FRIENDS OF THE CENTER
The Friends Board is comprised of librarians, teachers, reading specialists, and retired professionals in the field of education. We are driven by our passion for children's literature and we support the CTCB as a public information and service group. We foster a community of children's literature educators and scholars who provide outreach activities and programs to support librarians and teachers. We help organize and assist with all the special events throughout the year. Enthusiastically, we promote the mission of the Center for Teaching through Children's Books. All persons interested in being Friends of the CTCB are welcome as members. We meet monthly during the school year.
President: Eti Berland
Vice-President: Elisa Gall
Secretary: Maureen O'Shea
Historian/Photographer: Marilyn Crocker
Japan Liason: Sue Conolly
SCBWI Liason Christina Moorehead
By-Laws Committee Marilyn Crocker & Jacqui Kolar
Members-at-Large:
Laura Beltchenko Elizabeth Bird
Michelle Bourgeois Sue Conolly
Susan Corapi Marilyn Crocker
Sophie Degener Elisa Gall
Patrick Gall Lolly Gepson
Lorrie Pomian Fisher Jacqui Kolar
Maureen O’Shea Meg Pyterek
Ruth Quiroa Anny Rusk
Janet Thompson Brian Wilson
Laura Beltchenko
Laura Beltchenko (one of the founding members of the Friends of the Center), has had a dedicated career in public education that includes classroom teacher, reading specialist, and teacher and coordinator of gifted programs. Her public education career culminated as an associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction for a K-12-unit school district. Now in her “encore career”, Laura is committed to the professional development of teachers supporting the implementation of best practice literacy instruction. She is an active member of the Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books and long-time member of the Reading Leadership Institute both with roots at National Louis University.
She was awarded the Illinois North Suburban Library System’s, Library Advocate of the Year for her advocacy of school and public libraries and was also named the Lake County Illinois Innovative Educator by the Illinois Principals Association (IPA). She has held the post of president of the Illinois Suburban Council of the International Reading Association (SCIRA) for 4 years. She is also an active member of the Illinois Reading Council (IRC) and writes a quarterly column in the IRC Journal entitled, Talent, Ability and Potential: TAPping into the Needs of Advanced and Gifted Literacy Learners. Her chapter, “Picture Book Essentials and the English Language Arts.” can be found in the book Accelerating and Extending Literacy for Diverse Students, (2015). She is actively involved with the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) and was recently awarded the Bonnie Park Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award. She was recognized by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and awarded Administrator of the Year by NAGC for her advocacy of academically talented children. Other leadership positions held have been, Professional Development Chair for the Illinois Association of Title I Directors as well as serving on the Libertyville District #70 Board of Education for 24 years. She is currently the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Education of Gifted and Talented Education for the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). She represented the Council in the recently released, ISBE guidance on Learning Recommendations for remote and blended teaching in the midst of the Covid 19 Pandemic. Currently, Laura is the Vice Chair of the Lincoln College, Lincoln, Illinois Board of Trustees and Vice Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee.
Laura is a regular speaker at state and national conventions and conferences on topics such as ELA Standards aligned literacy development, gifted education, social/emotional development using children’s literature, inquiry-based learning, and designing balanced classroom assessments. She is often an invited writer for The Meridian, a newsletter sponsored by the New Meridian Assessment Company. She is an avid collector and speaker on the “Evolution of Children’s Literature Through the Lens of Little Golden Books”.
Eti Berland
Eti Berland is the Head Librarian at Hebrew Theological College, where she teaches courses in Children’s Literature, Oral Interpretation of Literature and Storytelling, and Poetry. She is a recent graduate of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, specializing in youth services, school librarianship, and graphic novels and comics. She joined the Friends in 2013.
Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She is the creator of the 2016 FOLIO Award winner for Best Blog A Fuse #8 Production, a children's literature site, hosted by School Library Journal where she is a regular contributor. She reviews for Kirkus and, on occasion, the New York Times. She produces year end Best Of lists for Parenting Magazine and the National Public Radio Book Concierge.
Betsy is the author of the picture books Giant Dance Party illustrated by Brandon Dorman (2013) and The Great Santa Stakeout illustrated by Dan Santat (2019). She is the co-creator of the very adult Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature, written with fellow bloggers Peter Sieruta (Collecting Children's Books) and Julie Danielson (Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast) as well as ALA's Children's Literature Gems (2009). She is the editor of the middle grade anthology Funny Girl, which brings together some of the funniest women writing for kids today. Betsy is also the author of Long Road to the Circus (2021), a middle grade novel, illustrated by David Small. She has contributed introductions to the reissue of the 1933 Newbery Honor winning book The Winged Girl of Knossos by Erick Berry and Jason Boog's Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age -- From Picture Books to eBooks and Everything in Between. She also co-authored the chapter "Picturebooks and illustrated books" with Junko Yokota in The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks, edited by Bettina Kummerling-Meibauer.
Betsy is the host of two different podcasts. Story Seeds is a production of Literary Safari and pairs kid writers with real adult published authors to create stories together. Her other podcast Fuse 8 n' Kate is done with her sister Kate Ramsey and is a podcast about figuring out which picture books deserve to be remembered as "classics".
She has served on ALSC's Arbuthnot committee, Newbery committee, and Legacy committee as well as the Library of Congress's committee to determine the National Ambassador of Young People's Literature. She served on the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award committee and has served twice on the New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Award committee as well.
Sue Conolly
Sue Conolly is elementary librarian at a K-12 International Baccalaureate school in Tokyo, Japan. Sue lived half her life in her native Australia and half in Japan with her bicultural family until her family was transferred to Illinois in 2012. Once in Illinois she became a part of the Friends group and manager of the CTCB International Picture Book Collection. She served two years on the ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings Committee in 2017 and 2018. She is currently the CTCB Japan liason providing virtual and in-person international and Japanese picture book presentations and talks. Sue holds a Masters in Education (Teacher-Librarian) from Queensland University of Technology, and an M TESOL from University of Southern Queensland.
Marilyn Crocker
After being an elementary school teacher and school librarian in Evanston for 34 years, Marilyn Edwards Crocker continues her deep appreciation for children's literature in retirement. Being read to as a child was where the love of reading and books began. Many years later this enjoyment was greatly expanded with understanding and insight provided by National Louis University where she received her Masters degree in Library and Instructional Media.
Elisa Gall
Elisa Gall is the Early Childhood Librarian at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. She has taught at Dominican University's School of Information Studies and she serves on the board of directors for the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). Elisa is also a children's book reviewer for the Horn Book Magazine and a contributor to the Reading While White blog. Information literacy, building relationships, and connecting children with accurate, relevant, authentic, and affirming resources are at the heart of her practice. Elisa holds a bachelor's degree in Education from Loyola University Chicago and a MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh.
Patrick Gall
Patrick Gall works as a Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED)-trained teacher-librarian for Preschool-8th Grade students at the Catherine Cook School in Chicago. He has served on several ALSC process committees, as well as the 2015 Newbery Committee. Most recently, Patrick chaired the 2020 USBBY Outstanding International Books List Committee and continues to review for The Horn Book Magazine.
Lolly Gepson
Prior to her retirement, Lolly Gepson worked at the Northbrook Public Library for 35 years as a Youth Services Librarian. Her responsibilities included: School Facilitator Position, storytimes, school visits, summer reading program, book talks, reference and reader's advisory. She served on the 2005 Caldecott Committee and the 2015 Newbery Committee and continues her long-standing work as a reviewer for Booklist Magazine. Lolly is also one of the founding members of the Friends of the Center.
Lorrie Pomian Fisher
Lorrie Pomian Fisher, who joined the Friends group in 2017, is the K-8 School Services Librarian at the Skokie Public Library. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from National Louis University and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican University. She is passionate about international children’s books and has attended the book fairs in Guadalajara and Bologna. She completed an independent study project at the International Youth Library in Munich which inspired her blog “Worldwide Wordless”, dedicated to exploring wordless picture books from around the world. She also served on the 2019 Batchelder Award Selection Committee.
Jacqui Kolar
Jacqui Kolar—one of the founding members of the Friends of the Center— is a reading specialist at Big Hollow School District 38 in Ingleside, IL. She works kindergarten through eighth grade students. Jacqui has had a love and passion for reading since she was very young and strives to instill that love for reading in her students. Jacqui completed both her undergraduate and graduate work at NLU.
Maureen O'Shea
Maureen O’Shea currently works as a substitute teacher in East Maine School District 63 and a substitute in the Chicago Public Library’s Teacher in the Library Program. She holds a degree in English and Elementary Education and a Master’s in Library Science from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. During her career she has worked as a Language Arts Writer/Editor at Laidlaw Brothers Publishing, a teacher and School Librarian at Franklin Park School District 84 and a school Librarian at East Maine School District until she retired in 2017. She also worked for many years as a Youth Services Librarian at the Glenview Public Library.
Ruth Quiroa
Ruth E. Quiroa, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Reading, Language, & Literacy at National Louis University, and a former kindergarten and bilingual (Spanish/English) second-grade educator. She teaches graduate courses in youth literature, comprehension, and teaching writing, and is the Faculty Mentor for the federally-funded grant activity, CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship Program. Her research focuses on Latinx youth literature, and the influence of white aesthetics in U.S. picturebooks. Ruth has served as a selection committee member for the Américas Book Award for Children and Adolescents (2010-2012), the Pura Belpré Award (2013), the Randolph Caldecott Award (2019), and the Jane Addams Award (2020-2022). Ruth is one of the founding members of the Friends of the Center.
Meg Pyterek
Meg Pyterek was the first president of the CTCB Friends Group and one of the founding members. She is an Adjunct Professor at National Louis University. Meg served as the USBBY Illinois State Ambassador for ten years. She was a Golden Apple Award winner in 2003 and served on the 2012 & 2013 USBBY Outstanding International Book Committee. Meg was an elementary teacher for 34 years in the Glenview #34 and Northbrook #27 school districts. Meg has a Bachelor's Degree from Bradley University, a Master's Degree from Northwestern University, and a Doctorate from National Louis University (Reading & Language). Her areas of research are: Authentic Literature for Children & Questioning in the Classroom.
Janet Thompson
Janet Thompson is a Chicago Public Librarian who works in children’s services at the West Belmont Branch. She is chair of the nominating committee for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award as well as a reader/selector. She is also managing editor of Storytelling Magazine and served on the 2015 Newbery Committee.
Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson joined the Friends group in January 2015. He works as a Full-Time Children's Librarian at the Evanston Public Library. Brian writes audiovisual reviews to Booklist magazine, and has served on such committees as the 2017 Caldecott Committee, the Bluestem Award Steering Committee, the Monarch Award Committee, and the 2015 Odyssey Award Selection Committee. He is also the current chair of the 2022 Legacy Committee. At Evanston Public Library, he provides an annual presentation on his favorite picture books.
To view CTCB staff bios please go to: http://cttcb.org/ctcb-staff