Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is the governing body of the Medical Library Association, representing the association members. The MLA board is a “strategic” board where committee and headquarters staff are empowered and collaborate to manage the activities of the association. The main responsibilities of the board are:
- Define the strategic direction of the association.
- Ensure the institution is well-managed and financially sound.
- Hire and evaluate the executive director (or the association management company).
- Appoint the Editors-in-Chief of JMLA and of MLAConnect.
- Vote the budget, monitor financial performance, and set membership rates.
- Set (board level) policies.
- Liaise with committees and task forces.
The MLA board consists of:
- A President-Elect, President and Immediate Past-President, elected for the 3-year term of their rotation by a direct vote of association members,
- 7 Directors, elected for a 3-year term by a direct vote of association members,
- 1 Community Council Chair, elected for a 3-year term by the elected representatives of MLA Caucuses,
- 1 Chapter Council Chair, elected for a 3-year term by the elected representatives of MLA Chapters,
- 1 Executive Director, appointed by the MLA board, and a non-voting member.
The MLA Board of Directors is elected by MLA members. The Executive Director is an ex officio nonvoting member of the board. Members may connect directly with MLA leadership via email: president@mlahq.org.
Heather N. Holmes, MLIS, BA, AHIP, President, 2025-2026, Professor
President
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Tara Douglas-Williams, BS, MSLS, AHIP, The President's Award, Librarian
President-Elect
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Brenda M. Linares, MLIS, MBA, AHIP, Presidents' Award
Past President
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Kate Flewelling, MLIS, AHIP
Treasurer
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2027-05-31
Tamara M. Nelson, MLIS, EdS, Associate Professor
Secretary
From: 2023-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Katrina Holland
Executive Director
From: 2026-02-02
Andy Hickner, MSI
Member
From: 2023-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Liz Kellermeyer, MSLS, AHIP, RTIF
Member
From: 2024-06-01
To: 2027-05-31
Molly Knapp, MA, AHIP, Librarian
Member
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2028-05-31
Irene Machowa Lubker, PhD, MLS, MPH, AHIP - Distinguished, Professor
Member
From: 2023-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Bethany S McGowan, MLIS, MS, BA, AHIP, Associate Professor
Member
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2028-05-31
Beverly Murphy, BS, MLS, AHIP, FMLA, MLA Past President, Marcia C. Noyes Award, Beverly Murphy MLA Scholarship for Underrepresented Students
Member - Chapter Council Chair
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2028-05-31
Deidre (Dede) Rios, MS, PhD, AHIP
Member - Community Council Chair
From: 2023-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is appointed by the Board of Directors from among its members. Its main duties are:
- Assist in the management of MLA’s business between board meetings (real time support to the Executive Director).
- Make recommendations to the board for committees, panels and allied representatives.
- Prepare for board agendas and discussions.
- Liaise with the association management company on behalf of the board, including reviewing the performance of the management team.
The Executive Committee is currently composed of:
- MLA President (chair of the committee),
- President-Elect,
- Immediate Past President,
- Treasurer,
- Executive Director,
- Chief Operating Officer.
Heather N. Holmes, MLIS, BA, AHIP, President, 2025-2026, Professor
Chair - President
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Katrina Holland
Executive Director
From: 2026-02-02
Kate Corcoran
Member - Chief Operating Officer
From: 2023-06-01
To: 2030-01-01
Tara Douglas-Williams, BS, MSLS, AHIP, The President's Award, Librarian
Member - President-Elect
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Kate Flewelling, MLIS, AHIP
Member - Treasurer
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Brenda M. Linares, MLIS, MBA, AHIP, Presidents' Award
Member - Past President
From: 2025-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Appointed Officials
Jill Boruff, MLIS
Colead Editor - JMLA
From: 2022-06-01
To: 2028-05-31
Michelle Kraft
Colead Editor - JMLA
From: 2022-06-01
To: 2028-05-31
Linné Linne Girouard, MLIS, AHIP, FMLA
Sergeant-Of-Arms
From: 2024-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
Chris Shaffer, MS
Parliamentarian
From: 2024-06-01
To: 2026-05-31
- 2012 National Program Committee
- 2013 National Program Committee
- 2014 National Program Committee
- 2015 National Program Committee
- 2016 Joint MLA/CHLA/ABSC/ICLC Planning Committee
- 2017 National Program Committee
- 2018 National Program Committee
- 2019 National Program Committee
- 2020 National Program Committee
- 2021 National Program Committee
- 2022 National Program Committee
- 2023 National Program Committee
- Ad Hoc Committee to Review Core Clinical Journals
- Allied Representative
- Annual Meeting Innovation Task Force
- Awards and Grants Endowment Review Task Force
- CE Passport Financial Support Jury
- Clarivate Analytics/Frank Bradway Rogers Information Advancement Award Jury
- Communities Strategic Goal Task Force
- Community Transition Team
- Continuing Education Committee
- Diversity and Inclusion Task Force
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
- Education Annual Programming Committee
- Education Planning Workgroup
- Education: Health Information Professionalism Curriculum Committee
- Education: Information Management Curriculum Committee
- Education: Information Services Curriculum Committee
- Education: Instruction & Instructional Design Curriculum Committee
- Education: Leadership & Management Curriculum Committee
- Education: Research and Evidence-Based Practice Curriculum Committee
- Emerging MLA Leaders
- Ethical Awareness
- Executive Director Search
- Futures Taskforce
- Gottlieb Prize Jury
- Governmental Relations Committee
- JMLA Editor Search Committee
- Kronick Traveling Fellowship Jury
- Librarians Without Borders Committee
- MLA Archives Task Force
- MLA InSight Initiative Task Force
- MLA Librarians Without Borders/Elsevier Foundation/Research4Life Grants Jury
- MLA News Editor Search Committee
- MLA Research, Development, and Demonstration Project Grant Jury
- MLA Role in Societal Issues Task Force
- MLA Scholarship for Under-represented Students Jury
- MLA/AAHSL Ad Hoc Metrics
- MLA/HINARI/Research4Life Grant Jury
- MLA/HLS Professional Development Grant Jury
- MLA/MIS Career Development Grant Jury
- MLA/Thomson Reuters Doctoral Fellowship Jury
- Oral History Committee
- Research
- Research Imperative Task Force
- Rising Stars Committee
- Scholarly Communications Committee
- Special Program Committee for MLA'22
- Strategic Priorities Task Force
- Task Force on MLA Academy of Teaching Excellence
- Task Force to Review MLA's Competencies for Lifelong Learning & Professional Success
- Task Force to Review MLANET Editorial Board Charge
- Task Force to Revitalize the CORE Toolbox
- Technology Advisory Committee
- Thomson Reuters/Rogers Information Advancement Award Jury
- Vision 2048 Student Workgroup
- Vision 2048 Task Force
- Ysabel Bertolucci MLA Annual Meeting Grant Jury
Other
- Appointed Officials - List of officials appointed by the MLA Board of Directors.
- Awards Committee and Jury Chairs - Workgroup consisting of the chairs of all juries and representative of the Awards Committee.
- Chapter Credentialing Liaisons - List of Chapter credentialing liaisons
- Chapter Treasurers
- JMLA Equity Workgroup - Group of individuals assessing JMLA's equity strategy and compliance.
Committees
- 2025 Collection Development Group - Assembles quality program for the MLA Annual Conference specialty track.
- 2025 Contributed Content Working Group - Reviews submissions and assembles the presentations for the Annual Conference contributed content sessions.
- 2025 Data Management and Services Planning Group - Assembles quality program for the MLA Annual Conference specialty track.
- 2025 Leadership and Management Planning Group - Assembles quality program for the MLA Annual Conference specialty track.
- 2025 Local Assistance Committee (LAC) - Organizes the local hospitality arrangements for the Annual Conference.
- 2025 National Program Committee - Assembles the overall program for the MLA Annual Conference, including keynotes, contributed content and specialty tracks.
- 2026 Collection Development Planning Group - Assembles quality program for the MLA Annual Conference specialty track.
- 2026 Data Management & Services Planning Group - Assembles quality program for the MLA Annual Conference specialty track.
- 2026 Leadership and Management Planning Group - Assembles quality program for the MLA Annual Conference specialty track.
- 2026 Local Assistance Committee (LAC) - Organizes the local hospitality arrangements for the Annual Conference.
- 2026 National Program Committee - Assembles the overall program for the MLA Annual Conference, including keynotes, contributed content and specialty tracks.
- 2027 National Program Committee - Assembles the overall program for the MLA Annual Conference, including keynotes, contributed content and specialty tracks.
- AI Imperative Task Force - Leads the efforts of the AI Imperative MLA strategic goal.
- Awards Committee - Administers the MLA awards and honors program.
- Be Well MLA Planning Committee - Plans and organizes the activities of the Be Well MLA Initiative.
- Board of Directors - The governing body of MLA, elected by MLA members.
- Books Panel - Manages the MLA books program by soliciting and reviewing book submissions in collaboration with the MLA publisher.
- Bylaws Committee - Reviews and updates the bylaws of the association, and provides guidance to MLA chapters on compliance.
- Community Building and Belonging Committee - Coordinating and advisory body that evaluates and seeks to improve MLA practices and programs as they relate to community building and belonging.
- Community Finance Request Review Workgroup - Reviews funding requests from for MLA Caucus initiatives.
- Credentialing Committee - Manages the Academy of Health Information Professional (AHIP) program.
- Education Steering Committee - The oversight and coordinating body for MLA education.
- Education: Collection Development Specialization Planning Group - Investigates the feasibility of an MLA Collection Development specialization.
- Education: Curriculum Committee (combined) - Identifies and solicits educational offerings, including webinar, self-paced, instructor-led and other courses.
- Education: Data Services Specialization - Establishes and maintains the Data Services Specialization.
- Education: MLA Competencies Revision Taskforce - Revises the MLA Competencies for Lifelong Learning and Professional Success with a target completion date of May 31, 2026
- Education: New HSL Librarian Curriculum Project - Establishes and maintains the MLA curricula for librarians new to the profession of health sciences librarianship.
- Education: Systematic Review Services Specialization - Establishes and maintains the Systematic Review Services Specialization.
- Executive Committee - Appointed by the MLA board among its members to support the management of the association.
- Finance Committee - Reviews the MLA annual budget, monitors the financial performance of MLA and MLA investments.
- Grants and Scholarships Committee - Administers the MLA grants and scholarship program.
- History Committee - Coordinates the multifaceted efforts of MLA members and their communities in retaining and preserving the history of MLA.
- Leadership at All Levels Strategic Goal Task Force - Leads the efforts of the Leadership at All Levels MLA strategic goal.
- Membership Committee - Contributes to the promotion of membership in the association.
- MLA/AAHSL Education Taskforce - Joint MLA/AAHSL taskforce on research/assessment for health sciences librarians.
- MLA/AAHSL Legislation Committee - Develops and promotes a joint MLA/AAHSL legislative agenda that supports a consistent position on information policy issues relevant to medical libraries and librarianship.
- MLA/NLM Leiter Lecture Committee - Representatives of MLA and the National Library of Medicine select a keynote speaker related to biomedical communications.
- MLA/RTI Value Studies Working Group - Leads efforts to broaden access to research studies that show the impact of health sciences libraries.
- MLAConnect Editor Search Committee
- Nominating Committee - Prepares the annual slate of at least two nominees for President-Elect, for each Director elected by the membership at large whose term expires, and for the following year's Nominating Committee.
- Professional Recruitment and Retention Committee - Manages initiatives to attract and retain individuals from diverse populations into the health sciences librarianship field.
Caucus Leaders
- Academic Librarians Caucus Leaders
- Accessibility and Disability Caucus Leaders
- African American Medical Librarians Alliance Leaders
- Animal and Veterinary Information Specialist Caucus Leaders
- Artificial Intelligence Caucus Leader
- Cancer Librarians Leaders
- Clinical Librarians and Evidence Based Practice Leaders
- Collection Development Leaders
- Complementary and Integrative Health Leaders
- Consumer and Patient Health Information Services Leaders
- Data Leaders
- Dental Leaders
- Federal Libraries Leaders
- Health Association and Corporate Libraries Leaders
- Health Humanities Leaders
- History of the Health Sciences Leaders
- Hospital Library Leaders
- International Cooperation Leaders
- Latinx Leaders
- Leadership and Management Leaders
- LGBTQIA+ Leaders
- Libraries in Health Sciences Curriculums Leaders
- Medical Informatics Leaders
- Medical Library Education Leaders
- New Members Leaders
- Nursing and Allied Health Resources and Services Leaders
- Osteopathic Libraries Leaders
- Pediatric Librarians Leaders
- Pharmacy and Drug Information Leaders
- Public Health/Health Administration Leaders
- Public Services Leaders
- Research Leaders
- Resource Sharing Leaders
- Scholarly Communications Caucus Leaders
- Science Leaders
- Social Justice and Health Disparities Leaders
- Systematic Reviews Leaders
- Technical Services Leaders
- Technology in Education Leaders
- User Experience Caucus Leaders
- Vision Science Leaders
Juries
- Cunningham Memorial International Fellowship Jury
- David A. Kronick and Charles W. Sargent Visiting Fellowship
- Fellows and Honorary Members Jury
- Janet Doe Lectureship Jury
- Librarian of the Year Awards Jury
- MLA Annual Conference Travel Grant Jury
- MLA Scholarships Jury
- Professional Development Grants Jury
- Research Advancement in Health Sciences Librarianship Awards Jury
- Research Training Institute Jury
- Research, Development, and Demonstration Project Grant Jury
- Rising Stars Award Jury
- Written Works Awards Jury
Councils
- Chapter Council - Represents MLA chapters on the Board of Directors and promotes chapter collaboration.
- Community Council - Represents caucuses on the Board of Directors, promotes caucus collaboration and governs the community of caucuses.
Editorial Boards
- JMLA Editorial Board - Reviews manuscripts, assists in the development of journal policies and practices, acts as ambassador the the journal.
- MLAConnect Editorial Board - Leads the editorial strategy and content for MLAConnect, as a trusted resource for health sciences library and information professionals.