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Working Groups

For the past 10 years, Joyce Ward has been the head of reference and Winter Park history at the Winter Park Public Library, and she is her library's site coordinator for Ask a Librarian. She is the co-author of multiple articles on virtual reference, distance learning and web site functionality. She has her Master of Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and is a member of Beta Phi Mu, the International Library & Information Studies Honor Society. Her favorite part of her job is working with her talented staff and great coworkers. Her favorite library quote is, "To those with ears to hear, libraries are really very noisy places. On their shelves we hear the captured voices of the centuries-old conversation that makes up our civilization" (Timothy Healy).

Pat Barbier has been a librarian at St. Petersburg College for 13 years. She earned her bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities and received a Master of Library Science at Florida State University. She is the site coordinator for statewide Ask a Librarian at St. Petersburg College and was on the original VREF Advisory Committee when Ask a Librarian was established. Pat and her husband have lived in Florida for over 20 years. They have three grown children, two of whom began their college careers at a community college. Pat's hobbies are reading (no surprise!), taking long walks for exercise, gardening and yard work.

Cindy Dorfeld Bruckman grew up in South Miami and received her Associate of Arts degree at Miami-Dade Community College. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida and a Master of Library Science from Florida State University in 1988. Cindy has been working at the Alachua County Library District since 1984. She started as a volunteer and worked her way up to librarian in the Adult Services reference department, where she has been since October 1988. She's responsible for updating the library's bookmarks (Great Links!) for the webpage, participates as a committee member on Alachua County's 2-1-1 Task Force, is the manager of the District's Foundation Center Cooperating Collection, and has volunteered for a "recruitment" committee for the Florida Library Association. She's also the co-site coordinator of the ACLD Ask a Librarian team and has been on the Quality Assurance Workgroup since the beginning. Cindy collects turtles and Disney's Cinderella memorabilia. She likes taking cruises with her husband and has been traveling a lot for both work and pleasure, but looks forward to remodeling and decorating the house they fondly call the "money pit." Just ask her about her real Asian box turtle named "Honda".

Nicole Heintzelman is a reference librarian at Winter Park Public Library. She is a 2000 MLS graduate of Florida State University and a former chair of FLA's Information Literacy Interest Group. Some of her favorite people and things are: her husband, Erich, who is a librarian at Valencia Community College; books; music; and her two spoiled cats, Furby and Higgins. Nicole is in charge of the adults movie collection at Winter Park Public Library, which is appropriate since she loves movies, Hollywood, and popcorn, too.

Laurie is a member of the library faculty at Miami Dade College at the Kendall Campus. She is on the Learning Innovations Advisory Council, on the statewide LIS 2004 Course Revision Taskforce, and on the college Course Revision Committee. She has a Master of Library and Information Science from Florida State University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Mississippi College. Laurie has published several articles in Florida Libraries, Facts on File Companion to the American Novel, and Short Story. She was the recipient of the Golden Apple Grant from Learning Innovations of Miami Dade College. She is an avid diver and enjoys travel, reading and writing in her spare time.

Pamela is a reference librarian for the Osceola Library System. She works with a great group of people who teach her something new every day and keep her laughing. She enjoys reading, watching TV, swimming, playing with her dogs, working on the computer, playing video games, and hanging out with friends and family.

Susan Mutschler is the Homosassa branch manager and the reference services manager for the Citrus County Library System. Susan earned her Master in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and business. Susan has worked in libraries for more than twenty years and has direct work experience in all of the major departments. She reads, writes, and speaks German. Susan's reading interests are mostly non-fiction since she "always wants to be learning something new."

Paula Schrader is the new educational services librarian at Okaloosa Walton College (OWC), which is a nine-month faculty position. For the past five years, she has been the outreach services librarian for OWC in Niceville. Prior to that, Paula was a librarian/media specialist at the high school, middle school and elementary level for 13 years. She grew up in northern Illinois, got her bachelor's degree from the University of Wyoming and her MLS from Western Kentucky University. Paula has worked on Ask a Librarian for over four years and has been on the Quality Assurance committee since the beginning. She has been married to her husband Bob for 30 years and they have two sons and two daughters, a cat and a dog. Paula enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities, including bicycling, boating, hiking and playing racquetball. And of course she loves to read books of all kinds.

Christa has been a reference librarian at the Jacksonville Public Library since August 2003. She is the co-site coordinator of the JPL Ask a Librarian team. Christa taught ESL in Philadelphia for 20 years before deciding to go back to school for her master's degree, which she received from Drexel University. From all the years working with volunteers, she knows how important quality assurance and appropriate recognition is to the smooth running of any organization. Christa and her husband have been married for 40 years.

Andy has been a librarian with the University of Central Florida for almost four years. After graduating from the University of South Florida in 2003, he started out as an adjunct librarian at the LSCC/UCF Joint Use Library in Clermont. The next year he transitioned into a permanent position at the BCC/UCF Joint Use Library in Cocoa. Working at a regional campus library affords him the opportunity to share reference responsibilities (including chat hours) with the Brevard Community College Librarians. This is his second year participating in the Ask a Librarian service. He enjoys Ask a Librarian and feels that he learns something new each time he staffs the desk. He lives in East Orlando with his wife and two daughters.