Confirmed keynote speakers at the XIX SLA conference
Barbara Lison
Since almost 30 years Barbara has been working as Director of the Public Library system of Bremen, one of the largest public library systems in Germany.
She is an educated librarian with university degrees in Slavonic studies, History and Educational theory.
Besides her duties in Bremen library Barbara has been actively advocating for libraries on national and international levels. She had several offices in different library related associations, having served as President of the German Library Association, dbv, and President of Bibliothek Information Deutschland, BID, the national umbrella organisation of German library and information associations.
She has also held leadership positions in the European Bureau for Libraries, Archives and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA), including Executive Committee member and Vice-President.
She has been a member of IFLA´s Governing Board, held the position of Treasurer and IFLA President-elect. Her term as IFLA President is from August 2021 to August 2023.
She is an expert on any aspect of the management of libraries, especially innovation, HRM, customer orientation and change management.
* Photo credit and copyright: Lars Kaempf
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Sam Chu
Dr. Chu is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He has obtained 2 PhDs in Education – one focusing on e-Learning from University College London, Institute of Education (2017) and another one focusing on Information and Library Science from HKU (2005). His areas of expertise include digital literacy, gamified learning, and 21st Century Skills. He has been involved in over 70 research projects (Funding: US $10,214,144).
Dr. Chu has published more than 480 articles/books. He is the Co-Editor for the journal Information and Learning Sciences. He has published articles in JASIST, LISR, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, School Library Research, School Library Media Research, Journal of Librarianship & Information Science and OIR. He has received many awards including Faculty Outstanding Researcher Award (2013), Faculty’s Knowledge Exchange Award (2016) and Excellent Health Promotion Project Award from Food and Health Bureau (2017). He has ranked among the top 1% of scholars in two research areas: Information & Library Sciences and Education.