Raritan Valley Community College librarian elected to leadership role in state organization

BRANCHBURG TOWNSHIP, NJ (Somerset County) – Raritan Valley Community College Librarian Megan Dempsey has been elected Vice-President/President-Elect of the New Jersey Academic Librarians (NJAL), which is the New Jersey chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries.

This statewide organization, which supports academic library workers in professional development and growth, also contributes to national conversations pertaining to all aspects of academic librarianship.

In this three-year role, as Vice President in 2024-25, President in 2025-26, and Past-President for the final year, Professor Dempsey will assist with and then oversee planning and direction of the organization, including setting professional development and advocacy priorities and planning the annual NJ Academic Libraries Conference.

“I am especially excited to bring my extensive experience promoting Open Educational Resources and my recent research on first-year student experiences with academic libraries to other institutions around the state. I am also looking forward to becoming more involved in nationwide advocacy around the contributions of libraries and librarians to lifelong learning and engaged citizenship,” said Professor Dempsey of her new role.