Speaker: Edward Iglesias

Edward Iglesias was born in Laredo, Texas and lived there much of his life. The environmental bias caused by living in a bilingual, bicultural society has permanently affected his outlook on life. As a result he is drawn to subjects that don’t easily fit description or are a blend of many things. His latest book Robots in Academic Libraries is a good example as the field of library automation and technology is always in flux.

After leaving Laredo, Mr. Iglesias taught English at various colleges in Houston before deciding to venture into the world of libraries by getting his MLIS at the University of Texas. From there he quickly settled into academic libraries and has worked in the field ever since.

Currently Mr. Iglesias is researching the role of maker spaces in libraries as a way for libraries to continue to be relevant and provide communities of creation for their users.

Speaker: Arianna Schlegel

Arianna Schlegel earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. After several years in the software world, she decided she wanted her career to go in another direction entirely, and pursued her Masters in Library Science. With these two wildly different but equally beloved fields, she began her work as a Digital Projects Librarian at Central Connecticut State University (New Britain, CT) in 2010. Currently she splits her time between her geek-librarian job at Central and her Reference & Instruction position at Capital Community College in Hartford, CT. In her spare time, she knits obsessively, reads everything she can get her hands on, and dabbles in technological pursuits.