About:
Dr. Daren Graves is a Professor of Social Work and Education at Simmons University. His research lies at the intersection of critical consciousness, racial identity development, and teacher education. Dr. Graves has reported on his work in a variety of publications including Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Engaging Black and Latinx Youth in Analyzing, Navigating, and Challenging Racial Injustice (Harvard Education Press, 2020). Dr. Graves also serves as co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Hip Hop Pedagogy from Bloomsbury Academic.
Selected Text:
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley and Malcolm X
This book showed me the importance and power of minoritized peoples claiming spaces to render their own stories and theories of the world. Malcolm X's story also showed me that education is personal, always political, need not happen inside the walls of schools, and should spark criticality in our consciousness.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by 
About:
Dr. Hussey joined the SLIS faculty in Fall 2008. While her research and service contributions are strong, it is her teaching that is most important. Teaching is the foundation of her work at Simmons and SLIS, which has included developing or revising several courses and contributing significantly to online course development. In the past year, Dr. Hussey’s received the award for Excellence in Teaching from the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE).
Selected Text:
The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, 3rd Edition by Neal Wyatt and Joyce G. Saricks
It is not only a title I use extensively for my Readers’ Advisory course, but one that represents some of the most important aspects of working in LIS: focusing on the needs of our users, recognizing the unique points of view and interests, and understanding the role of the library in not only fulfilling information needs, but also creating a comfortable space for all library users.
The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction by 
About
Amy Pattee has been teaching and working at Simmons since 2004. During this nearly 20-year career, Amy has been privileged to work with colleagues across the university - in the School of Library and Information Science and in the department of Children's Literature - who share her passion for children's literature and research, scholarship, and writing about the same.
Selected Text:
The text I've selected is actually a quote from a letter written by pioneering youth services librarian Caroline M. Hewins to her mentor, Anne Carroll Moore, dated 1898:
"How hungry one grows for one's own kind, and how worn the paths are from some stations to some libraries" (quoted in Lundin [1996, p. 192]).
The history of youth services librarianship is, as many scholars have argued, a women's history, and the development and circulation of children's literature within and outside this professional field is the result of many women's endeavors. As a cis-gendered, white woman who sees herself in this history, I recognize my privilege as a beneficiary of the work of my foremothers who's sense of "one's own kind" was limited but from whom I may find the inspiration to wear new paths from "stations to . . . libraries" and beyond.
Lundin, A. (1996). Anne Carroll Moore (1871-1961): "I have spun out a long thread." In S. Hildenbrand (Ed.), Reclaiming the American library past: Writing the women in (pp. 187-204). Ablex Publishing.
Reclaiming the American Library Past by 
About:
Dr. Robinson-Dooley is an LCSW with 20 years of practice and teaching experience. She currently teaches courses in the DSW program. Her research focuses on self-management strategies for Black men dealing with chronic disease and behavioral health. She is the Co-PI on a $700,000 NIH grant, developing a peer-led, self-management curriculum for Black men. She also writes about the intersection of youth sports and mental health. She is the co-author/co-editor of the recent book on Black men’s health. She is also the author of an upcoming children’s book series about the adventures of raising her three beautiful Black boys.
Selected Text:
Black Men’s Health: A Strengths-Based Approach Through a Social Justice Lens for Helping Professions (Dyson, Y., Robinson-Dooley, V. & Watson, J.)
This book is representative of my life's work prioritizing Black men and their health, which started with my PhD dissertation. To also be able to work with and include the work of some of the greatest minds doing work focused on Black men, was the realization of a professional dream.
Black Men's Health by 
About:
Kristie A. Thomas, PhD, MSW has extensive practice, teaching, and research expertise in the anti-violence field. Her scholarship focuses on developing community-informed programs for intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors and their children. Dr. Thomas is currently conducting a longitudinal, mixed methods evaluation funded by Helmsley Charitable Trust on the impact of emergency housing vouchers and aftercare services for IPV survivors. In addition to a robust portfolio of peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Thomas has authored online trainings and toolkits that are used widely by researchers and practitioners across the country. Dr. Thomas teaches in the MSW and PhD programs, and she is the recipient of two teaching excellence awards.
Selected Text:
Thomas, K. A., Messing, J. T., Ward-Lasher, A.,* & Bones, A. (2020). No easy decisions: Developing an evidence-informed process to allocate Housing Choice Vouchers to survivors of intimate partner violence. Housing Policy Debate, 30, 783-805.
This article underscores how complicated applied social work research is, especially when it is conducted in collaboration with agency partners and focused on seemingly intractable problems such as IPV and homelessness.
