Joel Shoemaker MLIS ’16 selected to fight inaccurate news

February 15, 2020



Joel Shoemaker MLIS ’16 is the director of the Illinois Prairie District Library in Metamora, Illinois. He has been picked to serve on an international board of advisers of NewsGuard's News Literacy Program, a nonpartisan group that judges the accuracy of news websites. 



Joel is among eight library-affiliated people who are advising the NewsGuard News Literacy Program. The program features partnerships with about 700 public libraries in the United States and elsewhere.



Joel has been with the Illinois Prairie District Public Library since 2017. He graduated with a Masters in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in 2015. Prior to that, he graduated with a degree from Eureka College and spent close to a decade in the finance industry, working for Commerce Bank and Heartland Bank and Trust. 



Joel has worked for Bloomington Public Library, Methodist College Library, Von Steuben Middle School, ProQuest and, most recently as Director of the Oakwood Public Library District. Additionally, he's been a magician for the past twenty-five years and is active in local community theatre.