I am ACRL Member of the Week

Curious, positive, supportive.

I am currently reading "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World" by Steve Brusatte.

Energizing, collaborative, forward-looking.

ACRL allows librarians to connect with each other via an amazing array of experiences—professional development programs, journals, committees—and these connections are essential to spurring engagement, building capacity, and enabling rejuvenation throughout the profession. Over the course of my career, I have gained more from ACRL-inspired connections and relationships than any other single generator of advancement in the profession. I’ve met most of my best work friends and colleagues through ACRL Immersion, the Value of Academic Libraries initiative, and national conferences, and they inspire me every day!

As a library and information science educator, I seek to prepare pre-professional librarians to join academic, public, school, and special libraries. My goal for them is to be ready to understand deeply and participate fully in the organizations they join from day one. Within libraries, I hope they will utilize their unique information skills and perspectives to enable library services, resources, and facilities to meet the needs of users. At the institutional level, I want them to impact student learning and success, enhance faculty teaching, and support research. In these roles, I intend for my students to learn from more experienced colleagues, but also to apply fresh perspectives and question the status quo in order to make a positive difference in the lives of students and faculty.

I am grateful to be a member of a profession that embraces teaching, learning, assessment, and the “intellectual health” that comes from understanding how to find, evaluate, and use information constructively and ethically. I enjoy working side-by-side librarians and library school students as we strive to support the students and faculty at our institutions in service of the greater good for our communities. There is much work to be done, and I’m happy to be on this path with so many inspiring colleagues!