As Director of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries, Amy Garmer leads a multi-year initiative to explore, develop and champion new ways of thinking about U.S. public libraries. She is the author of the Dialogue’s 2014 vision report, Rising to the Challenge: Re-Envisioning Public Libraries. As Director of Journalism Projects for the Communications & Society Program, Amy has led a series of journalism initiatives over the past ten years, including the Arab-U.S. Media Forum, the Aspen Institute Symposium on Critical Issues in Journalism at the U.S. State Department, the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Journalism and National Security and the white paper series inspired by the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities.  She is the author or editor of seven books on such diverse topics as freedom and connectivity in the Americas, diversity in media, journalism, advertising and ethnic media, digital broadcasting and technology in education. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, Amy served on the staff of United States Senator Sam Nunn. She holds degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin.