Joyce Kasman Valenza

Joyce Kasman Valenza prepares future librarians for innovative, community-engaged practice and researches digital literacies and librarians’ impact on communities. A former special, reference, public, and school librarian, she served at the Franklin Institute; the Free Library of Philadelphia; and Springfield Township and Wissahickon High Schools. She wrote the NeverEndingSearch blog for School Library Journal and, for ten years, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s techlife@school column. Valenza’s research and teaching interests include digital literacies; AI in search, research, teaching, and learning; school libraries; youth information seeking; and information equity.

Valenza views libraries as critical equity institutions and frames transformative school libraries as equity and intellectual-freedom work, urging recognition of information privilege to close access gaps. Nationally, she has served on ALA Council; the Education and Leadership Development, Rapid Response, and Nominating committees; and chaired AASL’s Educators of School Librarians Section, contributing to Best Apps, National Standards Implementation, and Community of Scholars. She is active in AASL, ALA, ALISE, ISTE, NJLA, and NJASL; participates in NJ Academic Librarians AI and ALISE Youth Services and Pedagogy SIGs; and serves in Pennsylvania on PSLA’s Advocacy Committee and the Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians.

Current projects include Teens, Families, and AI; the School Librarians Pipeline Study; and the IMLS-funded Researching Students’ Information Choices project, along with information-literacy work with NJDOE. Honors include the 2025 NJ Center for the Book Literary Lion Award, 2023 AASL and NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ research awards, and the 2019 AASL Distinguished Service Award. Valenza is an author of “The School Library Manager: Leading Through Change” (2023).

Ph.D., Information Science, University of North Texas
Education Supervisory Certification, Villanova University
M.L.S., School Library Specialty, Villanova University
M.L.S., Academic Library Specialty, Queens College CUNY
B.A., English, Binghamton University

Coordinator, Master of Information School Librarianship Concentration
Teens, Families, and Technology Lab