Jolene Gutiérrez (she/her) – Jolene has been a teacher-librarian at a 1st-12th grade school for diverse learners since 1995. She loves teaching her students to be critical thinkers and supporting them as they practice researching skills. She has a Master’s degree in Library Science and has served as a mentor teacher for graduate students and as president of the Colorado Independent School Librarians. Jolene is the author of seven books with more in the works. Upcoming books include The Ofrenda That We Built, a picture book co-authored with her daughter (Chronicle, 2024), If This Puddle Could Talk, a collection of poetry from various authors (Candlewick, 2024), Mamiachi and Me, a picture book co-authored with her son (Abrams Appleseed, 2025), and both a picture book version and a board book version of Too Much!, about her own sensory processing disorder (Abrams Appleseed 2023, 2025).