Tracey Overbey
and Amanda Folk

Tracey Overbey, MLIS
Assistant Professor in University Libraries
Ohio State University
Education/Degree:
Master Library Information Science
University of Pittsburgh

Amanda Folk, Ph.D.
Head of Teaching and Learning
Ohio State University
Education/Degrees:
Ph. D. in Education
The University of Pittsburgh, School of Education
Master of Library Information Science
The University of Pittsburgh, School of Information Science
Master of Theological Studies
Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School
Bachelor of Arts, German and Religion
University of Richmond



Recorded September, 2022
Tracey Overbey has experience in both academic and public libraries; she received her masters degree in library and information science (MLIS) from the University of Pittsburgh. Tracey did her undergraduate in psychology at a historical black college, Central State University. Dr. Amanda Folk earned her PhD in Social and Comparative Analysis in Education as well as her MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh. She holds an additional masters degree from Harvard Divinity School.
In part one of this TOI episode we get to both of these faculty librarians at the Ohio State University (OSU) from a personal point-of-view. Each shares about their early education, what brought them to librarianship, which eventually led them to become colleagues at OSU. The stories about the paths to their work and their working relationship are interesting, intriguing, and inspiring.
The second part of this TOI episode discusses Overbey and Folk recently released (September 2022) special report on libraries and the Black and African American experience. The report is published in two parts. Folk led the part that explores the student experiences; while, Overbey part deals with reckoning the racialized legacy of Blacks and African Americans experiences with libraries. What comes through in this TOI episode is the commitment and social consciousness each of these research scholars brought to presenting their work as well as authentically sharing about the library experiences of Blacks and African Americans are both historic and current.