Tinker-Telling Team

Dr. Kathleen Campana, PhD is an Associate Professor, and the Patsy H. Perritt Chair in Youth Services. Her research explores how to support learning and development for children and their families in out-of-school and digital learning environments. She earned her PhD from the University of Washington and previously was a faculty member at Kent State University. Her most recent funded research projects include Project VOICE and Project SHIELD, both funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Read Baby Read, funded by the William Penn Foundation. She has taught in the areas of children’s and youth library services, museum studies, and research methods. Her work has been published in Library Quarterly, Information and Learning Sciences, Journal of Early Childhood Research, Early Childhood Education Journal, and Journal of Research in Childhood Education, among others. She has also co-authored one book, Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide, and co-edited another, Create, Innovate, and Serve: A Radical Approach to Children's and Youth Programming.

J. Elizabeth Mills, Ph.D. is an independent researcher and instructor. Her research explores the nature and role of reflection in the ways public librarians plan, deliver, and assess storytimes for young children. Mills has co-conducted several research studies, including librarians’ use of new media with young children, the role of social justice, value-centric outcomes in public libraries’ outreach efforts with families and young children, and the ways in which library and museum professionals incorporate computational thinking into their work with young children and their families. Mills is co-author of Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide and co-editor of Create, Innovate, and Serve: A Radical Approach to Children's and Youth Programming. Mills is the author of more than 30 books for children, including The Spooky Wheels on the Bus. Visit jemillsresearch.weebly.com to learn more.

Jacqueline ‘Jacquie’ Kociubuk, PhD. is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Information Equity, Diverse Communities, and Critical Librarianship track at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. Her research focuses on understanding the role of the public library and other informal learning environments as a community space and meaningful place for children and their families, often drawing from critical childhood theory and ethnographic approaches. Her work has been published in the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, Information and Learning Sciences, the Library Quarterly, and others. She has previously worked as a children’s librarian and PreK-12th grade educator.