"Open to Possibilities" — Nancy S. Kirkpatrick — WOLFcon 2022 Closing Keynote
Channel: Open Library Foundation
Date: 2023-03-22

The Open Library Foundation “seeks to enable and support collaboration among librarians, technologists, designers, service providers and vendors to share expertise and resources and to create innovative new software and resources that support libraries. We believe that open discourse in a diverse and inclusive community will better identify and characterize challenges and opportunities and enable paradigm-shifting solutions.” From open software to open architecture, open access journals to open textbooks, “open” might just be the word du jour in our field. How do we use that word to inspire action in meaningful ways that get us to the paradigm-shifting solutions we endeavor to reach? Join me for a conversation about what it means to be open and inclusive, not just in our language but also in our actions, our organizations, and our lives. 

Nancy Kirkpatrick is the Executive Director and CEO of OhioNet, a multitype library consortium representing a diverse membership throughout Ohio and the region. She practiced non-profit law and advocacy before entering the library space, where she has over a decade of experience. An ALA Spectrum Scholar, Nancy holds an MS in Library and Information Science from the iSchool (formerly GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a JD from the TC Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, and a BA in Journalism from Drake University.

She is a certified Human-Centered Design Practitioner and is currently completing Facilitator certifications in Appreciative Inquiry and Conversations Worth Having. She is interested in applying these concepts to work in libraries and related industries. She also enjoys writing, and you can find her most recent work in a series of short pieces on the OhioNet Blog called the Director's Desk (https://www.ohionet.org/blog/category/directors-desk).