CNI Spring 2026 Membership Meeting
April 13-14, 2026
Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City
Opening Plenary
Libraries Leading Campus AI: Claiming Our Seat at the Table
Monday, April 13, 12:45–2:00 p.m. MT
Rebekah Cummings, Director of Digital Matters and Head of Open Scholarship and Data Services, University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library (Moderator)
Panelists
Jessica Davila, University of Oklahoma
Michael Meth, San José State University
Doralyn Rossmann, Montana State University
Mary Beth Weber, Rutgers University
Artificial intelligence (AI) has already transformed how people search, read, write, learn, and share information—the very terrain libraries have stewarded for generations. Yet many of the decisions shaping AI policy and adoption on campuses are being made without librarians in the room. In this framing plenary, Rebekah Cummings argues that library values and expertise make librarians essential participants and natural leaders in this critical conversation. Drawing on experiences ranging from a statewide political campaign to co-directing a Summer Institute on Humanities Perspectives on AI, Cummings reflects on her own journey finding a “seat at the table” and shares her conviction that wherever AI touches the information space, librarians must be centered in the conversation. This framing talk will be followed by a panel of library leaders from across the country who are actively shaping campus AI initiatives and demonstrating what it looks like for libraries to lead.
The panel portion and Q&A will not be recorded.
About the Speakers
Rebekah Cummings holds dual roles at the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library as Director of Digital Matters and Head of Open Scholarship and Data Services. In 2025, she served as Co-Director of the Summer Institute for Higher Education Faculty, Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence. Her research has been published in journals including International Journal on Digital Libraries, International Journal of Digital Curation, Digital Humanities Quarterly, Information Technology and Libraries, Digital Library Perspectives, and Journal of Library Administration. Her co-authored monograph, The High-Impact Digital Library: Innovative Approaches for Outreach and Instruction, was published by the American Library Association in 2024.
A former President of the Utah Library Association and Chair of the Utah State Library Board, Rebekah has championed library funding and information access for nearly a decade. In 2022, she co-founded Let Utah Read, a statewide coalition dedicated to preserving the freedom to read. Her advocacy has been recognized by the American Library Association, ACLU of Utah, the League of Women Voters, and the Utah Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters. In 2024, she became the first librarian to run for Lieutenant Governor on a major party ticket in the United States.
Jessica Davila is the Associate Dean for Digital Strategies and Innovation at the University of Oklahoma (OU) Libraries, where she leads the Libraries’ digital, technology, and open infrastructure strategy. She directs initiatives that expand access to learning technologies, lower financial barriers to course materials, and sustain library-led publishing programs to support open dissemination of scholarly works. Her research and professional interests are at the intersection of AI literacy, educational technology, and the role of libraries in supporting student success and research activities. She is co-chair of OU’s AI Education Working Group and serves as co–principal investigator on an Ithaka S+R research project, Defining and Implementing AI Literacy, which investigates students’ perceptions of the AI-related knowledge and skills they need, with the goal of informing library services and campus-wide educational strategies.
Michael Meth is a dynamic and accomplished library leader. He currently serves as the Dean of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San José State University. Under his leadership, the SJSU King Library has made significant strides in strategic initiatives such as AI, Digital Scholarship, the development of new library services, and in fundraising. Michael has published books, chapters, articles and is a sought after presenter on a range of topics. Notable are his books “Blockchain in Libraries” (2019), and “Case Studies in Academic Library Management” (2017, co-edited). In 2025, Michael co-founded the inaugural CSU Libraries Conference. Previously he co-founded the Panhandle Academic Libraries conference in 2019. At SJSU, Michael also served as the interim Dean of the College of Information, Data and Society (2023-2025). Prior to SJSU, Michael held progressively senior library positions at the University of Toronto and Florida State University. Michael is recognized for his ability to engage, collaborations, and vision for libraries that benefit the university as a whole, aligning with SJSU’s strategic goals around innovation, student success, and community engagement. He is committed to continuous learning and aims to further explore system-level work and the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, blockchain and robotics.
Doralyn Rossmann is Professor and Dean of the Library at Montana State University (MSU). She holds a BA and an MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MPA from MSU. She was co-principal investigator of the IMLS-funded Viewfinder project, a toolkit for values-driven AI in libraries and archives. Most recently, she co-founded MSU’s Interdisciplinary Institute on Artificial Intelligence and is co-organizer of a national AI conference being held in Bozeman, MT in October 2026.
Mary Beth Weber is the inaugural Coordinator for Training and Mentorship for Rutgers University Libraries. In this capacity, she serves as an advisor to the Faculty Mentoring Program, collaborates with colleagues to identify, develop, and implement a continuous program of enrichment activities to meet the needs of the Libraries’ personnel. With the Vice President for Information/University Librarian Consuella Askew, she co-developed the University Librarian’s Symposium Series, which engages personnel from across the entire university on timely topics in higher education, focusing on a different theme each year. The Symposium Series launched on November 10, 2026, with the first program addressing the theme for the 2025–2026 academic year: Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education. There have been two programs to date that addressed key issues such as university policies on acceptable use and academic integrity, Rutgers’ AI and data initiatives, the challenges and opportunities AI presents, and strategies for supporting student success in an evolving technological landscape. A future program will focus on AI and ethics.
Weber previously served as the Head of Central Technical Services at Rutgers 2008-2025, and has authored books on resource description, virtual technical services, and the future of technical services.
Closing Plenary
Harnessing the Data Renaissance for Scientific Discovery
Tuesday April 14, 2:15–3:30 pm MT
Manish Parashar, Executive Director, Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute; Inaugural Chief AI Officer; Presidential Professor, University of Utah
The current data renaissance, accelerated by advances in artificial intelligence, is reshaping the landscape of research, scholarship, and innovation. Yet unlocking this potential requires more than scale alone. It calls for a transdisciplinary approach that brings together diverse data and computational infrastructure along with multidisciplinary expertise across institutions.
Despite the rapid expansion of digital data and widespread access to powerful computing, building effective, responsible, and reusable data-driven research workflows remains a persistent challenge. Issues of discovery, access, interoperability, governance, and sustainability continue to limit the full realization of data-driven science.
In this talk, Parashar will explore the critical role of democratizing access to open data and shared cyberinfrastructure in enabling equitable and responsible data use. He will also introduce the vision, architecture, and deployment of the National Data Platform as part of a broader national cyberinfrastructure effort. This initiative aims to catalyze a more open, extensible, and interoperable data ecosystem that supports discovery, collaboration, and long-term stewardship across the research enterprise.
Manish Parashar is the inaugural Chief AI Officer at the University of Utah. He is also Executive Director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute, and Presidential Professor in the Kalhert School of Computing. He leads the University’s One-U Responsible AI Initiative.
Manish’s expertise is in high-performance parallel and distributed computing and cyberinfrastructure, and his research has enabled new insights across multiple science domains.
Manish has received several awards for his research and leadership, including the 2023 IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fernbach Award, the 2024 CRA Distinguished Service Award, and the 2025 ACM Distinguished Service Award.
Manish is a Fellow of AAAS, ACM, and IEEE.
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