Library Staff Continue Exceptional Work, Earning Recognition Throughout Year – FY24-25 in Review
From professional honors to service achievements and campus-wide leadership, our staff continue to elevate the work of the University Library and reflect our commitment to student success and scholarly impact.
Brittany Newberry, Music & Pop Culture Archivist, received the 2025 Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and performed commendable service to the archives profession.
Imani Beverly, Science Librarian, was voted to be the Secretary of Black Caucus of the Georgia Library Association and now serves as Vice Chair. Deon King, Library Associate at Perimeter College Clarkston Campus, was Vice Chair for 2024-2025 and is now Chair.
The 2025 Open & Affordable Education Symposium, led by Outreach Librarian for the Social Sciences Charlene Martoni-McElrath, welcomed 316 registrants from 70 institutions, saw a 68% rise in live attendance over the prior year, and featured 31 presenters from the U.S. and abroad.
Maicey Melville, Library Assistant III, served as the library’s liaison on the university’s Staff Council, where she helped organize Staff Wellness Walks designed to familiarize colleagues with the downtown and Perimeter campuses.
Business Librarian Christina Gangwisch presented at the SOUCABL (Southern University and College Academic Business Librarians) preconference alongside colleagues from Purdue University and the University of Kentucky, sharing strategies for using AI assistants in literature reviews. She also delivered a session on the topic to Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) students and provided instruction to students in the PACE (Panthers Accelerating Career Experience) program.
Dr. Özlem Tunçel Gürlek, Research Data Services Specialist, collaborated with the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS), its International Center for Public Policy, and the Office of International Initiatives (OII) to support the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. She also partnered with the Intensive English Program and Robinson College of Business’s Cairo University initiative to engage with diverse international academic communities.
Hannah Suarez, Library Technical Assistant, Dunwoody, coordinated a highly successful Library Card Drive with the Fulton County Library System in spring 2025 at the Dunwoody Campus. The event generated more than 100 new library card registrations in just a few hours.
The Library’s Comics and Archives program, organized and presented by Brittany Newberry and Jennie Law, Perimeter librarian and comics historian, continued its twice-yearly spotlight on career paths in the comics and creative arts. In fall 2024, comic artist Marcus Williams led a hands-on workshop for aspiring creators, and in spring 2025, illustrator Shadia Amin discussed her career journey and creative process.
Nedda Ahmed, Librarian for the College of the Arts, began her elected term on the Board of Directors for the Society of Cinema and Media Studies in July 2025, reflecting national recognition of her expertise and leadership.
Tamika Barnes, Associate Dean, Perimeter College Library Services, was selected in 2024 to join the prestigious UCLA Library Senior Fellows program, an intensive, three-week leadership institute that has shaped academic library leadership since 1982.
Braegan Abernethy, Jamie Coen, Hannah Grant, D’Arius McGahee, Kara Mullen, and Emily Williams made outstanding contributions to the University System of Georgia’s project to migrate all USG libraries to a new, open-source library system called Folio. Braegan and Kara represented Georgia State on the Folio Project Implementation Team where they helped to coordinate implementation of the FOLIO project, collaborated with colleagues across the state on developing best practices, provided training and open houses, completed required configuration and provided guidance to the GALILEO Interconnected Libraries (GIL) and vendor migration teams. Braegan, Jamie, Hannah, D’Arius, Kara, and Emily each served on various GIL Functional Committees where they provided their individual expertise to the statewide project. Their leadership in shaping new workflows and partnering with project teams to overcome complex challenges was instrumental in working towards a smooth and successful transition to the new system.