From State Librarian, Jennifer Nelson:
I’m delighted to announce that Emily Kissane has accepted the position of State Library Program Specialist at State Library Services beginning April 16, 2014. Emily has a wealth of experience that will make a decided contribution to State Library Services. After a six-year stint as a reference and information technology librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College, she moved into the area of educational policy.
In addition to other roles, she served as a policy analyst at the Minnesota Office of Higher Education from 1999-2009, administering statewide technology and library programs, including Minitex, MnLINK and the Learning Network of Minnesota. She developed a depth of knowledge about the needs of greater Minnesota through an assignment as the interim executive director of Minnesota Rural Partners and as a policy analyst for rural school districts.
More recently, her work has focused on higher education policy with an emphasis on research, writing and communications. In addition to an MLS from the University of Iowa, Emily earned an MA in Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute where her thesis dealt with market structure and state funding of K-12 education in Minnesota.
In her role at State Library Services, Emily will administer regional public and multicounty multitype library aid programs, the Public Library Accessibility and Improvement Grant program and will serve as e-rate coordinator for public libraries.
