Hello! My name is Amanda Wahlmeier, and I am serving on the web committee for the New Members Round Table. The committee chair is Minhao Jiang. I've been a member of ALA for 4 years, and this is my first year on a committee. I am also a member of the RUSA History Section and am currently serving on their Historical Materials committee as well.
I work at the Johnson County (KS) Library as the Local History Librarian. I started this position after finishing my MLS in August 2017. In the past, I've worked as the Curator for the National Orphan Train Complex, an Information Management Specialist for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, and as a Library Assistant at Emporia Public Library. There have been web aspects in each one of these positions. At NOTC, I maintained their website and social media presence. With the Sisters, I managed their social media and worked on history relevant portions of their website. At EPL, I managed their Goodreads account. In my current position, I help maintain the JoCo History website by uploading data for the obituary and local history indexes.
I have a BA in History and International Studies from Baker University, an MA in History with an emphasis in Early Irish History from University College Dublin, and an MLS with an emphasis in archives from Emporia State University. While at Baker I was heavily involved with band where I played trombone, choir, and the Phi Mu Fraternity. At ESU, I served for two years, first as web master then as secretary, for the Student Chapter of ALA. We were awarded the outstanding student chapter of the year from the NMRT in 2017.
In my spare time, I love to read, craft, and do yoga. I have one cat, named Samhain (named for the Celtic festival of Halloween).
Above: A picture of my cat, Samhain, when she was a kitten.
Below: How to pronounce Samhain (trust me, it's not what you think).