Presenter Bios

Casey Van Haren (moderator) is an Arizona native who grew up in Prescott. She has over two decades of experience is public libraries, management, training and customer service. She holds a Master’s in Library and Information Services from San Jose State University and has held many leadership roles in local government. In 2020, after the merge of the Library with Parks, Arts, and Recreation, she became the director of this newly formed department now called Community Services. She has successfully written numerous grants that address the digital divide, small business needs, and community assessment. She is currently the President-Elect for the Arizona Library Association. Casey lives with her husband Trevor, and her pug Ernie in Chino Valley. When she is not trying to save libraries, parks, arts and recreation, she can be found camping, hunting and hiking. She does not like kale.

Stephanie Fulton is currently the Director of Library and Community Services in Huachuca City in Cochise County. She has worked for over 21 years in mostly small and rural libraries in Arizona and England, as well as a Military Intelligence Library in Arizona. Her favorite part of library service is Collection Development, especially weeding, and making personal connections with her patrons.

Amber Mathewson received a Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences from Colorado State University and a Masters Degree in Library Science from the University of Arizona's School of Information Resources and Library Sciences. Ms. Mathewson has worked for the Pima County Public Library system for 32 years and has held her current position as Library Executive Director since October of 2016. In addition to several professional organizations, Amber's community involvement includes sitting on the boards of Literacy Connects, Lutheran Social Services of the South West, Tucson Women at the Top, and the Better Together Coalition for Southern Arizona.

Erin MacFarlane is Deputy Directory at Maricopa County Library District. She has worked in public libraries for seventeen years, in many different positions in a variety of library sizes. She also volunteers as the Chair of the Legislative Committee for AzLA, and is an active member of Policy Corps for ALA. Erin lives in Goodyear with two aging Labradors and a couple of library loving teenagers.

Judy Poe is the Director of Sedona Public Library, one of only two non-profit libraries in Arizona. She became Director in January 2021, after serving as assistant director for the previous 2 years. Prior to her move to Sedona, she managed the Yavapai Library Network, a public, academic, and school library consortium in Yavapai County. From 2009 to 2015 she held nearly every position possible at the Pine River Library in Bayfield, Colorado which was named Library Journal's 2014 Best Small Library in America. Her library career began in an all-volunteer library in western North Carolina. Raised in Pennsylvania, she has lived in Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, and New Mexico, before moving to Arizona in 2017. Prior to earning her Masters of Information & Library Science, her diverse background includes retail management, portrait photography, real estate appraisal, copywriting, and advertising.

Amadee Ricketts has worked in public libraries all over the west since receiving an MLIS at Dominican University / College of St. Catherine in 2002.  Since 2016, she has been the director of the Cochise County Library District, based in Bisbee, AZ.

Arizona Library Association

Building Strong Libraries Together

7760 E State Route 69
Ste C5 #385
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314

(928) 288-2011
admin@azla.org