About Me

Malana Krongelb is a librarian, activist, artist, and writer originally from Poughkeepsie, New York. Despite dealing with a serious sports concussion and frequent identity-based harassment, she became one of the first Black students (and potentially the first) to graduate as valedictorian from New Fairfield High School. She then received a full need-based scholarship to attend Brown University, receiving her B.A. in Ethnic Studies in 2019. While there, she quickly became involved in campus activism, the Brown Tougaloo Partnership, and Rites and Reason Theater, one of the country's oldest continually operating Black theaters. Malana was active in multiple activist movements while in school, fighting for racial, disability, reproductive, gender, queer, economic, labor, and environmental justice. This included co-founding Disability Justice at Brown with other queer disabled women of color. She fought for creating a Disability Justice Cultural Center, called out Brown's systemic ableism, created a community of support for disabled students, and centered the voices of multiply marginalized students with disabilities throughout the organization. Her contributions to disability justice continue to grow on campus, and DJAB continues to go strong today. 

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At Brown, Malana also discovered her passion for activism in libraries and archives. She founded and curated a nationally recognized zine collection with an intersectional feminist focus, ensuring both robust community access and archival preservation. For many students and staff, this was the first time they had seen these topics covered--or seen themselves reflected--while at the University. Malana conducted numerous workshops on zine-making, using zines in the classroom, zine librarianship, and zine theory. She also served as the librarian at the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender, where she increased programming and resources for trans folks, women of color, and students with disabilities. This inspired her to pursue graduate studies, graduating from Simmons University School of Library Science at the end of 2022. 

 

Currently, Malana works as a research services librarian at the Boston Public Library. She serves as a juror for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, which continues her passion for elevating Black stories. She also serves as a member of the ALA-APA Committee on the Salaries and Status of Library Workers working to increase library workers' rights.  Malana lives in Boston (something the Yankee fan in her never thought she'd say) with her partner, Randy, who is tired of her constantly talking about libraries but listens to her anyway. She is proudly Black, Jewish, disabled, neurodivergent, bi/queer, multiracial, and mixed-class.