Keynote Speaker: Dr. Emily Knox
Dr. Emily Knox is an award-winning author and educator who specializes in information access, intellectual freedom and censorship, information ethics, information policy, and the intersection of print culture and reading practices. She is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Programs at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her book, Book Banning in 21st Century America (Rowman & Littlefield) is the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars’ Series. She also recently edited Trigger Warnings: History, Theory, Context (Rowman & Littlefield) and co-edited Foundations of Information Ethics (ALA). Her articles have been published in the Library Quarterly, Library and Information Science Research, and the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. Dr. Knox serves on the boards of Beta Phi Mu and the National Coalition Against Censorship. She received her Ph.D. from the Rutgers University School of Communication & Information. Her master’s in library and information science is from the iSchool at Illinois.
Dr. Kristen Mattson 
Dr. Kristen Mattson is an award-winning writer and educator specializing in digital citizenship and ethics. She is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an Education Consultant. Dr. Mattson has served as a middle school English teacher and high school librarian, was a contributing author of International Handbook of Media Literacy Education (Routledge, 2017), and has a Doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction Leadership. Her doctoral research centered on digital citizenship curriculum in secondary schools, and her book Digital Citizenship in Action (ISTE, 2017) helps students be responsible and active in online communities. She also moderates the Future Ready Librarians Facebook group.
Linda Deikman 
Linda Diekman has been an adjunct faculty member at the iSchool for over ten years teaching Information Books and Resources for Youth (IS 453) and Research and Inquiry for Youth (IS 542). She is a University Supervisor providing support for School Licensure Program Students in their field experiences. With almost 20 years as an elementary school librarian holding a K-12 Illinois Professional Educator License in Library Information Science, Linda was a National Board Certified Teacher (2011-2021) and holds secondary endorsements in a number of social studies disciplines. She also has experience as an instructional coach and teacher mentor. Additionally, Linda has over twenty years business experience in marketing and management. Linda holds degrees from Michigan State University College of Business (BA ’80) and the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences (MS ’05, CAS ’09). Linda and her husband, Owen MacBride, reside in Wilmette, Illinois.
Sarah Steiger 
Joining Chicago Public Schools in 2020, Sarah Steiger is the Manager of Libraries and Digital Media. With 12 years of experience in Library Information, Instructional Technology, and strategic messaging in librarianship, Sarah is constantly looking for ways to evolve and grow the library to be culturally responsive in collections, space, policy, programming and hiring practices. When she isn’t collaborating in identifying and elevating anti-racist practices in the library, she’s foraging and identifying mushrooms out in nature
Amy Grabowski 
Amy Grabowski is a Library Media Specialist at West Chicago Community High School. She spent the first 20 years of her career in technology and business systems before pursuing her passion for libraries. In her inaugural year at West Chicago, she was tasked with leading the implementation of the newly enacted Illinois House Bill 234 requiring Media Literacy instruction in all public high schools. The work she has done in developing standards and learning targets for West Chicago has been well received in the Illinois high school library community. Grabowski is a member of the ISBE Media Literacy Advisory Group.
Amanda Ciafone
Dr. Amanda Ciafone is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Cinema Studies in the College of Media specializing in media history and the political economy of communications. She is especially interested in histories of transnational media and economic relations, which she develops in her first book, Counter-Cola: A Multinational History of the Global Corporation (University of California, 2019) and as a co-editor of the University of Illinois book series, The Geopolitics of Information. Her work on age and media has been published in Radical History Review, Feminist Media Studies, and the edited collection, Critical Humanities and Ageing (Routledge). She collaborates with faculty and students in the Initiative for Media Education Inquiry and Action (IMEDIA), which studies existing media pedagogies and works with community partners in developing media education research and practices. She was recognized with the 2021 UIUC Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching for her classroom instruction and work in building a critical, publicly-engaged media studies curriculum, including in her undergraduate course, “Contemporary Media Literacy.” She received her BA and PhD in American Studies from Brown University and Yale University, respectively.