Why this page? 
It's a chance for me to share some library related information and more information about me than fits easily in my blog. Feel free to contact me if you have questions - you can reach me at modernhypatia at Gmail. 

Who am I?
I go by either Jennifer or Jen. I grew up in the Boston surburbs, but moved to Minnesota in 1999. I love it here, even the winters! 

It's been particularly interesting to go through library school in an area with (at the time) 9 separate public library systems (with different policies and areas of particular focus or demand), as well as the various academic libraries and consortia.

I talk about various library-related topics on my blog.

Work:
I've worked since the fall of 2000 as the library paraprofessional in a private high school in Minneapolis. I've had a fantastic time here, but I am currently job hunting, as I am looking for new challenges and more ways to use my degree and experience than my current position allows.  Check out my Work I've Done page for more details. 

Professional interests:
I'm a generalist in many ways, but particular professional interests include online interaction (especially online literacy, safety, and policy development issues), reader's advisory, reference, collection development, and generally how people go looking for information that matters to them 

You can find out more about my education and training elsewhere on this site.

Why the username?
I out online back in 1994, when I got to college. I mostly use a long-standing pseudonym for various reasons - an uncommon legal name, a desire to talk about some topics (religion, political opinions) that aren't relevant to work, and also having known just enough people who've had stalking issues online to be cautious.

While professionally I do link my legal name and my site, I wanted a pseudonym here, too - I think they give an insight into people's characters and interests in a way our given names don't always do. 

A friend suggested the 'modernhypatia' username to me, and I loved it! Hypatia has long been a favorite historical figure of mine. While Wikipedia is always a source to view with some critical attention, their page on her is one of the more thorough summaries of her life I've found in one place.