Meet the new 2022 FAME Board of Directors and Officers

President Elect
Kris Smith
Kris Smith is excited to run for the FAME President-Elect. She has been involved in FAME for many years. FAME continues to make her proud in the way it supports media specialists and, most importantly, supports our students and their needs.

Kris Smith has worked at all levels of school librarianship, from a K-8 setting (7 years), Middle School (2 years), and High School (7 years). Currently she is serving as the Library Materials Specialist for Volusia County where she is privileged to see the amazing work that is being done across the county in all levels. Kris has her Master of Library Science (go Bulls!) and is a firm believer that learning never stops.

Kris Smith has been on the FAME Board, represented FAME on the Legislative Committee, served three amazing years on the Florida Teens Read Committee and for many years, worked on the Conference Committee (Exhibits, Co-Chair and currently, Program). Kris Smith is a member of ALA and AASL, participated as a YALSA Teens Top Ten School feedback group, served on the AASL Job Description Task force, 2019 Atlantic High School Teacher of the Year, recognized as the Literacy Support Educator of the Year for Volusia County in 2016 and has been a FAME Amanda Award recipient.
Board of Directors: 
Region 1
Kathleen Malloy
Kathleen Malloy is a reader and critical thinker by character and necessity. As the youngest of five children with a principal mom—the importance of education, all types, has been an intrinsic value from the start. Raised in Polk County, the actual town of Kathleen, Florida and a graduate of Kathleen High School (go Big Red!). She received her bachelor's degree from Florida Southern College, Master’s in Information Studies from Florida State University, and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from American College of Education. There are six educators in her immediate family, so education has become known as ‘the Family Business.’ Kathleen is certified in English, reading, journalism, social studies, media, Ed. Leadership, and a past NBCT in Early Adolescent Language Arts. Of all the positions she has held in schools, being a media specialist, she considers the most gratifying and impactful of her career. Now, at the district level as a member of the Instructional Technology Department, Kathleen advocates for the media specialists of Leon County on a daily basis. Leon County Schools has a media specialist in 40 of their 41 schools and expects to close that gap to 100% in the coming school year. As a Tallahassee area resident, she is interested in everything surrounding the annual Legislative Sessions, follows FLDOE’s actions closely and has volunteered on FAME’s Legislative Committee in the past. Kathleen also serves on the Friends of the State Library and Archives of Florida CSO. On a personal level, Kathleen and her family are avid campers and enjoy traveling whenever possible, spending time wherever there is something to learn.
Region 2
Jackie Clarke
Jackie Clarke is a  graduate from the University of North Florida receiving her Master's degree in Elementary Education in 2007.  She is a former classroom teacher-turned-Media Specialist at Julington Creek Elementary School, in St. Johns County. She transformed a quiet space into a vibrant and fun heart of the school in just three years. Teaching first, second, and fourth grade has helped her succeed in relationships with students and book suggestions.  She is a two-time recipient of Teacher of the Year, once in 2012 as a 1st grade teacher and again in 2020 as the Media Specialist. She has learned that this is the job she never knew she wanted!
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She proudly served on the 2021 and 2022 SSYRA selection committee for 3-5 and is  excited to jump “on board” as a representative for District 2 for FAME.  She has presented at FAME conferences before and is in awe of all the wonderful Media Specialists she has met attending the conferences. She has a son entering High School and a supportive husband who understands her relationship with all-things books related.
Region 4
Danielle Doyle
Danielle Doyle has been a public-school educator for 19 years and has been serving as the Media Specialist at Lake Region High School in Polk County for the last six years.  Prior to that she has been an elementary Media Specialist, a self-contained gifted teacher, a middle school ELA teacher and a high school reading teacher. Reading and literacy have been Danielle’s passion throughout her varied career.  She firmly believes in student free choice reading materials and recently served on one of the infamous Polk County Book Review Committees to defend her students’ right to read. Danielle has been a member of FAME for 6 years.  In that time she has spent 4 years on the FTR Committee—currently serving as the FTR Chair—and also serves on the Intellectual Freedom Committee.
Region 5
Toni Lipscher
Toni Brooker Lipscher is committed to creating a creative, meaningful and safe environment for all students and staff. Toni is the Media Specialist at Marsh Pointe Elementary, A Florida Power Library, located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Through collaboration with her teachers, administration and staff, she believes in empowering students through project-based learning, research and technology for all grade levels. In addition, she creates many programs, such as the 16 Book Challenge (adapted from Carrie Friday’s FAME presentation) and the Tournament of Books, to inspire pleasure reading and life-long readers. Within FAME, Toni is currently serving as a Board Member, At Large and has previously served on the FAME Nominating Committee, Alternate. As an active member of her local association, Educational Media Association (EMA) of Palm Beach County, she is the current Co-President and will serve as President next year. She is the 5 year Team Leader for her Fine Arts Team and serves on the Principal’s Leadership Team as well. In addition, she has also presented at local and national events such as FAME, FETC, local technology and literacy conferences and for her own PBC Media Specialists. Within the district, Toni has won the EMA Media Services Award and has been nominated twice to represent her school in the Dwyer Awards. She believes that not only is the Media Center the Hub of the school; it is the glue that holds it together. When Toni is not in her Media Center, she can be found teaching and inspiring students through the art of dance.
Board of Directors, At-Large
Clai Parker ​
Clai Parker is the Media Specialist at New Smyrna Beach High School in Volusia County. As a professional educator for almost 18 years, he has served at all levels of K12 Education. He is a member of VAME which is the local association for Volusia County Media Specialists where he is an active member of the High School Professional Learning Committee.
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Clai has served on the Nominations Committee, and currently serves on the Florida Teens Read Committee Representing District 3. He believes that all students need a voice. As a member of FTR, he advocates for genre’s that will reach all students in Florida. The Pick Three Theme for this year's FTR List shows the hard work the committee did to try to find books that would give all our readers at least three books that they would enjoy.

Clai is an active member of FAME and enjoys learning how others are re-inventing their spaces to engage digital learners and finding new ways to build relationships with the hard-to-reach readers that might turn into the next great YA Author. He wants to continue the board’s commitment to advocacy and will give a voice for the hard-working educators that provide a safe space for all students. He would be honored to join the board and would serve the members of FAME to the best of his ability.
Nominations Committee
Deborah Griner
Deborah L. Griner has been at Greco Middle School in Hillsborough County for the past 15 years. She  has served as President and VP of the Hillsborough Association of School Library Media Specialists (HASLMS) and is the current Chair of the Awards Committee. In 2019-2020, Greco Media Center earned the Florida Power Library designation given by the Florida Department of Education and won the Halamandaris Award, a national recognition by the non–profit organization Heart of America, for our Makerspace. She has presented at Hillsborough County media professional days and led training for librarians across the district. Also, she has a Master's in Information Science from Florida State University. She is excited to serve our state organization and contribute to library media in Florida.
Sara Ratliff
Sara Ratliff has been an educator for seventeen years as both an ELA teacher and a media specialist. She has been in the school library at both the elementary and middle school levels. Next year, she will be moving to high school as the media specialist at Pine Forest High School in Pensacola. FAME’s diverse network and vast resources have been instrumental in preparing her for this role. In recent years, she has served on the FAME Board of Directors, Membership, Governing Documents, and Conference Committees. She has also served on the SSYRA Committee. Her FAME Conference presentations include SSYRA committee sessions and a session about her grant work with StoryCorps in the Classroom.