Rural Library Service & Social Wellbeing Project Teams : Rural Libraries & Social Wellbeing

Research Team

Formed as a partnership between Southern Tier Library System, Pioneer Library System, and the New Mexico State Library, Cornell University’s Rick Bonney joined the team to guide methodology and assessment through all research phases.

Margo Gustina

Margo is the Research Librarian for Public Libraries Action Network (TX). In their former role as the New York Library… Read More

Hope Decker

Hope is the director of the Wayland Free Library in the beautiful finger lakes region of upstate New York. She… Read More

Eli Guinnee

The State Librarian of New Mexico, Eli appreciates the cultural vitality and richness of even the most remote communities. His… Read More

Rick Bonney

Retired director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Public Engagement in Science Program and founding editor of the journal Citizen… Read More

Advisory Board

Bringing their experiences, talents, and skills to support project work, we cannot adequately thank our advisory board enough for their commitment.

Bharat Mehra

Any review of the literature in rural librarianship over the last decade is filled with Bharat Mehra’s name and ideas.… Read More

Madeline Peña

Madeline Peña is a passionate public librarian who works as Digital Content Manager at the Los Angeles Public Library. She… Read More

Cynthia Nikitin

Cynthia is the recently retired Senior Vice-President Project for Public Places. Part of the founding group of planners, designers, and… Read More

Meredith Wickham

Director of First Regional Library System (MS), Meredith Wickham has brought expertise from southern rural public librarianship, which has positively… Read More

Local Library Partners

These library leaders from eight US communities have built and continue to work with the research team to create useful tools from the project findings.

Emilie Braunel

Emilie has been the library director of the Plum Lake Public Library in Sayner, Wisconsin. since January 2017. Before the… Read More

Pam Brown

Pam Brown is the Branch Manager of the State Line Public Library, Pine Forest Library System, Mississippi. Being a branch… Read More

Jerianne Davis

Jerianne Davis is the director of Helveltia Public Library in Helvetia, West Virginia. Jerianne worked as a Section 8 housing… Read More

Tonya Delphous & Richard Styre

Tonya Delphous and Richard Styre are Elk River Public Library District’s two co-directors in Elk River, Idaho. Tonya has only… Read More

Susan Green

Susan Green serves as library director for Jaquith Public Library in Marshfield, Vermont. Susan has lived in Vermont since 1971.… Read More

Kate Kosior

Kate Kosior is the library director at Clifton Community Library in Cranberry Lake, New York, her hometown library, where she… Read More

Chelsea Price

Chelsea Price is the director of Meservey Public Library in Meservey, Iowa. Chelsea’s favorite part of her job is programming… Read More

Isabel War Trujillo

Isabel War Trujillo has lived in Abiquiu all her life. She has been the Grant Writer and Administrator for El… Read More

Southern Tier Library System (STLS), a cooperative public library system serving five counties in south western New York state, serves as the lead agency and home to Rural Library Service & Social Wellbeing. For more information on STLS research, education, and development initiatives, visit https://www.stls.org.