My name is Kathy Lussier, and I have been working for the last 20 years to help libraries manage and integrate technology in order to better serve their communities. I have extensive experience working with member-driven organizations and facilitating large groups of people to reach a common goal.
I strongly believe libraries are essential to a well-informed and educated population, guaranteeing confidential access to reliable information, regardless of a person’s wealth or means. I also am an open-source software enthusiast. Open-source software provides opportunities to libraries to take control of their systems, allowing them to meet the rising expectations of users while also staying true to their professional values.
I will be using this platform to talk about libraries, technology, and any other topic that catches my interest. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinions of my employer or any other organization with which I am affiliated.
Specialties
- Library Management Systems
- Open-source software communities
- Administration of member-driven organizations
- Facilitating consensus-driven processes among large groups of individuals
- Planning
- Library advocacy
Professional Experience
2018 – present
Executive Director of the SAILS Library Network, a multi-type resource-sharing library consortium in Southeastern Massachusetts.
2010 – 2018
Project Coordinator of the Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative (MassLNC), a joint project among Massachusetts consortia on the Evergreen Integrated Library System. In this role, I also established the MassLNC Evergreen Development Initiative (now called the Evergreen Community Development Initiative), a collaborative of eight libraries/consortia that pooled funds to develop new features and bug fixes in Evergreen.
2002-2010
Assistant Administrator for Technology at the Southeastern Massachusetts Library System (SEMLS) where I assisted member libraries with integrating technology into their services to better serve their communities.