Dr. Jo Phillips ’08
Dr. Jo Phillips
Dr. Jo Phillips graduated from the University of North Georgia (when it was called North Georgia College and State University) in 2008 with her Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in political science. After graduation, she obtained her Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University in 2012 and her Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from the University of Dayton (Ohio) in 2023. She is originally from Cumming, Georgia, and currently lives in Canton, Ohio. Both of Jo’s sisters, Aimee Kenemore and Allie Phillips, have earned degrees from the University of North Georgia, so UNG pride runs in the family!
With over a decade in librarianship, Dr. Phillips has served Northeast Ohio patrons as a children’s librarian, youth programming coordinator, maker space librarian, branch manager, and now as the Senior Main Library Manager for Stark Library in Canton, Ohio. Her desire to become a librarian was inspired, in part, by her work at the UNG library during her undergraduate degree. She has served on numerous committees with the American Library Association and chaired the Children and Technology committee, the Organizational Effectiveness Committee, the Sophie Brody Book Award for excellent in Jewish literature, and is currently chairing the Notable Book Council which recognizes excellent literature for adults. She also served on the Theodor Seuss Geisel Book Award for Pre-K to 3rd grade early reading titles and the 2021 John Newbery Medal. (Do you remember as a child seeing the award books with the medal on the front? Those were most likely Newbery winners!)
Dr. Phillips is an organizational effectiveness expert for public libraries, and her dissertation focused on staff engagement with readers’ advisory service in the public library. She has written articles or presented at national conferences on ethics of care leadership, early math literacy programming in libraries, the future of children’s librarianship, and the use of employee resource groups to amplify front line staff voices.
Dr. Phillips has three children: Jackson (14), Parker (13), and Amelia Jane (11). She enjoys hiking, watching movies, playing board games, and volunteering as a Court Angel with the local probate court.