NDSA:Blane Dessy

Blane Dessy, FLICC

Biography:
Spanning over three decades, my career has included appointments as a public library director, state library consultant, state librarian, Federal program officer for library grants, Director of the ERIC program, founding director of the National Library of Education, and library director at the Dept. of Justice. Most of my career has been involved in "library development"--the improvement of libraries and the creation of library networks.

I have been involved in several professional associations including ALA, SLA, AALL, IFLA, GreyNet, the American Society for Public Administration, and the American Political Science Association. Currently, I am an adjunct instructor at the Catholic University of American School of Library Science where I teach the Federal Libraries Institute and the Library Management class. I have lectured on librarianship in Turkey and Brazil and have represented the United States at education conferences in Italy and the Netherlands. I also serve on the advisory committees for two library and information science schools, the Catholic University of America and Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

I received my Master of Library Science degree with an emphasis in Communications from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976. Following that, I attended an advanced library management training program at the Miami University (Ohio) School of Business Administration.

Interest in serving on the Coordinating Committee:
I am very interested in assisting to plan a national network for the stewardship of digital resources. I have a great interest in the creation of organizational partnerships and strategic planning.

Communities represented:
Federal libraries and information centers

Length of Term:
3 years (ending December 31, 2013)