Robert Karen
Robert Karen has worked in the Publishing Industry for 24 years, and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Library Lever. Robert is responsible for discovering emerging business models that focus on data driven outcomes.

As part of the Publishing Industry, Robert has worked diligently helping publishers and libraries achieve value. Robert leads a team focused on the continued success of libraries and committed to improving the procurement experience.

Prior to his role at Library Lever, Robert held different leadership positions at the WALDO consortium including the Director of Member Services, where he was responsible for their thriving membership, and Director of Procurement Services, growing total sales to over $500 million in his 20 year career.

He lives in Westchester County, NY  with his wife Michele and two children Jolie and Noah. When Robert isn’t working hard at Library Lever, you’ll find him playing golf, on a drive with his bernedoodles, and enjoying live music. Robert holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado @ Boulder.

Heather Dray
As CCO, Heather is dedicated to realizing Library Lever’s mission of building sustainable library collections through best-in-class programs and solutions designed to ensure success for libraries of all sizes and complexities.

Mesmerized by the magic of books as a child, teenage Heather realized her true calling while working the Business Periodicals desk at the main branch of Broward County (Florida) Public Library. The first time she helped a patron locate articles for his literature review she was hooked! Driven by this passion to help others, Heather embarked upon an exciting career in libraries and academic publishing that has taken her on travels near and far.

Heather has served in leadership roles as Director of Educational Services at SOLINET/LYRASIS and most recently as Associated Director of Library Relations and Faculty Outreach at SAGE Publishing. In these roles, Heather built dynamic teams of librarians who delivered educational programs designed to empower and delight library staff, faculty and students throughout the US, Canada and Australia. Heather describes her time serving as Director of Library and Information Resources at American InterContinental University Atlanta as a personal highpoint in her career. Her work with the ambitious and creative students at AIU Atlanta was incredibly inspiring, joyful and deeply rewarding.

Heather is a proud Atlantan, sometime artist and fulltime mom to her rescuers, pocket-Pitbull Izabel “Izzy” Louise and Heinz 57 Dashiell “Dash” Hammett. Heather spends her free time enjoying live theater and music, painting and writing, “sampling” wine with family and friends, obsessively streaming true crime podcasts, and researching all things Roman and Viking. As Izzy & Dash allow, of course.

Heather Teysko

Heather Teysko is the head of Engagement at Library Lever, and she also produces and hosts the Common Stacks Podcast. She has been a leader in the library field for 20 years, in particular in technology and eBooks, having been the Assistant Director: Innovation and Development at the Califa Group, California’s largest library consortium, where she led the project to create enki, the first statewide shared eBook collection built on a platform owned by the consortium with content purchased directly from publishers rather than through a vendor. She also worked on The Palace Project, the open source eBook project built by LYRASIS. 

Additionally, she is passionate about history, telling stories of Tudor England since 2009 with the Renaissance English History Podcast, and building a community of over 50,000 followers around her show. She teaches podcast classes for library training organizations such as ALA, and has been a speaker on podcasting for libraries at the California Library Association annual conference. She has also been a speaker at various podcasting conferences such as Intelligent Speech and Harvard University's Sound Education.