Speaker Bios

Tara Murray Grove is the Librarian for Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Penn State. She previously served as the Director of Information Services and Librarian for the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, the world’s largest library dedicated to stamp collecting and postal history, where she oversaw the renovation of new space for the library and developed the library’s first digital collections. She also previously served as the Information Core Director for Penn State’s Population Research Institute and has experience in public and corporate libraries. She has an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in German Studies from Bard College. Tara was recognized as a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association in 2017 and is currently President of SLA.

Kate P. Horan holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, and earned her Master’s in Library Science at St. John's University in Queens, NY. She has been with the City of McAllen since 2006, and has been a Branch Manager and Assistant Director of Public Services. She became the Library Director of the international and national award-winning McAllen Public Library in 2012 and oversees operations of three dynamic locations. She has 3 grown children, 2 cats, and 1 foster kitten.

Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng is Professor and Director of Texas Woman’s University, School of Library and Information Studies. She teaches the foundations of information, organization of knowledge, marketing and advocacy, and community engagement. Dr. Jeng has numerous scholarly publications and presentations and is a recipient of four federally funded grant projects to the total of more than two million dollars. She served on the governing Council of the American Library Association, and was the President of Texas Library Association, 2017-2018. Dr. Jeng is a frequent speaker on topics including library advocacy, diversity, leadership development, and community-based librarianship, and is an active community volunteer with the United Way of Denton County.

Zachary Chance Medlin is the Learning and Student Engagement Librarian at Texas A&M University. His professional areas of interest include critical librarianship, outreach and engagement, and instruction. He earned his Master of Information from Rutgers University and Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas A&M University.

Adrian Shapiro is the Digital Projects Librarian at the Texas Woman’s University Libraries, where she manages the institutional repository, The Repository@TWU, and assists faculty and students in scholarly communication services. In 2020 and 2021, Adrian acted as Chair of the Cross Timbers Library Collaborative Conference, transitioning the event from in-person to virtual in response to the pandemic.

Hillary Veeder is an Associate Librarian and the Head of the Architecture Library, a branch of the Texas Tech University Libraries. She has been with the TTU Libraries since 2013 and previously held the position of Public Services Librarian. In her position she is responsible for the administration, development, and leadership of the Architecture Library, which includes the supervision of two faculty librarians and supervisory oversight of one-full time staff member and six to seven student assistants. She received her M.L.S. from Indiana University, Bloomington and B.A. in History of Art from IUB.

Mea Warren is the Assistant Department Head for Teaching and Learning at the University of Houston Libraries, where she was formerly the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Librarian. In her role she primarily manages relationships between the libraries and various units on campus, integrating information literacy concepts into areas like residential life, career services, and athletics. She is an SLA Rising Star and ALA Emerging Leader who received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her MLS from UNC Chapel Hill.