John DeBacher Named New Director of Library Developoment at DPI

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) announces the appointment of John DeBacher as the new Director of the Library Development Team in the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning (DLTCL).  John will begin his new role effective January 15, replacing Mike Cross who retired in September.  For the past seven years John has served as the Public Library Administration Consultant for DPI, providing significant support to libraries and library systems across the state on many different and complex regulatory, fiscal, and programming matters.  Since early 2009 he has also served as the data collection liaison for various state and federal collections and surveys.

Prior to joining DPI, John was a public library director for fifteen years, including ten years as the director of the Monona Public Library where he led a successful library expansion project and made technology an integral component of the library program.  John also served as a librarian in the Chicago Public Library system, as an editorial assistant with the University of Chicago’s Center for Children’s Books, and he has private sector experience in the publishing and software industries. John’s wide array of experiences and strong leadership skills have been and will continue to be an asset to the entire Wisconsin library community as it continues to adjust to rapidly changing work and learning environments.

--Channel Weekly, The DLTCL Electronic Newsletter, Volume 14, Number 13 – December 22, 2011      Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction