Meredith Farkas is a faculty librarian at Portland Community College in Oregon. She was previously the Head of Instructional Services at Portland State University. For her work in leading the development of Library DIY at Portland State, she was honored with the 2014 ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award. Meredith was also previously a lecturer at San Jose State University’s iSchool where she taught courses on social media outreach and embedding librarians and the library into the fabric of higher education. For her teaching, she was honored in 2008 and 2011 with the WISE Excellence in Online Education Award. From 2007-2021, Meredith wrote the “In Practice” column for American Libraries, focusing on accessible technologies, collaboration, values-driven work, antiracism, and reflective practice. She frequently publishes and speaks internationally on topics related to her research. Meredith’s research interests include online pedagogy and instructional design; slow librarianship and reflective practice; and the nature of work in late-stage capitalism. She is the author of the popular blog Information Want to be Free where she writes about trends in the profession and her own experiences. For her efforts to improve professional knowledge-sharing, she was honored with the LITA/Library Hi Tech award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology in 2009.  Meredith has held many different leadership and management roles throughout her career, but her favorite role is working with students and faculty as an instruction librarian.

Short Bio:

Meredith Farkas (she/her) is a faculty librarian at Portland Community College in Oregon, a perpetual beginner, and a recovering workaholic. From 2007-2021, she wrote the “In Practice” column for American Libraries, focusing on accessible technologies, collaboration, values-driven work, antiracism, and reflective practice. She has also authored the blog Information Wants to be Free since 2004. Meredith has been in many different leadership and management roles throughout her career, but her favorite role is working with students and faculty as an instruction librarian.