interest Group.
  • She also served on the Program Committee for the MARAC Spring 2025 Conference. 
• Arts Research Librarian Carla-Mae Crookendale is the Chair of the Nominating Committee for the Arts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and American Library Association (ALA).
• Research and Education Librarian John Cyrus is the Chair of the Education Steering Committee of the Medical Library Association (Chair Elect May 2024-June 2025, Chair May 2025-June 2026).
• Research Data Librarian Nina Exner, Ph.D., serves on the faculty of the Medical Library Association Research Training Institute.
  • She is also a member of the national DMPTool editorial board.
  • She is also a member of the editorial board for Research Development Review: The NORDP journal.
  • She is also a member of the editorial board for Hypothesis: Research Journal for Health Information Professionals.
• Humanities Collection Librarian Kevin Farley, Ph.D., is the Chair of the VIVA Support for Small Publishers Task Force.
• Associate Dean for Research and Learning Laura Westmoreland Gariepy, Ph.D., is the Chair of the University Libraries division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the Vice President of the LOEX Board of Trustees.
• Health Sciences Collections Librarian Karen Gau is Chair of the Medical Library Association’s Collection Development Caucus.
• Associate Dean for Scholarly Communications and Publishing Jimmy Ghaphery served on the inaugural VIVA/SCHEV OVAC Virginia Open Educational Resource Impact Award planning and review committee.
  • He is also a member of the Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries Symposium planning committee.
  • He is also on the advisory board for Punctum Books.
• Humanities Research Librarian John Glover is a member of the Journal of New Librarianship Editorial Board.
• Research and Education Librarian Samantha Guss is convener of the Virginia Scholarly Communications Interest Group (VASCIG).
• Dean of VCU Libraries and University Librarian Irene Herold, Ph.D., is a Board Member (elected), Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) (2022-2025).
  • She is also Chair (elected) (through June 2025) of the library advisory committee (LAC) of SCHEV.
  • She is also an appointed member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Advocacy and Public Policy Committee (January 2025 - December 2026).  
• Head, Student Success, Megan Hodge is Co-Chair of the 2026 LOEX Conference Committee.
  • She is also Vice Chair of the ACRL Instruction Section Research & Scholarship Committee.
  • She is also a member of the editorial boards of College and Research Libraries and Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition.
• Electronic Resources Librarian Mary Beth Holm is Co-Chair of the DC Regional Users’ Group (ELUNA). She is also the co-organizer for the VIVA Electronic Resources Interest Group.
• Head, Access Services, Loftan Hooker is the co-convenor of the Access Services Interest Group (ACRL/ALA) and the Vice-Chair of the Outreach Committee (VIVA).
  • She also serves as the Chair of the Outreach Event Planning Committee (VIVA).
  • She is also a member of the Program Planning Committee for the Library Publishing Forum, ASERL’s Resource Sharing Interest Group, and the Access Services Conference’s Conference Awards Committee.
• Head, Creative Technologies and Scholarship, Eric Johnson is the secretary of the founding board of the Association of Creative Technologies in Academic Libraries, which achieved formal 501c3 status in 2025.
• Collections Archivist Jessica E. Johnson is the institutional archivist for Librarians, Archivists and Museum Professionals in the Health Sciences (LAMPHHS).
  • She is also the Key Contact for Virginia for the Society of American Archivists (SAA). 
• Online Learning Librarian Hope Kelly is Vice-Chair/Chair Elect of the Distance & Online Learning Section and Co-Chair of the Distance & Online Learning Section Mentoring & Networking Committee, Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), American Library Association (ALA).
• Assessment Librarian Kristin Kerbavaz is an accreditation peer evaluator for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and the convener of a Virginia library assessment discussion group.
• Senior Curator for Health Sciences Collections Margaret Turman Kidd is the Co-Chair of the Technology and Outreach Team and a member of the Executive Team of the Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS).
• Associate Dean and Director, Health Sciences Library, Teresa L. Knott serves as Past Chair (November 2024-November 2025) for the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries Future Leadership Committee. She also serves as the Past Chair of the Medical Library Association History Committee.
• Engineering and Science Collections Librarian Ibironke Lawal, Ph.D., is a member of the Committee on Publications of ASTM (A standards-producing organization) and a Board Member, Podium RVA.
  • She is also a member of VIVA AI in the Collections Workgroup. 
  • She is also a member of the ASERL Collections Strategies Committee.
  • She is also a member of the ASEE Annual Conference Planning Committee.
  • She is also a member of the ASEE ELD Development Committee.
  • She is also a member of the Planning Committee for the Empirical Librarians Conference.
• Head, Academic Outreach, Bettina Peacemaker was the editor-in-chief of Virginia Libraries (2025). She concluded her role as managing editor in December 2024.
• Business Research Librarian Janet Reid is the Collections Development Committee Chair of the Capital Area Business Academic Librarians (CABAL).
• Public Affairs Research Librarian Nia Rodgers is the secretary for the Depository Library Council, Government Printing Office (GPO). 
  • She is also the Virginia Coordinator for the State Database Libguide Project from the Government Documents Round Table (GoDoRT), American Library Association (ALA).
• Digital Initiatives Librarian Irina Rogova is a co-coordinator for the Abolition in Special Collections (AbSC) subgroup of the Abolitionist Library Association (AbLA) (2023-Present). 
• Arts Collections Curator Sarah Scarr is the new treasurer for CBAA, the Association for Book Art Education. 
• Teaching & Learning Librarian Jenny Stout is the Immediate Past Chair of the Virginia chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).
• Research and Education Librarian Talicia Tarver served as Chair and is now Past Chair of the Medical Library Association Research Caucus (Chair Elect May 2023-May 2024, Chair May 2024-May 2025).