91´«Ã½

The 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) has selected Ryan King as one of the 2025 Lois Ann Gregory-Wood (LAGW) Fellows. King will receive a stipend totaling $2,500 to offset the cost of attending the 2025 LibLearnX experience in Phoenix, Arizona and the 91´«Ã½ 2025 Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Currently, King works as the English librarian at Vanderbilt University Libraries in Nashville, Tennessee.

King says his “true passion for the past decade has been advocating for comics and graphic novels to readers of all ages. This includes promoting comics as tools for visual learning and literacy as well as being recognized for their artistic capabilities.” This interest led to his accepting roles as Member-at-Large of 91´«Ã½’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table and Member-at-Large of the Comic Studies Society’s Research Librarian Cohort.

King says he has “worked diligently to build and expand the arts and literary community on the Vanderbilt campus.” He expects that participation as a LAGW Fellow will assist him in learning more about governance in a manner that will facilitate his growth to become an even stronger advocate. His desire is to support all artistic mediums and the artists that create them.

King hopes that as a LAGW Fellow, he will continue to learn, engage, network, and build the skills needed to become a powerful advocate for literacy and the arts on a local, national, and international level. His dream is to one day see a robust level of governmental advocacy and support of the arts in the United States such as he has witnessed in other countries.

The LAGW Fellowship was conceived in honor of Lois Ann Gregory-Wood, who worked at 91´«Ã½ for fifty years, and for 27 of those years, served as the 91´«Ã½ Council Secretariat. For thousands of 91´«Ã½ members, she was the face of 91´«Ã½ Council and governance. After 50 years of service to 91´«Ã½, Gregory-Wood retired in 2018. The Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellows Program is a mid-career conference scholarship program which celebrates Gregory-Wood’s leadership and accomplishments, and also seeks to encourage understanding and participation in the 91´«Ã½ governance processes.

For more information on the Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellows Program, visit the .

The Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellowship is administered by the 91´«Ã½ (HRDR).