iSchool Spring2026 Graduation

Hello everyone. Good evening and welcome to San Jose State University School of Information spring 2026 virtual graduation celebration. My name is Anthony Chow, professor and director of the high school and also president of the California Library Association. Tonight we gather to celebrate the accomplishments, perseverance, and success of our graduating students from the MLIS, MARA, Informatics, and ISDA programs. We're honored to have faculty, staff, family members, friends, alumni, and supporters joining us for this very special occasion. Please take a moment to say hello via chat and where you are joining us. Tonight's ceremony should end around 6 pm and we will include a short address from myself followed by our dean and then keynote addresses from Deborah Doyle, MLS class of 2011 and and recipient of the 2026 SJSU High School Distinguished Alumni Award. And class of spring 2026 graduate Jodie Nasinger Hang. He is the recipient of the 2026 Ken Hawk Award for exceptional professional promise. We will conclude with a graduate profile video celebrating members of the 20 spring 2026 graduating class. So, congratulations to all of our graduates and thank you for being here tonight. Before we get to our keynotes, I want to just say a few words to you from the heart. Tonight, we celebrate an extraordinary accomplishment. This spring 2026, we are graduating 547 students from the SJSU high school. 464 MLS graduates, 11 MARA graduates, 18 informatics graduates, and 54 um ISDA undergraduates. with tonight's graduating class. Our community alumni community now is more than 15,000 professionals across libraries, archives, records management, data analytics, informatics, education, technology, and communities around the world and to be uh honest 11 countries around the world. We are the most diverse and largest MLS program in the nation, if not the world. This is truly remarkable and you are now part of this family. Tonight is only is not also per is tonight is also personally meaningful to me because this will be my 10th and final graduation ceremony that I have the honor and privilege to oversee as director of the school of information. Effective June 1st, I'll be stepping down at from the director role and returning to the faculty after many wonderful years of service alongside our incredible faculty, staff, students, and alumni. But I bring this up tonight not as an ending, but as a reminder that our lives and careers are journeys that continue to evolve. It is an exciting adventure that continues to write itself as time passes. This is now my 27th year as a library and information science faculty member. And what I have learned over time is that degrees, promotions, titles, and even leadership positions are not destinations. They are milestones along the way. They open doors. They create opportunities. They reveal new pathways we could always we could not always see before. Every stage of our lives gives us the chance to ask, "What impact do I want to make now? What matters most to me now? How can I continue to grow while also helping others? As you grow, you learn. New skills emerge. New wisdom emerges. And over time, you begin to see yourself and your world differently. Lean into that. Allow yourself to evolve. Become more of who you are meant to be. And never limit yourself to what you think you can do today. Instead, take on the challenges you see in front of you, especially the ones you're passionate about and that have the potential to help other people. All of us experience self-doubt. All of us ask ourselves whether we're truly ready for the next challenge. And oftentimes, the honest answer is that maybe we are not fully ready at first. But that is part of growth. We learn through experience. We learn through setbacks. We learn through moments when things do not go perfectly. And over time, those experiences make us stronger, wiser, more resilient, and more confident. Sometimes we eventually realize that the very challenge we once doubted ourselves about was exactly where we were meant to be. For me, this next chapter means focusing even more intentionally on the work that I believe can create the greatest impact before I eventually retire. Whether that is supporting global literacy initiatives, helping build book ecosystems for children, advancing emerging technologies and libraries and education, or mentoring future leaders such as you. And tonight, each one of you begins your own chapter, next chapter. Some of you will become librarians, archavists, records managers, instructional designers, technologists, data analysts, educators, researchers, and community leaders. Some of you will discover entirely new career paths that did not even exist uh uh today. Many of you will change jobs multiple times. Some of you will eventually become directors, deans, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, faculty members, and innovators in fields we cannot even yet imagine. Be open to that journey. Do not be afraid if your path changes over time. In fact, I encourage it. The world needs people who are curious, people who care about access to information, people who lead with empathy, people who can help others navigate complexity, technology, disinformation, and rapid change. People who understand that information when used ethically and thoughtfully has the power to improve lives and strengthen communities. That is the power of this profession, your profession. But I also want to encourage you to remember something else. As you pursue your goals and ambitions, make sure you're also taking care of yourself and your loved ones along the way. Success means very little if we sacrifice our health, our relationships, our happiness, and our sense of purpose to achieve it. Celebrate your accomplishments tonight. Celebrate the people who supported you. Celebrate the family members, partners, children, friends, co-workers, faculty, and mentors who have made this moment possible. And most importantly, celebrate yourselves. You earned this. On behalf of the School of Information, thank you for allowing us to be part of your journey. It's truly been one of the greatest honors of my career. Congratulations, class of spring 2026. We're proud of you. We believe in you and can we cannot wait to see where your journey takes us next. And finally, I want to leave you with this. If you believe you can achieve it, then never give up until you do. I wear these robes as a tangible symbol of the milestone that you have achieved today and we all cannot wait to see what you will do in your own respective careers in the future. Thank you very much. Okay. Now I'm proud to introduce you to our dean of the college of information data and society allesgar uh who will talk uh share some thoughts of congratulations. Thank you, Anthony. Graduates, congratulations. We are so proud of you. Proud of all you have achieved after all hard work. You successfully managed to juggle work, life, and school all at the same time. And you did dedicate a lot of hard work, late night studies, group assignments. And after all of that, you made it. And we're proud of you. So I want to uh congratulate you for your major achievement and share with you how proud we are all of us at San Jose State and college of information data and society and the school of information here of your major achievement. You're graduating from college of information data and society at the time that there are lot of changes in the society really fast changes but you're going out there with the skill of lifelong learning skill of remaining curious learning and asking questions continuously. You always go out there with the with the mission that you want to have a major impact on society and we can't wait to see the impact that you will have on our society. We ask you to keep asking questions of everything you do about the impacts on others on society. What are the consequences of action? The actions that we take, who's going to be left behind? Who's going to be harmed? And what do we do about it? This is your superpower, curiosity. And we want to recognize all the hard work that you do, but we want to encourage you to keep learning and go out there and have amazing impact on society because we know you will have major impacts on society. And we can't wait to hear all about it. We do want you also to remain connected to your other home, the school of information, college of information data and society and San Jose State. I I want you to very briefly congratulate you again. I would like I really hope that I will get to see you in person next week. We'll have a celebration uh for college graduation ceremony next Wednesday, May 20th and our commencement ceremony where you get to cross the stage and shake the hands of president on May 21st at 7 p.m. I hope I get to see you there and I hope I get to shake your hands. I hope I individually get get to congratulate you for this major milestone and this major achievement that you have had. But if I don't get to congratulate you in person, I want to take this opportunity and congratulate you right now and tell you we are so proud of you and we can't wait to see all the major impacts that you will have on society. I want to always end with this one last sentence I tell people. I say as a Spartan, you go out there, you go for it with curiosity, with adaptability and care for society. As a graduate of College of Information, Data and Society, congratulations all once again. I would like to turn the floor back. I really hope that I will get to see you to next week and I want to tell you one more time in person next week and right here online of how proud we are of your major achievements. Congratulations all. >> Thank you, Madan. And and definitely we hope we'll see many of you in person uh next uh next week. Next, it's my great honor to introduce tonight's keynote speaker, Deborah Doyle, a friend and fellow rabble rouser. Deborah Doyle is a proud graduate of San Jose State University School of Information MLS program, class of 2011, and the recipient of the 2026 High School Distinguished Alumni Award. This prestigious recognition honors her outstanding leadership, professional accomplishments, and long-standing contributions to libraries, the communities they serve. Throughout her career, Deborah has been a passionate advocate for libraries, literacy, intellectual freedom, and equitable access to information, and she is certainly one of the advocacy leaders for California. She has served in numerous leadership roles at the local, state, and national levels and is widely respected for her commitment to public service, collaboration, and strengthening the future of libraries. We're incredibly proud to recognize Deborah tonight, not only as one of our distinguished alumni, but also as an inspiring leader whose work reflects the values and missions of the School of Information. Please join me in warmly welcoming Deborah Doyle. Deborah, >> thank you so much, Dr. Chow. Good evening, graduates, faculty, families, friends, and fellow information professionals. As an alumni of San Jose State's University's high school, I'm honored to join you tonight and to celebrate the 2026 spring graduating class in the Masters of Library and Information Science program and the other graduates that are with us as well. Go Spartans. I've enjoyed working with Dr. Chow and thank him for his service in rabble rousing and advocacy and I also wish him even more success in the future and hope to hope to work with him then. Congratulations to you all. This is about achievement certainly, but it's also about purpose, community, and the future you'll be helping to shape. You completed this degree during a time of extraordinary change. You balance work, caregiving, economic uncertainty, rapidly evolving technology, and the realities of learning in an online environment. Some of you are in California, some from across the country, and others from other parts of the world. Yet, despite the distance, you have built a real learning community together. That matters because I believe that community is at the heart of this profession. Even before I earned my MLIS, I worked in libraries, government library in Washington DC, corporate library research department here in the Bay Area. And then I was forward uh fortunate enough to encounter passionate, brilliant people in the public library community who encouraged me to pursue this degree and to participate as part of the profession. I also came to this program from another direction, advocacy. I'd been a volunteer, a dossent, a fundraiser, a friend of the library. I helped lead library campaigns and community efforts supporting libraries and literacy online in Sacramento and Washington and San Francisco. I care deeply about the mission of libraries and information access. That experience helped shape my learning and direction at the school. My dad was a defense department person and we moved around a lot when I was a child. And the first thing that we did when we moved to a new town was find the library and the movie theater. But the library was really important. So that experience and uh and working with these folks taught me something important that I hope all of you carry forward in your careers. Libraries depend on librarians, but they thrive because of communities. They thrive because of volunteers, other library workers, colleagues, advocates, donors, organizers, educators, parents, students, civic leaders, and everyday supporters who believe that libraries matter. They thrive because people show up. They thrive because people show up after they've been asked, too. Sometimes long before they have credentials, titles, or formal authority. Never underestimate the importance of welcoming these people into your work. And never forget the proverb, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. This wisdom, I think, is especially important right now. We are living through troubling and complicated times. As the previous speakers have mentioned, across the country, we're witnessing efforts to ban books, restrict access to information, erase parts of history, intimidate librarians and educators, and undermine trust in institutions dedicated to learning and inquiry. In some states, librarians are facing political attacks simply for ensuring the collections reflect the diversity and complexity of the communities they serve. Many people assume these kind of battles belong to another era, but clearly they don't. And while many of us who live in California, in a region associated with innovation and openness, vigilance still matters here as well. Intellectual freedom is never guaranteed permanently. Access to information is never permanently secure. Democracy itself depends on informed communities and engaged citizens. In California, the governor's most recent budget doesn't include funding for some critical library programs. So, right now, today, tomorrow, um pick up the telephone and call your assemblyman, call your senator, and and uh explain the importance of libraries. That's why your work matters so much. It's incredibly important. Your work may not look like other people expect. Some of you will work in public libraries, school libraries, archives, museums or universities. Those universities and institutions remain essential pillars of civic life. But many of you will take those values in into entirely different spaces. Some of you will become digital archivists, knowledge managers, UX researchers, metadata specialists, records managers, AI ethics professionals, educators, nonprofit leaders, or information strategists. Some of you will work in healthcare. Some will work in government. some in technology companies here in Silicon Valley and all around the world. And wherever you work, your role will still be connected to the core values of this profession. Because library and information science has never been merely about managing collections. It's about access, preservation, ethics, trust. It's about helping people navigate complexity with dignity. It's about ensuring that knowledge serves the public good instead of power alone. In an era shaped by artificial intelligence, misinformation, surveillance, algorithmic bias, and overwhelming amounts of data, society urgently needs professionals who know who know how to ask the difficult questions. And that's lesson number one we learned in library school. What's the real question? What's the real question that the patron has? And so then the other questions become who has access, who gets excluded, who controls information, who preserves it, whose stories are represented, whose voices disappear. Those are not only technical questions, they're moral and civic questions, and your education prepared you uniquely to engage with them. This is also why advocacy is not separate from your professional identity. Advocacy is part of the work. Advocacy means defending intellectual freedom, supporting accessibility, protecting privacy, preserving community memory, ensuring equitable digital access. It means standing up for public institutions that strengthen democracy. And advocacy also means building relationships beyond library walls. The future of libraries and information institutions depends on partnerships with communities and supporters and organizations. It depends on listening as much as leading. It depends on understanding that expertise matters, but so does trust, inclusion, and collaboration. Especially in difficult times, libraries cannot stand alone. We do need educators. We need local organizations. We need parents and students. We need elected officials who value public knowledge. We need friends and foundations. We need volunteers. We need community advocates who are willing to speak up when intellectual freedom is threatened. We need one another. Some people become uncomfortable when librarians and information professionals discuss politics. But public funding, education policy, private pro protections, broadband access, archives, copyright, censorship laws, and equitable access to information are all shaped by political decisions. Remaining engaged is not partisan. It's responsible. Your voice matters at schoolboard meetings. It matters at local, state, and federal government levels. It matters in community organizations. It matters in professional organizations. It matters in conversations about technology, education, equity, and democracy itself. Showing up matters. There may be moments in your careers when you feel exhausted or discouraged. You may encounter shrinking budgets, institutional resistance, public misunderstandings, or environments where the value of information stewardship becomes visible only when something goes wrong. But your work matters even then. As I mentioned, the governor, the budget doesn't include funding for critical library programming. So, find five minutes to call your state senators. Even if you're listening to this program five years from now, there's going to be something that's happening at your local or your state or your federal level that probably needs the voice of a librarian who is experienced to say, "That's what this means to my community. This is what your lack of funding means to my community and my library." Never underestimate the importance of helping one person access trustworthy information at the right moment. One student who finally feels represented. One family preserving its history. One patient understanding a diagnosis. One young person discovering a book that changes their life. One archive protected from eraser. One digital platform made more ethical and accessible. Civilizations are shaped not only by what they create, but what they choose to preserve, share, and protect. That responsibility now belongs to you. And I want to say something specifically about the experience of graduating from an online program. You learned in this kind of environment that increasingly defines modern collaboration and professional life. You learned how to build relationships across distances and differences. You learned adaptability, self-direction, and digital communication. Those are not secondary skills. their foundational skills for the future you are now entering. The communities you serve may also be hybrid, multilingual, geographically dispersed, or digitally connected across continents. Your education has already prepared you for that reality. So tonight, celebrate not only your degree, but the resilience and persistence it took to earn it. As you move forward, remember this. You do not need a specific title to lead. You do not need to work in a traditional library to embody the values of this profession. And you do not create lasting change alone. Carry these values wherever you go. Into libraries and archives, into schools and universities, into nonprofits and public agencies, into technology companies, into health care systems, into neighborhoods and communities. Especially now, the world needs people who believe knowledge should serve the public good. The world needs people who understand that information without ethics becomes manipulation. The world needs people willing to defend curiosity, literacy, evidence, memory, and truth, even when doing so is difficult. And the world needs people who know how to build community around those values. Graduates of San Jose University's high school, you have the opportunity not only to join this profession, but to help redefine it for the future. You can help design and build systems that are more humane and inclusive. To preserve stories others would erase. To strengthen democracy through informed communities. To advocate for access, dignity, and truth. To be the change this world urgently needs. Meaningful change has always become with people who believe their work and their communities mattered. So, as you begin this next chapter, I hope you remain curious. I hope you remain compassionate. I hope you remain courageous. And I hope you remember that lasting progress is built together. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Congratulations, class of 2026. Your work matters. Your voice matters. And the future you help create begins now. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Deborah. Very, very wonderful um part warming remarks. Um, and I did want to mention that two of the three priorities that the Cal that California is asking for is uh continued funding for ESL services and libraries all across California. Uh, and that funding is set to expire at the end of June. Uh, and the other is uh uh lunch at the library. So as you know many people in in the US but certainly in California are food insecure and uh libraries have stepped up to serve uh many communities across uh the country. So next I'm excited to introduce you to your student speaker. Jody Navinger Hang is the recipient of the 2026 Ken Hok award for exceptional professional promise. This award recognizes a graduate student has who has demonstrated exceptional leadership potential, dedication to the profession, academic excellence, and a strong commitment to serving others through the field of library and information science. The award specifically honors students who demonstrate exceptional professional promise for leadership within library and information professions. This award is named in honor of Dr. Dr. [clears throat] Ken Hock, former director of the San Jose State San Jose State University School of Information from 2005 to 2010. During his leadership, the high school underwent a period of extraordinary transformation becoming one of the first solely online ALA accredited MLS programs uh in the world and growing into one of the largest programs in the world. Dr. Hock also helped launch the MAR program and expanded international and leadership opportunities for both students and faculty. Jod exemplifies the spirit of this award through a professionalism, promise, and commitment to the future of the profession. And we're incredibly proud to recognize her achievement tonight. Please join me in welcoming your class of spring 2026 student keynote speaker, Jod Ninger W. Jody. >> Thank you, Dr. Chow. I also want to offer thanks to Dr. Harlon, Dr. Bolan, um Dr. Ken Hock for whom this award is named in the selection committee for this honor. It is a true privilege to hold this space today and I want to recognize each of you for arriving at this place. Congratulations graduates. You made it. The late nights, the research methods courses, the collection policies reviewed, and the metadata you now dream about. All of it has brought you here to the beginning of one of the most important and most underestimated professions in the world. Uh I will be echoing a lot of what has already been said. So um there's this meth a message of advocacy. So um I'll continue on that. I did not uh coordinate with Deborah before, but when I think of all the peers I've exchanged discussion board posts with or met with on Zoom to complete strategic plans, build databases, or write needs assessments. Um, I've seen a diverse group of people and interests represented like all of you here today. We are about to scatter across an extraordinarily wide landscape. Some of us will work in school libraries, meeting young readers exactly where they are and lighting that spark that never goes out. Some will support researchers and academic libraries, helping scholars build deeper understanding. Others will work in law firms, hospitals, or corporations, the specialty librarians whose work quietly powers some of the most consequential decisions made every day. Some of you will become archavists, the guardians of our collective memory, ensuring what uh that what happened is accurately recorded and not forgotten. Others will work in museums connecting objects and stories to living communities. These settings are different, but the mission is the same. We organize, protect, and connect people with the knowledge they need. And it's not lost on me, as others have said, that we are stepping into that mission at a significant moment in history. As we experience the most dramatic transformation of the information landscape since the printing press, artificial intelligence is generating content faster than anyone can evaluate it. Uh, misinformation moves at the speed of a share button. knowledge sits behind payw walls and algorithms are what decide um what decide what people see and most of them have no idea what's happening. So this noise it's never been louder which means confusion is even greater and the skills you and I have spent the last several years building which are critical evaluation, ethical oversight and a commitment to equitable access have never been more urgently needed. I'd like to think that this is not a field falling behind the times. In fact, the field of library and information science was built exactly for this moment. There has never been a better time to be a librarian or information professional. But I want to be honest with you though because you deserve honesty. Um, our field is under pressure. A quick Google search of the words library and funding cuts today turns up more articles than I can count. Budgets are being slashed and school librarian positions are being eliminated. Public libraries are being asked to do more with less. Frankly, it's really disheartening and it can feel like the people making those decisions simply don't understand what they are dismantling. And here is what I want you to hear. It might be hard. This is partly on us because some might think our greatest professional risk is irrelevance with advancing technology, but it's really invisibility. When librarians are cut, it is often because the people holding the budget have never seen our work clearly enough to understand what disappears with us. So you must make your work known. Tell the stories of impact. The first generation student whose research you transformed, the community member who had nowhere else to turn, the archive that preserved a history that would otherwise have been lost. Bring data. Build relationships with administrators, school boards, and legislators. Advocate loudly and advocate often because the stakes are high and silence carries its own message. So, you did not choose an easy profession. You chose a necessary one. You chose a profession built on the belief that knowledge should be open, preserved, and shared. That every person, regardless of who they are or where they live, deserves access to accurate information. and someone skilled enough to help them find it. Democracy depends on informed citizens and informed citizens depend on you. I leave you with this. Do the work with excellence. Tell the story of that work with convent conviction and advocate like the world needs librarians and information professionals because it does. Congratulations again graduates. >> Thank you, Jody. and congratulations to you. Appreciate those uh those good those kind words, inspiring words. Now is the time to profile all of you. As as is our is our tradition, we have a video about all of the graduates tonight who submitted their content. If you do not do not see yourself, please accept our apologies. And at the end, I'll ask any of you who is not not profiled to say hello so we can recognize you as well. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat up >> [music] [music] >> here. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. It brings [clears throat] so much so many memories um as I have worked with so many of the graduates. Let's give them all again a huge congratulations for your amazing accomplishment. Alfredo is going to drop the link uh to this video in the chat so that you can view it later as well as save it if you like. I'd also like to give those graduates who did not have a chance to submit content for this video to say hello in the chat, state your name and your degree and uh also allow your family members to recognize you. So, is there anyone uh that would like to Yes, please do. So, anyone that was not in the chat, again, our apologies, but please state your name and agree. And family members, feel free to recognize them. Don't you just love our community? As we conclude tonight's celebration, I simply want to say thank you. Be sure to look out for one another and we will always be here if you need anything. Because of you, we are now well over 15,000 strong. Yes, again, the largest MLS alumni base in the nation and likely the world. First, I want to give a big thanks to all of the staff for their hard work tonight and throughout your time with us. So let's hear it for the staff. Obviously we could not function without you. Uh and staff feel free to say hello to the chat and be so you can be recognized. Next, I want to give a big thank you to our inspiring keynote speakers, Deborah and Jod. Thanks again for sharing your time and your wisdom and your inspiration with us. Next uh is of course our faculty. So faculty please say hello in the chat and be recognized. And finally a huge thank you to the family members, friends and supporters who helped to make this journey possible. Family members, friends and supporters, please say hello in the chat [clears throat] and give any shout outs to your graduate as well. So finally, thank you to again the spring class of 2026 for your hard work, your perseverance, and commitment to making a difference in the lives of others through information, education, technology, and service. Feel free again to say hello in the chat and give any shoutouts you would like. Also in the chat, do uh do be sure to choose everyone so that they can see it. I see a few hosts and panelists. So, with that being said, we are proud of you. We believe in you and we cannot wait to see the impact you're going to make in the world. Have a great evening and I hope to see many of you in person next week. Have a have a good night. Thank you.