Meet Your Montana State Library Training Team

Training staff at the MSL have specific assigned topic areas and expertise, but you may contact any member of the MSL staff to request training and you will be referred to the appropriate member of our training team. 

Colet Bartow is the MSL Continuing Education Coordinator. Her history with MSL started in the late 1990s as a school library representative to several committees and included time as an MSL Commissioner.  Colet's professional background is in school librarianship, public libraries, professional development, instructional design and evaluation, and state education agency leadership.  She taught high school English, directed school plays, and lead the Manhattan School-Community Library for 13 years before joining the OPI from 2007-2022.  Her Bachelor's Degree in English was earned at the University of Montana and Master's in Curriculum and Instruction at Montana State University-Bozeman.

Jennifer Birnel is MSL's Montana Memory Project Director. She formerly served as the trainer for the Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) Technology. She taught middle school for 12 years, holds a BA in communications and a master’s degree in literacy. She is currently serving as a community representative of the Digital Public Library of America. Jennifer enjoys camping and SCUBA diving with her husband, Mike.

Tracy Cook is the Lead Consulting and Learning Librarian at the Montana State Library.  She provides consulting assistance on a variety of topics and oversees the consulting, continuing education, and lifelong learning programs within the State Library.  Tracy’s areas of expertise include library law, board development, personnel, local government relations, and advocacy.  Tracy enjoys hiking, canoeing, citizen scientist work, and golf.  She also volunteers for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the National Park Service whenever she can.

Pam Henley is a statewide consulting librarian for the Montana State Library. Before joining the State Library team, she worked at Bozeman Public Library for 16 years, managing the Computer Services section, offering classes and assisting patrons and staff with all their technology issues. She loves to travel to far away places, in and outside of the Treasure State.  

Amelea Kim (she/her/hers) is the Lifelong Learning Librarian at the Montana State Library. She graduated from library school in May 2018 and immediately moved out to Helena to join the wonderful library community in Montana. Amelea works with the State Library’s early literacy program, Ready 2 Read, and is also interested in health programming, digital literacy, civic engagement, and economic development!

Keiley McGregor is the Montana Shared Catalog Trainer, which means she gets to help hone the skills of the folks who keep MSC libraries welcoming and relevant (looking at you, library staff), both in person and online. A native Montanan who’s pursued her education from South Bend to Boston to Dublin, Ireland, Keiley’s observed that we tend to learn best when we break big ideas into small chunks and keep things playful. She’s a recovering perfectionist and aspiring Hufflepuff with two huskies and a Paul, all of whom drag her kicking and screaming out her comfort zone on the regular.​

Cara Orban is the Consortia Director at the Montana State Library. Please contact Cara if you are seeking information about MontanaLibrary2Go, OCLC Group Services, the Montana Courier Alliance, or cooperative purchasing opportunities. Cara lives in Helena with her family and enjoys spending time outdoors in the garden and on the trails.

Suzanne Reymer is Consulting Statewide Librarian for the Montana State Library (since 1999).  She is an avid explorer of e-books, e-readers and trends, actively researching new developments in electronic reading devices.  Suzanne has a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington and considers herself both a technology enthusiast and skeptic. She is an e-reader omnivore, having owned Kindles, Nooks, Sony and Kobo e-readers as well as an iPad and several smart phones.