Eboni A. Johnson ’97

  • Outreach and Program Librarian

Offices

Education

  • BA, Oberlin College, 1997
  • MLIS, Kent State University, 2003

Biography

I have been a Reference & Instruction Librarian at Oberlin College Libraries (OCL) since 2009, with expanded responsibilities for Outreach and Programming since 2017.  As a generalist in Humanities and Social Sciences, I really enjoy the mental agility that's needed to bounce between many different subject areas. I especially love demystifying the research process for students, and empowering them to be savvy information seekers, consumers, and producers. The "outreach-y" part of my job is going in a whole new direction, too, and extending far beyond the boundaries of Oberlin.

My research interests include the importance of mentoring in information professions; diversity and social justice in libraries; improving access and preservation through digitization; and creating frameworks to help underrepresented people be more visible in library and archival collections, a topic on which I have also presented at professional conferences.

I am the editor of the book, Librarian As Mentor: Grow, Discover, Inspire (Mission Bell Media, 2017), and a contributor to Steven Bell’s edited volume, Crucible Moments: Inspiring Library Leadership (Mission Bell Media, 2016).

Notes

Eboni Johnson Elected New President of Oberlin City Council

January 3, 2024

STEM Librarian and Head of the Science Library Eboni Johnson was elected on January 2, 2024, as the new President of Oberlin City Council. Her dedication to education and community service promises a bright future for the city.

Eboni Johnson Edits Book

September 6, 2017

Outreach & Programming Librarian Eboni A. Johnson ’97 edited a book called Librarian as Mentor: Grow, Discover, and Inspire which was published in July 2017. Librarian as Mentor explores, in a highly readable fashion, the many ways mentoring can be an effective tool in recruiting, retaining, supporting and developing a diverse workforce in any library setting. Johnson assembled 14 librarians to share personal experiences on career positive outcomes from being a mentor as well as a mentee. Topics include peer mentorship, intentional mentoring, mentoring the new generation, and mentoring community advocates.

More information about this book, and other titles in the Peak Series, is available on the Mission Bell Media website.

Eboni A. Johnson Contributes Book Chapter

November 25, 2015

Reference and Instruction Librarian Eboni A. Johnson '97 has contributed a chapter to the forthcoming book Crucible Moments: Inspiring Library Leadership. Johnson's chapter, "Navigating Choppy Waters: Catalysts for Smooth Leadership Sailing,” joins contributions from 15 other library leaders who tell the stories of their leadership journeys.

Crucible Moments is set to publish in early January 2016. Read more about the book on the Mission Bell Media website.

News

This Week in Photos: Listening, bell

March 16, 2022

Eboni Johnson, outreach and programming librarian, holds a hand to her ear as a student across the room reads literature written by bell hooks. The public read-in at Mudd Center’s academic commons honors this prolific writter during Women’s History Month. It also serves as inspiration for this week’s photo series.