Karen E. Miller
President / Owner
Karen joined the firm in 2013 and consulted on 100+ searches prior to taking ownership of the firm in January of 2020. Prior to her consulting career, she served as Associate Director at Stark County (Ohio) District Library and performing as Interim Executive Director for SCDL in 2012. Karen has over 20 years of wide-ranging public library experience, from rural library directorships to branch management to administrative responsibilities in a county district library and in an urban metro library. Karen has demonstrated excellence in strategic planning, staff management and development, successful levy campaigns, event planning, fundraising, and public speaking. She is an active member of the Ohio Library community, serving as an annual presenter for the Ohio Library Council’s New Library Directors Workshop and as a Mentor and Steering Committee member for the ILEAD USA-Ohio leadership program for Ohio librarians. She is a member of the American Library Association and the Public Library Association. Karen has served several years as Chairman and Committee Member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Drum Corps Competition held each year in Canton, Ohio, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps.
Beth Barker
Director of Finance and Communication
Beth Barker has over 20 years of experience overseeing business practices and human resources for several offices in Northeast Ohio, most recently, having served as operations manager for The Chrysalis Center in New Philadelphia. Beth’s experience includes overseeing all finances, including payroll and benefits, as well as human resources for the firm. Beth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Kent State University.
Briana Trudell
Managing Consultant
Briana is a team lead and coordinates searches ensuring a smooth process for the clients and applicants. She was most recently the Executive Coordinator at Grand Rapids Public Library in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and previously worked in Strategic Communications and Marketing. Briana is at her best when interacting with people. As a big-picture thinker and a problem solver, she is constantly identifying new ways to optimize existing systems to be more efficient and effective for the teams’ needs. Briana currently serves as the Vice President on the Executive Board of the Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities Board of Directors, as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Fulton Street Farmers Market, and is a founding member of the Good Manufacturing Art Collective. She is also a member of the Michigan Library Association, American Library Association, and the Public Library Association.
Mandy R. Simon
Managing Consultant
Mandy is a team lead for our clients and enjoys the process of finding the right individual to fit organizations’ needs. Previously she was a Library Consultant at the State Library of Ohio, where she provided strategic and space planning services for libraries of all types across Ohio. Prior to that, Mandy served as the Collection Development Coordinator for Bexley Public Library, and as a Teen and Adult Services Librarian at Worthington Public Libraries, both suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. Mandy received her Master of Science in Library Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006, was recognized as an Emerging Leader by the American Library Association in 2012, was selected for the 2014 Library Leadership Ohio cohort, and the 2015 ILEAD USA—Ohio cohort. She obtained a Graduate Certificate in Public and Nonprofit Leadership from the Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs.
Thomas Dillie
Associate Consultant
Tom is recently retired as the Director of the Minerva Public Library (Ohio). Tom’s earlier experience as a bookstore employee in Urbana, IL led to the completion of a Master’s in Library Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His first professional library position was as Adult Services Librarian, Wadsworth Public Library in Ohio. He was subsequently hired as a branch manager for the Greene County Public Library, Xenia, Ohio and became Assistant Director in 2006. Tom joined the Minerva Public Library in 2008 as Director. Tom is currently serving on the Board of the Ohio Library Council. He brings a variety of experience in both single-building and multi-branch libraries in both rural and urban settings.