Jodie Borgerding
ALA Divisions:
ALA Roundtables:
Creative, extroverted, dilligent.
I have a 12-year old daughter, so a lot of what I listen to revolves around her music tastes, such as Taylor Swift, the Wicked soundtracks, and HUNTR/X. On the rare occasion that I have control of the playlist, I usually listen to Chappel Roan, Doechii, New Orleans jazz, and 90s alternative. It is definitely an eclectic mix.
Community, knowledge, supportive.
As a long-time member of ACRL, I have come to appreciate various aspects of the organization throughout my career. Early in my career, I valued the opportunities to expand my professional network by serving on committees and attending conferences. Now that I am mid-career, I still value networking, but I also appreciate the scholarship ACRL supports, which helps me deepen my knowledge and expertise in information literacy, instruction, and open educational resources.
As an Instruction Librarian, I primarily collaborate with faculty and students in the College Writing Program. This writing- and research-intensive course is mandatory for all first-year WashU students during their first or second semester, regardless of their major. My unique role involves introducing new researchers to the library, information literacy, and critical thinking skills essential for their academic success in college and beyond. It is deeply rewarding to know that I am helping set my students up for academic success.
It's true—I have witnessed significant changes throughout my career. When I started library school in the early 2000s, there were claims that search engines would replace libraries. Yet, we adapted. A decade later, as Wikipedia emerged, similar predictions were made, but we adapted again. Today, AI is causing similar disruptions, and there are claims that it will replace libraries. However, we have faced these challenges before and successfully adapted each time. I believe that we will integrate AI into our profession and shift our approach to information literacy to include AI literacy and understanding. This is akin to how we incorporated website evaluation (remember the CRAAP test?) into our information literacy toolbox with the advent of search engines and Wikipedia. It will be fascinating to see what new technologies will "disrupt" librarianship in the next 10-20 years.
Pronouns:she/her
Title:Instruction Librarian
Workplace:Washington University
Location:St. Louis