The Advisory Council helps guide the Project’s research activities and nurtures the development of the supporting organization.

Todd CarpenteR: Executive Director, National Information Standards Organization

For the past 12 years Todd Carpenter has served as the Executive Director of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), a U.S. based non-profit association that develops and maintains standards for the creation, persistent management, and effective interchange of information. Prior to joining NISO Todd was Director of Business Development at BioOne. He has also held management positions at The Johns Hopkins University Press, the Energy Intelligence Group, and the Haworth Press. Todd is a graduate of Syracuse University and holds a master’s degree in business from the Johns Hopkins University. He is a frequent blogger on the Scholarly Kitchen, and the editor of the book The Critical Component: Standards in the Information Exchange Environment.

Michele CobB: Executive Director, Audio Publishers Association

Michele Cobb has served on the Audio Publishers Association (APA) board as a director and officer since 2001, and is currently the association’s Executive Director. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of audio publishing at events worldwide. As a partner at Forte Business Consulting, she provides PR, Sales, Marketing and Business Development services for the publishing industry, and is Publisher of both AudioFile Magazine and MMB Media, as well as the Audio Publishing Director for L.A. Theatre Works.

Skip Dye: SENIOR Vice President, Library Marketing & Digital Sales; SENIOR Vice President, Sales & Operations, Penguin Random House

Skip is the Vice President of Library Marketing and Digital Sales and Vice President, Director of Sales Operations at Penguin Random House, LLC (PRH). Skip has been in publishing for over 30 years, starting his career at St. Martin’s Press. While at PRH, Skip was the co-founder of the Penguin Random House Literacy Award for Teachers and co-founder of Penguin Random House Innovation Awards for Libraries. Skip is actively involved with the ALA. He has been a Board Member of United for Libraries for the past two years and, most recently, was elected President 2018-2019 of United for Libraries. While at PRH, Skip has been very active in supporting United’s Book Club Central and the Sarah Jessica Parker Book Club. Skip holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from the University of Georgia.

Sari Feldman: FORMER Executive Director, Cuyahoga County Public Library

Sari Feldman is the former Executive Director of Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), a position she held from 2003-2019. Under her leadership, CCPL became one of the nation’s best and busiest public library systems, earning the Library Journal 5-Star recognition for nine consecutive years (2009-2017). Sari served as the President of the Public Library Association (PLA) from 2009-2010, and President of the American Library Association (ALA) from 2015-2016. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from State University of New York at Binghamton and a master’s in library science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and served as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, teaching graduate courses in library management, reference services, policy and grant writing for more than 20 years. She was honored in 1995 with the Vice President’s Award for Teacher of the Year. 

SUSAN HILDRETH: FORMER DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICE

Susan Hildreth is a library consultant in Walnut Creek, CA. She completed her two-year appointment as the inaugural Gates-funded Distinguished Practitioner in Residence (Professor of Practice) at the Information School at the University of Washington in 2018. She served as the Treasurer of the American Library Association (ALA) and a Fellow in the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in support of the Dialogue on the Future of Public Libraries. Susan served a 4-year term as the director of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, a Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed post. She was also the state librarian of California under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Susan also served as the City Librarian for the Seattle and San Francisco Public Libraries and President of the Public Library Association (PLA). Hildreth has a Master of Library Science degree from State University of New York, Albany, a master’s in business administration degree from Rutgers University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Syracuse University. 

Alan Inouye: Director of Public Policy, American Library Association

Dr. Alan S. Inouye is Director of Public Policy for the American Library Association (ALA). Previously he was the Coordinator of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee in the Executive Office of the President. He completed his Ph.D. in library and information studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

LIBBY JORDAN: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PARTNERSHIPS AND SPECIALTY MARKETS, OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Libby Jordan has been been in publishing for close to three decades—beginning with The Hearst Corporation’s magazine division and, soon thereafter, escaping into the magical world of commercial fiction at Dell/Delacorte (now a division of Penguin Random House) where she oversaw marketing for authors including Danielle Steel, John Grisham, Elmore Leonard, Maeve Binchy, and more. Over the years, Libby has held executive sales, marketing, and training positions with large publishers, independent presses, and a tech start-up or two. She founded a small digital marketing and design firm dedicated to training and educating authors in the effective use of social media and, in her spare time, serves as the director of the Book Division for NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute where, each summer, she works with 100+ recent college graduates looking for their first jobs in publishing. Libby is also, not so secretly, in love with the library reading app Libby, and will wax rhapsodic about it for hours on end. Ask anyone.

Erica Lazzaro: Executive Vice President, Publisher Services & General Counsel for OverDrive, Inc.

Erica Lazzaro is Executive Vice President, Publisher Services & General Counsel for OverDrive, Inc., a global digital media distributor. She leads OverDrive's legal team and licensing, content acquisition and business development efforts, helping publishers worldwide find success with multichannel digital distribution. Erica also works closely with OverDrive’s executive team on strategic relationships and has negotiated agreements with leading companies in the digital media industry.

Peter McCarthy: Director, Digital Services, Ingram Content Group

Peter McCarthy is Director, Digital Services at Ingram Content Group where he is responsible for marketing and ecommerce Software as a Service. He has over twenty years’ of publishing experience, ranging from executive positions with Penguin and Random House to start-ups, bringing a strategic and technical approach to marketing and selling content and books at scale.

Dominique Raccah: Publisher and CEO, Sourcebooks

Dominique Raccah is the entrepreneurial Publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks, the company she founded from her home in 1987. Dominique has lead a continuously growing, pioneering general book publishing house that proudly produces everything from adult and teen fiction, to top titles in children’s books, to baby names and college guides. Sourcebooks is the largest woman-owned book publisher in the country as well as the largest trade book publisher in Chicago. Dominique has been widely recognized as a leader in innovation in book publishing, being named Publishers Weekly Person of the Year in 2016. An inspiring and passionate presenter, Dominique speaks internationally on innovation, the future of book publishing and entrepreneurship, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Entrepreneur, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, and The New York Times.