Michele Norris

In Conversation with ALA President Emily Drabinski

Michele Norris is one of America’s most trusted voices in journalism, earning several honors over a long career, including Peabody, Emmy, Dupont, and Goldsmith awards. She is a columnist for The Washington Post Opinion Section, the host of the Audible Original Podcast, "Your Mama’s Kitchen," and from 2002 to 2012 she was a cohost of NPR’s "All Things Considered." Norris is also the founding director of The Race Card Project, a Peabody Award–winning narrative archive where people around the world share their reflections on identity—in just six words. She will discuss "Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity," a unique compilation of stories, richly reported essays, and photographs providing a window into America during a tumultuous era. This powerful book offers an honest, if sometimes uncomfortable, conversation about race and identity, permitting us to eavesdrop on deep-seated thoughts, private discussions, and long-submerged memories.

Norris' first book, "The Grace of Silence, A Family Memoir" was named one of the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Kansas City Star. Before joining NPR, Norris spent almost ten years as a reporter for ABC News covering politics, policy, and the dynamics of social change. Early in her career, she also worked as a staff writer for The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times.

Norris will sign books outside the ballroom (Center Aisle) immediately after the session.

Emily Drabinski, Associate Professor, Queens (N.Y.) College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies is the 2023-2024 president of the American Library Association (ALA). Drabinski has served as chair of the International Relations Committee (2020-21), ALA councilor-at-large (2018-20) and chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Frameworks and Standards Committee (2019-20).

She is an active member of ACRL and Core (Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures). She was co-chair of the ACRL President’s Program Planning Committee (2020-21) and served as reviews editor for College & Research Libraries (2021-23). She is also a member of several round tables: the International Relations Round Table (IRRT), the Library Support Staff Interests Round Table (LSSIRT), the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT), the Sustainability Round Table (SustainRT), and the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT).

Drabinski is a member of several ALA affiliates: the Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA), REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, the American Indian Library Association, the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, and the Chinese American Librarians Association.

Drabinski holds an MLIS from Syracuse University, a BA in political science from Columbia University and an MA in composition and rhetoric from Long Island University, Brooklyn.