Linda W. Braun
LINDA W. BRAUN is LEO’s (Librarians and Educators On-Line) Project Management and Consulting Coordinator. She has provided project management and consulting services to public libraries and schools on a variety of topics and has experience in curriculum and website development. Braun has a Masters of Science Degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and a Masters of Education with a specialization in Computers in Education from Lesley University. Braun currently teaches in the Lesley University, Graduate School of Education, Technology in Education program and for Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science.   She is the author of many publications, including Introducing the Internet to Young Learners: Ready-To-Go Activities And Lesson Plans, The Browsable Classroom: An Introduction to E-Learning For Librarians, Hooking Teens with the Net, Teens.Library Developing Internet Services for Young Adults and Technically Involved: Technology-Based Youth Participation Activities for Your Library.

Lynell Burmark
LYNELL BURMARK is an award-winning educator whose specialties include: strategies for successful presentations, resources for early literacy, multimedia for multiple intelligences, creativity and connectivity, the power of more visual teaching and learning, career-life-mission planning, event marketing and management, and “enlightening up” for stress-free living.  Burmark earned her B.A., two M.A.s, and Ph.D. from Stanford University, where she was elected by faculty and students to receive the Walter Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. As an Associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development since 1994, Lynell is currently developing a 6-hour video on more visual teaching and learning for 100% Educational Videos (www.schoolvideos.com).  Burmark’s book, Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn, won the book of the year award for publisher ASCD in 2002. In 2003, with colleague Lou Fournier, Burmark wrote a second book for ASCD, Enlighten Up: An Educator’s Guide to Stress-Free Living. She is currently working on a third book: What You Get Is What You See (WYGIWYS™), due out in early 2004.

Sharon Draper
SHARON DRAPER, 1997 National Teacher of the Year, is a professional educator, as well as an accomplished writer. She holds the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the College of Mount Saint Joseph and the Doctor of Arts Degree from Cincinnati State University. Draper is the author of over a dozen books.  The best known, Tears of a Tiger, has received numerous awards, including the American Library Association/Coretta Scott King Genesis Award for an outstanding new book, and was also honored as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.  She has served on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and is currently on the Board of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Draper has worked nationally and internationally with teachers, students, schools and educational organizations, spreading the word about the power of accomplished teaching and excellence in education. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and a golden retriever named Honey. 
 

David V. Loertscher
DAVID V. LOERTSCHER is a professor at the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University and is President of Hi Willow Research & Publishing (www.lmcsource.com). He has degrees from the University of Utah, the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from Indiana University. Loertscher has been a school library media specialist in Nevada and Idaho at both the elementary and secondary school levels. He has taught at Purdue University, The University of Arkansas, The University of Oklahoma, and he served as head of the editorial department at Libraries Unlimited and is a past president of the American Association of School Librarians.

Kathleen Odean
KATHLEEN ODEAN is a nationally recognized expert and popular speaker on books for young people, best known for her four guides, Great Books for Girls, Great Books for Boys, Great Books about Things Kids Love, and Great Books for Babies and Toddlers.  Odean was the chairperson of the 2002 Newbery Award Committee as well as a member of an earlier Newbery Award Committee, Caldecott Award Committee, Notable Children’s Books Committee, and Carnegie Award Committee for videos. Before turning to writing and public speaking, Kathleen worked as a children’s librarian for seventeen years in schools and public libraries in California and Rhode Island.  She has been reviewing books for young people in national publications since the early 1980s. A Minnesota native and current Rhode Island resident, Odean has a B.A. in English from Carleton College, Northfield, MN, and an MLIS and M.A. in Folklore from the University of California at Berkeley. 

Nancy Polette
NANCY POLETTE is the author of over 150 professional books including: Reading Guidance in a Media Age, Developing Methods of Inquiry, Building Brain Power with Books, Research Without Copying and picture books The Little Old Woman and the Hungry Cat and The Hole by the Apple Tree. Previously, Pollette was Director of the Laboratory School, Lindenwood University, Director of Library/Media and Gifted Programs in St. Louis County schools, and a teacher of grades K-8 for 30 years. School Library Journal describes her as “an educator with imagination, creativity and an appreciation for the intelligence of children.”  Pollette is now a Professor at Lindenwood University and St. Charles Community College. She lives in O'Fallon, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Dr. Peggy Sharp  http://www.peggysharp.com/
 PEGGY SHARP is well known for her presentations about new children's books, connecting the books to all areas of the curriculum, and motivating children to read. She is an experienced teacher and library media specialist and has received national awards for her creative teaching ideas. One of the foremost experts in North America on children's literature and literature programs, she is a consultant for the Bureau of Education and Research and hundreds of school districts. You can view her workshops by going to her website, www.peggysharp.com. Her articles about teaching with children's books, motivating reading, and strengthening the instructional programs in both classrooms and library media centers have appeared in top professional magazines such as School Library Media Activities Monthly, Instructor, Teaching K-8, The Reading Teacher, Journal of Reading, Emergency Librarian, and The Computing Teacher. Additionally, she is a new book reviewer for The Mailbox Bookbag.