About

I was inside OverDrive (support to project manager) when the shift happened. I was in quarterly meetings about pricing changes. I watched Follett acquire Baker & Taylor and significantly restructure their platforms and subsidiary CollectionHQ, where I managed customer success across their entire portfolio (Axis360, print business, and more). I sat in the customer-facing role during these transitions. I kept those contracts.

I spent years in legal tech at Trellis Law as Director of Customer Success with significant sway in contract negotiations. I managed renewals knowing the mechanics: first-year acquisition cost, everything after 90%+ profit. I understood how the legal language was structured to work that way because I had to negotiate around it. I saw how SaaS contracts are designed to be expensive to leave, intentionally. That knowledge didn't come from theory. It came from having to manage customer relationships while managing those same mechanics.

At CollectionHQ, I managed renewals while constrained by legal and financial decisions I didn't make. But I learned the vendor-side constraints. I understood why the language was structured the way it was because I had to work inside that structure every day.

Now I'm back. No institutional loyalty. No career risk. Just 18 years of contracts I kept, the clarity of having managed these systems from inside, and the understanding that comes from having managed vendor relationships while the business models were being restructured.

Past talks and workshops: /speaking/

Selected Recognition

• Library Innovation Award (Ohio Library Council, 2015): Sandusky Library Internet & Roku lending programs
• Mover & Shaker (Library Journal, 2012): Tech Leaders profile
• Utah Volunteer of the Year (Soldiers' Angels, 2020)
• President's Volunteer Service Award (2014): 100+ hours, Big Brothers/Big Sisters

The real education came from being inside the systems. Not from outside critique. From sitting in those quarterly meetings. From managing renewals while understanding the mechanics. From kept contracts showing exactly how the language works.

Where I've Worked

• OverDrive — Support Team to Project Manager Employee #70 at the company that came to dominate library ebook lending. I was in quarterly meetings about pricing changes. Kept documentation from that era. I was inside the room when pricing models shifted, and I understood the business mechanics as they unfolded.
• Sandusky Library — Emerging Technologies Librarian to Assistant Director of Communications & Technologies Built digital media labs and lending programs. Secured $100K grant, launched Wi-Fi and Roku lending programs that other libraries copied. Watched the 26-circulation limit model emerge.
• Wayne County Public Library — Assistant Director System-level vendor management and technology strategy. Realized nothing was changing.
• CollectionHQ (Baker & Taylor subsidiary) — Customer Success Manager, Western Region to Customer Success Manager, Full Portfolio Managed renewals and customer success across Axis360, print business, and entire CollectionHQ platform during Follett's significant restructuring. I worked within legal and financial constraints while managing customer relationships. I learned the vendor-side mechanics and business models from inside that experience.
• Dutchie — Senior Customer Success Team Cannabis compliance. A reset: helping people navigate systems instead of designing business models around lock-in.
• Trellis Law — Director of Customer Success Director-level role with significant sway in contract negotiations. Managed renewals for county law libraries, university law libraries, private law libraries, and Am Law 100 law firms. I understood how 1-year contracts are expensive to the company but additional years are 90%+ profit. Built the knowledge of how extraction works through contract mechanics. Negotiated every day knowing how the language was structured. Saw the exact same playbook work in legal tech that I'd watched happen in library tech. The mechanism scales.

What I Do Now

I run The Unhinged Librarian, where I translate what I saw happen at OverDrive (the 26-checkout decision), Baker & Taylor (acquisition leading to collapse), Follett (gutting every subsidiary), CollectionHQ (customer success from inside the machinery), and Trellis (building the extraction models myself) into frameworks that show libraries exactly where they are in that same arc with their own vendors.

I also build ATLAS, an open-source library management system designed around data sovereignty and accessibility - because libraries shouldn't have to choose between functionality and owning their own data.

Why "Unhinged"?

Because I will tell you when you don't need what someone is selling.

I don\'t have vendor partnerships. I don\'t do sponsored content. I don't make money recommending products. Everything on this site is my honest opinion, informed by years of watching how vendor decisions actually get made.

And occasionally, I set fire to authority records. Metaphorically.

What I Won't Do

Boundaries aren\'t limitations. They\'re evidence that you can trust me.

I won\'t oversell your situation. If you have a contract problem that costs $5K to solve, I\'ll tell you that, not recommend $50K of work. I won\'t manufacture urgency or scope creep. I won\'t keep billing you if work isn\'t moving forward; we\'ll reset, or we\'ll stop. That clarity shows where my interests actually lie.

I won\'t recommend vendors because they\'re offering kickbacks or "partnerships." No affiliate links. No "I know someone who..." introductions that benefit me. No hidden financial interests. That clarity means my recommendation to use or avoid something comes from actual experience, not incentive alignment.

I won\'t stretch to fit a problem that isn\'t mine. If your issue is organizational culture, a contract lawyer, or a board education that\'s outside my wheelhouse, I\'ll tell you. I\'ll point you toward people who can actually help. Libraries deserve advisors who know the limits of their expertise and aren\'t afraid to admit it.

You\'ll get straightforward feedback about your situation. Sometimes that means hearing that your beloved system has limitations. Sometimes it means the problem isn\'t the vendor—it\'s how the contract terms are being applied. Sometimes the board conversation has to happen first. That honesty can be uncomfortable, but it also means you can trust the advice you get.

These boundaries aren\'t about virtue. They\'re practical: I can only help libraries make better decisions if they trust what I\'m saying. That trust only exists if I\'m not being paid to lie to you, subtly or otherwise.

What I Actually Believe

I\'m not neutral about library vendor relationships. Here\'s what shapes my consulting:

• Vendor lock-in is by design, not accident. The circulation limits, data restrictions, exit costs: these are intentional business decisions. I've been in rooms where librarians were presented restrictive contract terms as industry standard. I understand how these models are built.
• Libraries often accept restrictive contracts because they've normalized industry practices. After hearing "all vendors work this way," your instinct that something could be better has been dulled. That instinct is worth listening to. Better contracts are possible. I'm here to help you explore what's actually negotiable.
• Most consultants benefit from vendor relationships. Referral fees, follow-on work, industry connections. I don't have those incentives. That means I can give you straightforward feedback, even when it's complicated.
• Libraries deserve better terms. Not in theory—in practice. Contracts with fair exit clauses. Systems where you retain data sovereignty. Vendors who see libraries as partners, not just customers. That belief shapes everything I do.

I\'m not neutral about this. I\'m not pretending to be. That shapes my advice.

If you want a consultant who\'ll validate whatever you're doing, this probably isn\'t it. If you want someone who\'ll tell you the truth even when it\'s uncomfortable, I\'m your person.

Why Fair Pricing Is Evidence of Honesty

I get asked sometimes about consulting pricing. The answer is direct: you get a clear scope, timeline, and fee before we start. No hidden retainers, no scope creep, no surprise invoices. If consulting makes sense for your situation, we\'ll talk through the specifics on a free 30-minute call. If it doesn\'t, I'll point you to the free resources instead.

Start Here

If you're new, these articles give you a sense of what I write about:

• Why Baker & Taylor's Collapse Was Just The Preview — The insider account that started the series
• AI at the Reference Desk — The training your vendor didn't give you
• How to Talk to Your Board About cyber security — Scripts that actually get funding approved
• Your Vendor is 200 HTML Files in a Trench Coat — How library "platforms" actually work