On July 4th, 2026, the United States will commemorate the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. While this is arguably one of the most important historical events in United States history, it has a different and more complex meaning for Black Americans. In partnership with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), Team D of the 2025 ALA Emerging Leaders have combined their expertise and experience to create a toolkit that will support users in their learning journey. This toolkit is recommended for any public education forum, such as libraries, museums, and community-based organizations.

In this webinar, we will present the America at 250: Black Perspectives of the Founding Era Toolkit and encourage attendees to use their organization’s resources to create opportunities for everyone to acquire the necessary knowledge to understand our country’s origins. Our goals for this webinar are to help information professionals and educators gain a deeper understanding of Black agency during the Founding Era and how they can transform the toolkit’s programming suggestions for their own learning environments.

Attendees are encouraged to use and share the America at 250: Black Perspectives of the Founding Era Toolkit.

The New York State Library is proud to co-sponsor this program with the New York Black Librarians' Caucus.

Lindsey Baker, MA, MLIS (she/her), is an interdisciplinary artist, clarinetist-composer, and librarian whose work centers the lives, experiences, and cultures of Black people. She is currently the Humanities Librarian for Black Studies and English at the University of Rochester. She received her MLIS from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. She holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from Columbus State University and a Master of Arts in African American Studies, with a specialization in Culture and Aesthetics from Georgia State University. Her research interests include the work and lives of Black women instrumentalists and composers, information literacy beyond research, and music for visual media.

Arthur Harper, MLIS (he/they) is the Online Learning and STEM Librarian at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is a trans, disabled, early career librarian whose work revolves around teaching first year college students the essential research skills they need for a successful academic career. They also serve as the library's liaison for the School of Science and Engineering and for the open education initiatives on campus. He received his MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022, and his BA in History of Art and Architecture from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019.

Shabrina McPherson, MLIS (she/her), is the Assistant Director of Academic Skills in the Division of Student Success at University of North Carolina Greensboro. A 2024 Spectrum Scholar and 2025 Emerging Leader, she is passionately charting a course toward impactful library leadership. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature with a concentration in Film Studies and a Minor in New Media and Digital Culture from Appalachian State University (2022). In 2024, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) with dual qualifications: a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) and a certificate in Instructional Design. Additionally, she works as an adjunct professor teaching digital literacy and research methodology at various institutions.

Lana Sweeting, MLIS (she/her) has almost a decade of experience working in public libraries. She holds an MLIS from Drexel University and is the Black Cultural Library Advocate Adult Reference Librarian at Multnomah County Library. Her job allows her to specifically focus on serving the Black community that resides in Portland, Oregon through outreach, community engagement, and collection development.

Aaron M. Wilson, MLIS (he/him) serves as the Serials/Government Information Cataloging Librarian at the University of Maryland Libraries in College Park, bringing nearly two decades of experience in academic and research libraries with specializations in cataloging, metadata, and government information management. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in History and American Studies from Washington Adventist University and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland's College of Information.

Deborah Robinson, PhD, MBA (she/her), is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. She has over 20 years of experience in survey research methodology, having worked on major national studies, including the National Survey of Black Americans, the National Black Election Study, and the Black History Month Programming in Public Libraries Study. Dr. Robinson conceived of the project, The Meaning of the U.S. Semiquincentennial for Black Americans, and the ALA Emerging Leaders project is one component of that initiative. She holds a BA from Williams College, a PhD from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Geneva.

This public program is offered by the New York State Library and made possible by federal Library Service and Technology Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which enable the New York State Library to champion lifelong learning.