Coming out and being out is challenging enough. Then add to the mix your challenges with mental health and it could be potentially too much. So what do you do? You choose to thrive. A great example of this is our guest today, Dr. Zachary Stier who is thriving beyond his bi-polar diagnosis and embracing his life daily as a gay man, step-by-step, day-by-day.

About Dr. Zachary

Dr. Stier has been the director of Children's Services at Ericson Public Library in Boone, Iowa since October 2011. He has revolutionized services at the library for children and families through the expansion of early literacy programming, the redesign of space to emphasize play, family engagement initiatives, enhanced community partnerships with community, state, and national partners, after-school STEAM programming, to name a few. He was project director for NASA@My Library, is the Project Director for the library's equity project, Activating Community Voices, and Project Director for the library's piloted mobilized family engagement program, Little Engines. He recently became an independent consultant for the Space Science Institute and is the lead researcher on a project focused on STEM and Quality of Life. In 2011, Stier opened Mr. Z and Company, LLC, a consultancy firm for educators and librarians. He is also an adjunct lecturer for the University of Illinois Champaign iSchool graduate program teaching Early Literacy and Public Library Partnerships, a course he recently developed. He serves on numerous state and national boards and was recently selected to be part of the Fred Rogers Institute program, The Educators Neighborhood. He is a published author. He holds degrees from Des Moines Area Community College, Grandview University, Drexel University, and Concordia Portland, as well as postgraduate studies in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute, and a Doctorate in Education from Concordia Chicago.

Connect With Dr. Zachary

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