I am ACRL Member of the Week

Passionate, tenacious, Slytherin.

I am reading "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson (because I recently went to Australia) and "How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States" by Daniel Immerwahr (for my dissertation).

Friends, networking, connections.

When I first started as a librarian in 2007, ACRL helped me find a starting point in what seemed like an overwhelming organization. Through the Law & Political Science Section (later PPIRS) I found a community relevant to my needs and responsibilities. I also found a group of people who were incredibly welcoming and eager to help a newbie. I value ACRL because it serves as a conduit for meeting other academic librarians across the country, and through those connections I have been able to grow as a professional.

At UNC Greensboro, where I worked until recently, I was heavily involved in the instructional mission of the university, working closely with students as a librarian liaison to several departments, a faculty member in international & global studies, and as an academic adviser. I changed institutions in July, so I am still learning about my new campus. At Cornell I will be part of the leadership team of an institute that supports social science data and research. I can't wait to learn more about the campus and contributions that I can make to CISER, the library, and the larger data & library communities.

My favorite thing about librarianship is that every day brings something new, either a new tool, a new person, or a new idea. The field feeds my love of discovery and learning. I also appreciate the sense of community within the larger profession. Even though we may be miles apart or do different types of librarianship, we are willing to share ideas across our larger community. For example, I always tap into the awesome ideas of my instruction colleagues or compare notes with metadata librarians to support my data work. The collaborative nature of our profession is what keeps me going.