Dr. Kenya Malcolm

President

Kenya is a clinical psychologist at The University of Rochester Medical Center. Kenya has served on a number of committees/ boards related to youth, families, emotional wellness, and literacy. She is an active member of the Friends of the Ogden Farmers’ Library in Spencerport and maintains their Facebook page. An avid reader, she maintains an often neglected book-blogger presence on social media (@ReviewsMayVary). Kenya is always ready to discuss the value of diverse stories on building a better world through improving connection, empathy, and critical thinking. Her favorite stories have villains who find redemptions, families that grow together, and princesses that save themselves.

Laura C.S. Jones, Ph.D.

Past President

Laura Jones is a full professor in the School of Education at Nazareth College.  Laura teaches a variety of courses on language and literacy acquisition across the content areas and grade levels and inclusive education.  In 2018, she became the Director of the Frontier Center for Urban Education in the School of Education. Her research interests include elementary and adolescent literacy development, diversity, equity and inclusion in literacy education, and teacher leadership.   For ten years she served as the Nazareth College site coordinator for the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival. She welcomes the opportunity to continue to serve in a leadership role for GRTBF as the current board president. When Laura is not engaged in her professional work with teachers and students, she is most likely to be found dancing with her husband or going for walks with her dog.

Karen Hultz

Treasurer

Karen Hultz has been Treasurer for The Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival since its inception in 2005.  In August 2015, Karen retired with 33 years of experience in public libraries. Most of that time was spent at the Irondequoit Public Library as a Teen Services Librarian, later adding the duties of Branch Manager and Assistant Director.  Throughout her career, Karen was active in the Youth Services Section (YSS) of the New York Library Association, serving as YSS President in 2000. Karen currently serves on the Board of Historic Pittsford and volunteers at the nonprofit gift store, One World Goods.  Her hobbies include gardening, quilting, cross-stitch, and reading.

Cara Rager

Secretary

Cara Rager lives in Irondequoit, but because she works and spends a great deal of time in the City of Rochester, she considers Central Library her home-base library.  In her role at WXXI, Cara schedules, facilitates, and implements all events, experiences and activities that support families, children and educators.   Over her career, she has hosted at school-sites to model the use of PBS KIDS resources to support early learning, created educator professional development trainings and school/community engagement nights.  She has also planned large scale community events, including Be My Neighbor Day hosted at Central Library in 2016 which brought 3500 participants to the celebrate helpers, do hands-on activities, and meet Daniel Tiger.  Her work has been recognized and honored in the Rochester Community.  In 2017, she was awarded the WXXI Employee of the Year and in April, 2018 she was named Democrat & Chronicle’s Woman to Watch. 

Dr. Naomi Erdmann

Director

Nazareth College

Angela Giuseppetti

Director

GEVA Theatre Company

Jen Moreitz

Director

Dixon Schwabl & Compay

Linda Moroney

Director

Linda has lived in Rochester, NY since 2006.  She resides in Irondequoit, NY and considers the Irondequoit Public Library to be her community library.   As a mother herself of two teenage sons, she understands the importance providing opportunities in the community to support the developing minds, hearts and talents of teens.   She wears many hats in her professional work.   She is the director of the One Take Series and Annual Festival at The Little.  She teaches documentary film courses as St. John Fisher College.  She is the co-founder of the Rochester Teen Film Festival (est. 2005 at East High School, RCSD) which is now run through The Little Theatre and WXXI.  Linda has presented the winning teen films at a number of our Annual Teen Book Festival events.   In addition, she is currently producing five film projects:  three documentaries, one narrative short, and one animation film.   She also recently won an Emmy for the documentary she directed, Turn the Page.   Because of the nature of her work, she has experience in developing individual and community partnerships, sponsorships, and fundraising.

Anne Rehor

Director

Anne Rehor learned about the ROC Teen Book Festival, when she was a school librarian at Bishop Kearney in 2010.  She became directly involved with the Festival in 2013 when she was part of the 2013 YSS Spring Conference Planning Committee.  In 2014, she shadowed the Volunteer Committee and in 2015 became a full member of the TBF Planning Committee and the Volunteer Committee.  As a Youth Librarian in a small public library, she often finds herself working as the marketing director, outreach expert, programming master and budgetary hawk. She believes this wide range of skills will allow her to provide support on many of the TBF Board Committees.  An interest she brings to this board is that she genuinely believes in the cause. One of the reasons why she champions Teen Book Festival is because she loves the idea of bringing young people in our community closer to the books and the authors that they love.   This is what drew her to the Teen Book Festival to begin with and keeps her committed to this day.   In addition to her volunteer service for TBF, she is also a member of the American Library Association, the New York Library Association and the subsection, Youth Services Section of NYLA.   Within the Pioneer Library System, she serves on the Youth Service Advisory Board.

Jayha Smith

Director

Student at Rochester Institute of Technology

Dr. Sema Taheri

Director

Measures for Justice Institute

Ren vanMeenen

Director

Rochester Institute of Technology
Writers & Books

Stephanie A. Squicciarini

Founder and Past President

Stephanie Squicciarini was the visionary creator and coordinator of the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival (TBF). Thanks to Stephanie’s leadership and hands-on direction, TBF is today recognized as one of the most respected and celebrated festivals of its kind in the country.  Stephanie Squicciarini received her MLS in 2000 and served as the Teen Services Librarian at the Fairport Public Library until her untimely death in March, 2018. In 2008, Library Journal named her a “Mover and Shaker” for her work as Founder and Director of The Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival.  Stephanie served on boards of the Youth Services Section of the New York Library Association and the Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association.  She also gave of her time and talent to her home community on the Board of Trustees of the Irondequoit Public Library. Stephanie epitomized the spirit of a visionary leader who made a real and lasting difference in the lives of young people by inspiring reading, writing, volunteering and community leadership.