State Librarian
New Jersey State Library
Jennifer Nelson is the State Librarian for the New Jersey State Library. In her role, she oversees a talented team of staff who deliver quality library services and support to the library community across New Jersey. Nelson previously served as the director of Minnesota State Library Services, a division that administers Minnesota’s state and federal programs for libraries and the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library. She provided leadership, consultation and support to the Minnesota library community in planning, developing and implementing high-quality library services statewide. Nelson is also a very active member of the national organization of Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. In this capacity she has played a key role in efforts focused on developing the organization’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statement and advancing efforts in data collection regarding new and evolving library service models. In addition to her state-level work, Nelson also has 30 years of experience at large urban and county libraries. Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a master’s degree in library and information studies and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was named a Library Journal “Mover and Shaker,” and has been honored by the Minnesota Governor with the Governor’s Award for Continuous Improvement, among other accolades. Widely published, Nelson is co-author of “Technology and Literacy: 21st Century Library Programming for Children and Teens” (ALA Editions, 2012); lead writer of Measures that Matter: National Action Plan for Public Library Data and Outcomes, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, 2018; and author of “Celebrating Scratch in Libraries,” School Library Journal, May 2009.
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Sunday, June 26, 2022
1:00pm – 2:00pm