Jessica Thorlakson
ALA Divisions:
Intuitive, Advocate, Hogwarts.
I have a couple on the go, including Roxane Gay’s "Bad Feminist," and Deborah Harkness’ "The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy)" – it’s really not very good (embarrassingly so), but I am determined to finish it for some odd reason. I get motion sickness on my daily commute, so I like to listen to podcasts. I love "My Favorite Murder" and "The Guilty Feminist."
Open, Vibrant, Leader.
ACRL provides a plethora of opportunities for their community, whether it is through funding (I was lucky enough to receive an Early Career Librarian Scholarship), conferences, or tools and resources, they bring a great deal of support. This allows us to do better work as library and information professionals, and makes an impact on those we serve.
I try to make the lives of our users a little easier. Whether it’s through resources and research support, or just being there as an empathic, human person. While there’s a lot of privilege on campus, life there isn’t easy, so I try to be mindful and do what I can to help and support our students, faculty, and staff.
We are privileged to be both surrounded by and tied to research and knowledge creation, and in doing so have the opportunity to impact our communities by ensuring more diverse voices are heard, present, and represented. I am looking forward to a more intersectional, more aware, future, advocating for and with marginalized and underrepresented populations.
Title:ALES Librarian /Personal Librarian
Workplace:University of Alberta Cameron Science and Technology Library
Location:Edmonton, Alberta, Canada