2025 – Symposium Collaborative Team

Liam Adler
Director of Collections Strategy, Access, and Engagement; Librarian for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS); Barnard Library & Academic Information Services, Barnard College

Liam is the co-editor of the book Reference Librarianship and Justice: History, Praxis, and Practice, and of a special issue of Library Trends titled  Strange Circulations: Affect and the Library. He is working on a project titled Twisting Spirit: Radical Education, Radical Politics, The War on Poverty & the American Library which grows out of a chapter in Boarders and Belonging titled, Immigration, Poverty and the  (Radical) People’s Library: The New  York Public Library and Radical  Education during the Progressive Era and the War on Poverty.  Liam has an M.A. in American Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and an MLIS from Queens College. He lives in Queens with his daughter.

Emma Antobam-Ntekudzi
Assistant Professor / Reference & Instruction Librarian; Bronx Community College, CUNY

Emma Antobam-Ntekudzi’s passion for librarianship was sparked during her role as a Library Associate at the New York Botanical Garden. She holds both a Master of Library Science (MLS) and a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs from Queens College. With over a decade of experience in special and academic libraries, Emma has developed a diverse skill set. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, trauma, data security, and remote learning, exploring their effects on student success and academic performance.

Symphony Bruce
Critical Pedagogy Librarian; Undergraduate & Instructional Services, NYU Libraries

Hebah Emara
Librarian for Open Innovation; Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries

Hebah previously worked as a public librarian before switching to an academic role. They currently work within a cluster of librarians aimed at building STEM for the public good. She received her MLIS from the University of Missouri – Columbia in 2020 where she researched public library services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Their work appears in the recently published text Grabbing the Tea: Queer Conversations on Identity and Libraries.

Stephanie Margolin
Associate Professor & Instructional Design Librarian; Hunter College, CUNY

Stephanie has published on a variety of topics, but her work on academic library bathrooms, ““Where Are the Bathrooms?”: Academic Library Restrooms and Student Needs,” published in the Journal of Library Administration in 2017, is still the one that gets attention. She has been on the planning committee for CPS since almost the beginning and stays because she appreciates the opportunity for personal growth and learning.

Dorian Onifer
Assistant Professor; Research Services Librarian; Hunter College, CUNY

Dorian Onifer holds an MSLIS and Advanced Certificate in Archives from Pratt Institute and a JD from CUNY School of Law. Drawing from an eclectic background in public and special libraries and archives, his current pedagogical and research interests involve teaching with place-based primary sources. Dorian joined the CPS planning committee this year to build community with library and information professionals who are committed to identifying and dismantling inequities in our field.

León D. Santos Orozco
Bibliotecario, Desarrollo de Colecciones; Universidad de Puerto Rico en Arecibo ; Collection Development Librarian; University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo

León D. Santos Orozco has work experience in academic, special, and public libraries. He currently coordinates the work of the Collection Development area of the Library of the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo, and was previously in charge of public service, reference and instruction on the night and Saturday shifts. León’s dissertation is titled: Representaciones de personajes transgénero entre las novelas Rosa Mystica (1987) de Carlos Varo y Sirena Selena vestida de pena (2000) de Mayra Santos Febres (translation: Representations of transgender characters in the novels, Rosa Mystica (1987) by Carlos Varo and Sirena Selena (2000) by Mayra Santos Febres). He enjoys movies, cycling, traveling and of course, reading.

Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz
Associate Dean, Teaching, Learning & Engagement; NYU Libraries

Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz is an Assistant Curator and Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Engagement at New York University Division of Libraries. Shawn co-chairs the Innovative Pedagogy Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Association of Library Information Science Educators, co-leads the Reference & Instruction (SIG) for METRO, and co-leads the Fridays in May: Queer BIPOC Peer Networking Program for information science early professionals and students. She is the co-editor of Grabbing Tea: Queer Conversations in Identity and Libraries, and Grabbing Tea: Queer Conversations in Archives and Practice (2024).  More on Shawn at http://shawntasmithcruz.com.