Meet the 2025 Interns!

Library Futures is thrilled to welcome nine new interns to the team as part of the 2025 cohort! Although they hail from many different backgrounds, institutions and time zones, they are all united by a strong attention to written detail and a desire to advocate for the rights of various communities. We asked the interns to tell our blog readers about themselves, a movie they could watch everyday, and a very specific museum they want to visit.

Siena Oristaglio

Being a big fan of the movie Clue, very little escapes Siena’s (any pronouns) careful eye. They’re pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree at Indiana University, specializing in digital curation and archives management. When Siena is not working to improve information accessibility or watching the flow of public health information through online spaces, they can be found practicing their Italian or exploring the great outdoors. A very specific museum they’re gaming to visit one day is a museum of bats.

AJ Jonathan

Our second intern, AJ, prefers to spend less time in the company of bats, and more with snails, since they want to visit a Museum of Snails. They are passionate about good foods and good books, and they are currently an MLIS student at San Jose State University after previously going to UC Berkeley’s School of Law. They strive to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy every day. In their personal studies, they pursue knowledge within legal histories, queer and disability theories, and critical pedagogies.

Aissiah Debatian

Aissiah similarly uses his background in English and political science to craft sharp critiques of public policy as a graduate student at American University. He hopes to visit the Golden State Model Railroad Museum one day, and the places he has lived span from California to Washington DC. While earning his BA, his crowning achievement was a thesis on femininity in Greek mythology. A movie he could watch everyday is Sorry to Bother You, which further cements his interest in magical stories.

Samuel DiBella

Aissiah’s fellow intern and DC neighbor Sam is an information studies PhD candidate and teaching assistant at the University of Maryland, College Park. While in DC, he bikes around the Anacostia River often. He longs to visit the Plantin–Moretus Museum, a museum filled with 16th century paintings. Sam also works to make a name for himself in the literary field, whether it’s sharing his love for the movie A Very Long Engagement or writing book reviews on works of science.

Hayley Park

Hayley is also a doctoral student at the College of Information at the University of Maryland, College Park, whose mind has been occupied by thoughts of the movie Flow. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Film Studies, and was named an ALA Spectrum Scholar. Hayley’s extensive humanities expertise is complemented by her interest in science, since the next museum on her list is the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library.

Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

A passionate lover of Legally Blonde, Thomas is now turning his Elle Woods energy towards becoming a librarian. He graduated from McGill University with joint LLB/BCL degrees in common and civil law. Thomas has been known to spend his time playing the ukulele, protesting for human rights, and canoeing through exciting places. He is fascinated by the Museum of Broken Relationships in Croatia.

Moriah-Taylor Rutherford

Returning intern Moriah-Taylor is a proud spring 2025 MLS Graduate of North Carolina Central University. She earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Howard University. If she could watch a movie every day, it would be either Daughters of the Dust or Everything Everywhere All at Once. A super specific museum she would love to visit would be the former Museum of Bags and Purses, or The Museum for Black Girls. She currently lives in Michigan with a very spoiled cat named Marie-Belle.

Callie Martindale

Like Moriah-Taylor, Callie is also a mom to a cat (named Millie), as well as a second year Master of Library Science student at Indiana University Bloomington, where she focuses on the digital humanities, accessibility and instructional librarianship. Callie likes watching The Devil Wears Prada, and looks forward to its upcoming sequel. She’s been known to spend her free time playing the piano, reading classic novels, and playing too many video games. A very specific museum she wants to visit is Cuckooland, a museum filled with cuckoo clocks of any variety.

August Roberts

August is a recent graduate of Princeton University and an incoming MLIS student at UW Seattle. They yearn to visit the Museum of Miniature Books, and are always down for watching the David Tennant/Catherine Tate Much Ado about Nothing. They are passionate about information equity and are fascinated with how accessibility can be intersectional with the needs of different communities. Outside of libraries, August is also a jack of all trades: they are an embroiderer, bird watcher, reader and poetry writer.