Library Staff Directory

Debra Sampson

Bio:

Debra has been the Director of the Academy of Art Library since July 2007. Before pursuing a career in librarianship she worked in the nonprofit sector for many years while living in Point Reyes Station California. She earned a B.A. from Sonoma State University in Literature and received her Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. Debra’s interests in the field of librarianship include collection development, reference services, and reading and writing about contemporary trends in librarianship. Debra is on the board of BayNet, a local library and information network; she also serves as their newsletter editor. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, cooking, knitting, and hiking, and is busy studying Japanese. Debra would be happy to help you with any research needs you may have, via email, phone, in person, or through her online office. Please email or phone her to set up an appointment.

Close

Heather Cummins

Bio:

Heather Cummins is the Visual Resources Librarian at the Academy of Art University (AAU) library. She manages the digitization project that contributes digital media to the AAU digital image collection. Heather also serves as a reference librarian and contributes resources to the Liberal Arts: Art History research guides.

Heather has worked in the AAU library and various archives since 2005. She developed the Lynn Hershman Leeson Archive, which was acquisitioned by Stanford University in 2005, and has worked since at the California State Automobile Association and Computer History Museum archives. She has also contributed archival finding aids to the Online Archive of California (OAC). Heather has a BA in Art History from UC Santa Cruz and a MLIS from San Jose State University. She is an active member of the Visual Resources Association (VRA) and the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS).

Heather is interested in information issues related to visual literacy, digital preservation, and public access to technology.

Close

Holly Gatto

Bio:

Holly Gatto joined the library staff as the Systems and Online Resources Librarian at the Academy of Art University Library in January 2009. As the Systems Librarian, Holly is responsible for developing and maintaining the Academy of Art University Library Website. She has been working on creating the organization and layout of the new library website and she will be continuing to add new resources and functionality as the semester continues. Holly works to ensure that students and faculty have access to the library’s online resources and she also works as a reference librarian. Holly is interested in usability, information architecture, and intellectual freedom issues.

Prior to starting her library science degree, Holly worked as a software developer and consultant. Holly received her B.S. in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio, and her Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from San Jose State University.

When she's not developing websites, or learning about usability, she can be found taking photographs, starting craft projects, and reading.

Close

Lillian Hetherington

Bio:

Lillian’s background is in art, as a fine artist and as an art history major, with a specialization in the art of Africa, the Americas and Oceania, in which she was a museum docent for 20 years. She has worked at the Academy for many years in different capacities. As a slide librarian, she has seen a change in media with the digitization of images. She now catalogs these images for the Luna data base, and will be helping to digitize the slide collection. Though there is a lot of stock photography on the internet, the picture file is still in use and she works to keep it maintained and correctly organized. Graduate students have the privilege of perusing theses of past students, so they may gain insight into what makes a successful project and how to present it. The circulation of these, the fashion files, and DVD’s are part of her responsibility.

Lillian enjoys working with instructors and students in the employ of the school and those that use the media she works with. Her after hours are filled with projects involving art, music, family, and the care of her cat, Quincy.

Close

Renee Lopez

Bio:

After many years in the animal care field, Renee decided to pursue her other career interest in library studies. She completed the two-year Library Information Technology program at CCSF in 1997. She started at the Academy that same year working in Circulation then moved to the Serials department. She is responsible for maintaining all aspects of the approximately 300-title collection which includes acquisitions, bindery, claims, repairs and displaying current magazines.

Close

Jimmy Chi

Bio:

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jimmy graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English Literature. Jimmy has worked at the Academy of Art University Library since 2007 and also tutors basic essay writing skills at the school. Outside of the Academy of Art, Jimmy is an avid blogger and writes a blog at iamawesomeforever.blogspot.com where he interviews people and reviews various media, products, and restaurants. His interests are geek culture, Kurt Vonnegut, roller derby and an unnatural obsession with the shows Firefly and Star Trek. Students will often encounter him on the 108 bus, the local Gamestop, and Kennedy’s Irish Curry where he responds to the name “library dude.”

Close

David Aponte

Bio:

David Aponte is presently employed as a Circulation Assistant for the Academy of Art University Library. He also works for the Oakland Public Library as a Library Assistant. Originally from the Bronx, N.Y., David received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The School of Visual Arts where he specialized in Film. After graduating, he worked as a freelance Videographer for ten years.

David continues to work as a Videographer/Consultant for non-profit organizations. The videos he produces are used to help procure grant funding for programs.

Close

Ian Frederick-Rothwell

Bio:

Ian Frederick-Rothwell toils towards a Master's of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree at San Jose State University while working at the Academy of Art University Library's circulation desk. He earned his BFA at Alfred University in printmaking and video art.

Ian is a newbie cataloging enthusiast. He believes Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are underrated and full-text search is overrated. See if you can get him to explain why.

In his scarce free time, Ian snaps digital and medium-format B/W photos, assembles found-type collage, practices unorthodox bookbinding, hikes intra-/extra-urban trails, cooks minimalist (but not raw) cookery, infuses neutral spirits with herbs/nuts/fruit, and distributes bad puns. When possible, he does two or more of these at a time.

His indie-rock band Show Me State is recording its second full-length album, which he would tell you is titled "Meh, Sirrah!"

Close

Hope Johnson

Bio:

Hope joined the Academy of Art University Library staff in December 2008 as the Assistant Director and Reference & Instruction Librarian. She can often be found providing research assistance at the reference desk, leading tours of the Library and teaching students how to use the Library's website and online resources. Hope just recently relocated to the Bay Area from Florida, where she worked in art libraries at the University of Florida and was a graphic designer for UF’s Department of Entomology. She received a Bachelor of Design from the University of Florida's School of Architecture and a Master of Library & Information Science from Florida State University, which explains her interest in the design of complex information spaces.

Outside of library-land, Hope is a ceramic artist, photographer and website designer. She also enjoys gardening and playing frisbee with her cute dog, Lucy.

Close

Heather Stenson

Bio:

Heather Stenson has been working at the Academy of Art University Library since February 2007, and has been the Circulation Supervisor since 2008. She received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Colorado State University and is currently working on her master’s degree in library science at San Jose State University. When she’s not working at the library or taking classes about libraries, she can be found hanging around in thrift stores, watching movies that star William Powell and Myrna Loy, and, of course, reading. If you have any questions regarding the library’s circulation policies, or need to discuss your library account, please contact Heather at 415-618-3916 or hstenson@academyart.edu.

Close

Rosita Burke

Bio:

Rosita Burke has been with Academy of Art University Library since 2005. She runs the Course Reserve section (Teachers: tell Rose what you require your students to read or view). She also purchases books and films for the Library, and welcomes acquisition suggestions from students and instructors.

Rose has a degree in History, with a solid background in the humanities and art history. An eternal student, she probably has enough post-graduate credits for several more degrees (she has been known to exaggerate, but charmingly), and she finally settled on librarianship as her road to fulfillment. Hobbies? Reading, of course.

Close

Abby Dansiger

Bio:

Abby Dansiger is the Cataloging & Book Processing Manager at the Academy of Art University Library. She has been a part of the library staff since February 2007. She holds a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, and is three semesters away from her Masters degree in Library and Information Science. She will talk both of your ears off about the organization of information if you dare ask, so be careful! In the very far away land of Free Time, she can be found making crafty things, sweet treats, and animal friends.

Close

Gayle Pellizzer

Bio:

Gayle Pellizzer is the Cataloging Assistant for the Academy of Art University Library. She earned her B.S. degree in Business Administration and looks forward to expanding her knowledge of libraries and related technologies while pursuing a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. When she is not looking up call numbers or cataloging new books, Gayle enjoys hunting down obscure Beatles paraphernalia and just about anything architecture related. She is also a sports nut and hopes to be able to catch a couple of baseball and soccer games along the way.

Close

Mary Ellen Massa

Bio:

Mary Ellen Massa started at the Academy of Art University library in August of 2008. She will soon receive her Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. She previously worked at the Academy in the Illustration Department. Her interests include social justice, gender studies, current affairs, Latin American politics and culture, children’s literature, authors of color, and indigenous cultures. She enjoys travel, and just recently returned from a trip to Guatemala, where she climbed a volcano for the first time, visited the captivating Lago Atitlan, and visited a sacred Mayan altar. The last book she read that was not a textbook was Junot Diaz’s The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – she highly recommends it!

Close

Chris Moreno

Bio:

Chris has been working at the Academy of Art University Library since the fall semester of 2009. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree at San Jose State University. He earned his BA in History (focus on Mexican/Latin American history) from California State University, Stanislaus. During his undergraduate studies, Chris participated in two "study abroad" semesters in Mexico. His experiences as a History major steered him away from a "career" in History and brought him closer to pursuing a career in Library Science (and yes, it is a science).

Outside of the library, Chris enjoys watching/playing baseball and soccer, riding his bike, traveling, and is a long time practitioner of Krav Maga martial arts. He is a sucker for baseball movies and foolishly believes the game provides interpretations for all of life’s lessons.

Close

Sloan Denton

Bio:

Sloan started at the Library as a Circulation Assistant in the fall of 2009, and like a few of his coworkers, is currently working towards his MLIS at San José State. He has lived in the Bay Area his whole life save a brief stint in DC, and currently lives in Berkeley. Sloan’s interests are all over the map; he finds himself becoming more and more a generalist. While he doesn’t like the idea that anyone can be defined by one or two principal interests, he acknowledges his defining interests (besides the obvious one in libraries) are probably music (listening to and playing) and literature (a holdover from his pre-grad life as an English major). He’s also a big advocate of burritos, likes riding his bike, spends too much time worrying about the Mad Men, and enjoys traveling though he can hardly ever afford it.

Close