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 Blaxck 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.