Sean Stone
ALA Divisions:
Versatile, curious, genuine.
I am reading The History of EC Comics by Grant Geissman.
Cross-disciplinary, learn, credibility.
It's a resource for many things but one of the really valuable things is it helps define who academic librarians are and what we do and allows us to more easily work with academic colleagues outside of libraries. Explaining who we are and what we do for education isn't always easy but when I say "We have ACRL, it's just like your (acronym for an academic wing of a professional organization)" that's something they understand, answers a lot of questions and puts us on a more equal footing very quickly and easily.
I run a Dentistry Library which is, at the same time, both an anachronistic "School" library straight out of the 19th century with collections to match, and (hopefully) a modern health science library that supports cutting-edge education, research and clinical care. We're almost 150 years old and I try to unearth and highlight historical and special collections to get others excited about their own history. In meetings I sometimes meet staff, oral health professionals who have never been to the library and probably never will who recognize me and some of what I do because I send out the "history emails" that they like so much. I also spend a lot of time teaching as course co-coordinator of two DDS courses and other one-shots and workshops throughout the curricula of six other programs which allows me a lot of time to work directly with students. I help faculty and staff with whatever they need from promotion and tenure metrics to literature searches to historical trivia. If I'm doing my job well, I and the library are a visible and memorable part of the life and fabric of the school, as integral and important as any department or unit.
I like what I do. I like the School I'm a part of and all the people I get to work with. What I do is fun and I could work here for five lifetimes and never run out of something interesting to do. Fun librarianship should allow you to build something while at the same time never becoming too stagnant or boring, always changing or adding enough to be interesting. Plus, I don't have to feel guilty for liking my job because I can legitimately say that our graduates improve the lives of folks in the community and have a positive impact on the world. I don't have a lot to do with that, just a little bit, but it still makes me at least a tiny bit proud of what I do.
Pronouns:he/his/him
Credentials:MLS
Title:Dentistry Librarian
Job Function:Library Director
Workplace:Indiana University School of Dentistry Library
Location:Indianapolis, IN