I am ACRL Member of the Week

Curious, calendar-driven, contrarian.

I am reading "The Smell of Risk: Environmental Disparities and Olfactory Aesthetics" by Hsuan L. Hsu. It's the ACRL Science & Technology Section book club selection for next month (and everyone is welcome to join!).

Colleagues, connections, changing.

As my heavy reliance on the alliterative C indicates, I have gained much from the connections I have made with colleagues throughout North America as a result of my involvement in ACRL and strongly value the collaborations that have sprung out of those connections. But I also value and recognize that the way we make connections needs to change and is changing, and I appreciate work being done in ACRL to facilitate new ways to open up our connecting spaces so that more folks can be involved.

I am an advocate for graduate students. I have consistently focused on graduate student needs in the library and on campus. Some results of these efforts are spaces created with graduate student workflows in mind, instructional services that supports graduate students’ entry into an often unfamiliar world of research, and a greater understanding of graduate students as whole people with a range of needs that extend beyond the academic.

I appreciate variety in my day-to-day work and academic librarianship has given me the opportunity to explore interests from instruction to project management to various writing endeavors. I try not to get stuck in a rut, and I am thankful that grace is extended to me as I try and learn from my mistakes. Hearing about other librarians’ work (such as those in my section – STS) or reading about their interests (via many venues – articles, books, tweets) often spurs my thinking in new directions and pushes me when I get too comfortable.