Malavika Muralidharan

For nearly 5 decades Malavika Muralidharan has worked in an ever-changing library environment, in state, public, academic and scientific libraries in leadership roles. At the State Library since 2001 she has worked on many state-wide projects, like the OneBookAZ, Planning for Results - Strategic Planning for Libraries, State-wide Access to databases; as well as national projects, like WebJunction, a professional development portal for library staff. 

Mala, played a major role in successfully writing major grants like the Gates’ Broadband Technology Opportunities Project grants for public libraries in Arizona for setting up Job Help Hubs and getting libraries more Public Access Computers and to help bridge the Digital Divide. 

As the State Coordinator for E-rate, Mala increased participation in the program and assisted Arizona public and tribal libraries in receiving over $50 million in reimbursements for their telecom and internet usage during the last 23 years and at the same time working on setting up State Master Contracts to make the Broadband available and affordable. As a member of the National E-rate Task Force, Mala has been instrumental in assisting the American Library Association in guiding the Federal Communication Commission’s rule making for this complex Telecom and Broadband funding. She continues to play a key role in getting funding for Broadband partnering with the Arizona's Broadband Network. Mala’s interest lies in work related to bridging the digital divide and in encouraging digital inclusion. 

During  the pandemic, Mala worked tirelessly in ensuring the community had access to free Broadband from the parking lots of libraries, and through programs like E-rate, Emergency Connectivity Fund and Affordable Connectivity Program.

More recently, Mala has been working on getting the community connected to their health care service provider with Telehealth through their public and tribal libraries.  

Professional Associations: 

• ALA's E-rate Task Force Member – since 2009;

• Member AzLA (Arizona Library Association) – since 2002;

• Associate Board Member – ATIC – (Arizona Telecommunication and Information Council) since 2002;

• Arizona Digital Access Task Force – since 2018;

• Greater Arizona e-learning Association – Board of Directors since 2013.

Mala has a Bachelor's in Chemistry and Biology and two Masters in Library and Information Sciences.