The South Dakota State Library has announced its certification of 36 librarians defending knowledge and liberty at 25 libraries across the state:
This voluntary certification program honors library directors and staff who have successfully met the established certification standards.
The program aims to encourage library professionals to continuously enhance and maintain their skills through ongoing education, providing better services to their communities. By recognizing public and academic library directors and staff who consistently update their knowledge, the State Library emphasizes its commitment to supporting professional development.
For more details about the certification process, please visit the State Library’s website.
Congratulations to the following librarians:
Melanie Argo, Madison Public Library;
Shawn Behrends, South Dakota State Library;
Rhonda Behrens, Wessington Springs Carnegie Library;
Kim Bonen, South Dakota State Library;
Abigail Brandsrud, Siouxland Libraries;
Kendra Brewer, Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library;
Scottie Bruch, South Dakota State Library;
Raven Christman, Lemmon Public Library;
Annie Crist, Beresford Public Library;
Terri Davis, Rapid City Public Library;
Josh Easter, South Dakota State Library;
Tara Engel, Gregory Public Library;
Sara Freng, E.Y. Berry Library-Learning Center, BHSU;
Crystal Gering Nelson, Freeman Public Library;
Ashia Gustafson, Brookings Public Library;
Zoë Hayford, Custer County Library;
Jeremy Hoeck, Yankton Community Library;
LeAnn Kaufman, Freeman Public Library;
Tahlia Kelley, Yankton Community Library;
Kallie Kronberg, Bison Public Library;
Sonya Lang, Britton Public Library;
Twila Lukkes, Avon Public Library;
Barb Nickolas, South Dakota State Library;
Jane Norling, Beresford Public Library;
Cindy Percy, Marcus P. Beebe Memorial Library (Ipswich);
Jan Riggins, K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library;
Dana Schmidt, Yankton Community Library;
Robin Scott, Keystone Town Library;
George Seamon, South Dakota State Library;
Sarah Shoop, Phoebe Apperson Hearst Library (Lead);
Kathleen Slocum, South Dakota State Library;
Amy Smith, Hurley Public Library;
Brenda Standiford, South Dakota State Library;
Mary Terrones, Hot Springs Public Library;
Tara Thomas, Emil M. Larson Public Library (Clark); and
Joanne Urban, Grant County Library [South Dakota State Library, press release, 2025.08.27].
Two things stand out in this press release: the state’s exquisitely correct use of semicolons (separating items in a list where the items include commas) and the preponderance of women among the freshly certified librarians. Out of 36 librarians, only three—Josh, Jeremy, and George—appear to be dudes.
That women appear to make up 92% of this list squares with Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2024 (the last year for which we can trust BLS figures) showing that, nationwide, 89.2% of librarians are female.