Jason Alston

Email: jasonalston@gmail.com

A firm believer that credible and accurate information should be available to everyone freely, I am a former newspaper journalist and former practicing librarian who hopes that no matter what I do as a career, that my work is always helping people connect with useful information. I spent my formative years in North Carolina and Virginia before going on to attend college at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. After college, I settled into what I thought would be my permanent career, reporting for the Henderson Daily Dispatch, a small paper near my hometown.

While I consider reporting to be my first love and my true talent, a personal issue caused me to leave the Dispatch to go into library science at North Carolina Central University. After earning my Masters of Library Science degree, I scored a great job as the first diversity resident librarian at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a permanent job with UNCG, but I was immediately able to take a reference librarian position at Forsyth County Public Library in Winston-Salem, NC. Shortly after finding a job with Forsyth County, an opportunity opened for me to come to the University of South Carolina to earn my Ph.D. Though it was a hard decision to leave my comfortable life and head back to school on a leap of faith, I decided the worst thing I could do to myself was not come and then always wonder, "What if?" So here I am.

My primary research interest relates to accessibility of hate sites, hate speech and hate materials in libraries, particularly public libraries. I am also interested in diversity in the library field, sustainability of libraries in the midst of technological advances, the need to digitize print media content, and increasing collaboration between media outlets and libraries to ensure that accurate and thorough information is presented to the public. Outside of school, I enjoy following the Carolina Panthers, playing fantasy football, studying Eschatology, following politics, and listening to country, blues, R&B and hip hop music. I am a member of Phi Beta Sigma, Fraternity.