Anthony Molaro, MLIS '09, PhD '12
Mover and a Shaker and Information Activist
He was one of only 50 librarians called a "Mover and a Shaker” by the Library Journal in 2011, but he prefers the title Information Activist.
Anthony Molaro, MLIS '09, PhD '12, defines an Information Activist as, “a vigorous advocate of knowledge gained through study, communication, research or instruction.” He coined the title in 2009, in his post “On My Mind,” on his blog informationactivist.com. Since then, the term has caught on and been added to Wikipedia. The USA Network recently referred to the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, as an Information Activist.
However the list of “Movers and Shakers” is nothing to sneeze at, the prestigious annual list highlights librarians throughout the country who are shaping the future of libraries.
The Library Journal highlights Molaro’s regular contributions to the Libraries and Transliteracy blog, and his role in co-founding Chicago Deskset, a local offshoot of the New York City-based group of librarians, bibliophiles, and information professionals, as some of the reasons for his place on the list.
Molaro told the Library Journal that he believes that attacks on libraries, intellectual freedom, and human rights can be countered with "the very stories contained within our walls."
Molaro says his passion for justice was kindled at Dominican while earning his Masters in Library Science.
“At Dominican I learned the art and science of librarianship,” says Molaro. “I now run an organization of librarians dedicated to social justice and I co-founded Chicago Deskset with two fellow alums of Dominican’s MLIS program.”
He says that being part of the first class of doctoral students at Dominican has bonded the students and the faculty together.
“We have a running tradition of buying a personalized coffee mug for the professors. The mugs have a funny comment that someone has made during the long 8-hour days,” he says.
He says Dominican faculty members Dr. Kate Marek and Dr. Gertrude Koh inspired his dedication to research and encouraged him to be a library leader.
“I do very little without consulting one or both of these strong Dominican women.”
A native of Batavia, IL, Molaro got this MBA from Elmhurst College in 2006, his MLIS from Dominican in 2009, and his PhD, also from Dominican, in 2012.
Molaro is currently the Associate Dean of Library and Instructional Services at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, IL but also writes and presents on a variety of topics. His interests include technology and libraries, eBooks and eReaders, organization of information, digital media, the digital divide, information activism and social justice, and transliteracy.
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