Officers

President: Dena Davis (Dede)

Ms. Dena M. Davis. A graduate of USM, Dena received her BA in English education. Dede (as she is often referred to) is a native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and currently lives in Hattiesburg with her boyfriend, David and yellow lab, Sadie. Dena has been working in the circulation department at the Hattiesburg Public Library for the past five years. The most recent year, however found her working as the Assistant Children’s Librarian in the Youth Services Department. Once an aspiring teacher, Dena made her decision to enroll in the LIS Master’s program at USM after having only worked in a library for a few short months. After graduating Dena anticipates returning to the public schools as either an elementary school or middle school librarian.

When not drowning in jam covered easy readers, construction paper and glue, Dena enjoys doing some light reading. Her favorite authors are Janet Evanovich and Dan Brown. In what spare time she can find, Dena also enjoys crafting, playing with her dog, gardening, and watching plenty of “mind-numbing” television. Some of her favorite programs are Law and Order: SVU, Family Guy, Dirty Jobs and Ghost Hunters on SciFi.

Vice-President: Jennifer Maede

33-year-old Jennifer Maede (pronounced "matey") is a distance student living in Knoxville, TN. Her husband of 4 1/2 years, Russ, is currently serving in Iraq. They have a dog named Gaby.

Jennifer holds a B.A. in American History and Literature and an M.S. in Higher Education, both from the University of Tennessee. She has been a classroom teacher for 7 years in Tennessee, Georgia, and Arizona; she has taught kindergarten and grades 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8. She currently teaches 7th grade English and Literature in Knoxville at Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

Jennifer anticipates graduating in December 2007. At first she thought she wanted to pursue academic or special librarianship, but realized at ALA that she was more excited than anything about getting an Olivia totebag and having her picture made with Clifford the Big Red Dog. Now she hopes to work in children's or young adult services in a public library.

When not obsessively putting books on hold with the local library, Jennifer enjoys taking Gaby to Starbucks, attending Lady Vols soccer games at UT (where her sister-in-law is an assistant coach), and getting e-mail from her husband.

Webmaster / Interim Secretary : David Sharp

David has been a resident of Mississippi his entire life. The majority of that time has been spent in Ellisville where he currently resides. Ellisville located a few miles North of Hattiesburg, which is home the the University of Southern Mississippi. David recently celebrated his 27th birthday.

David has earned a B.A. in both History and English from William Carey College (University) in 2004. After a short break from academic life He returned to earn his masters in Library Science. He looks forward to graduating and finding a wonderful library in which to work.

In his free time, or when he's avoiding doing his course work, David likes to read, cook, attend anime conventions and watch anime. He enjoys reading mysteries, general fiction, manga, comics, and anything else that catches his interest.

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