Although I have worked in libraries in some capacity since 2000, I am currently a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I have been since May of 2017.

Prior to that, I served as Research and Instruction Librarian at J. Drake Edens Library at Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina for over 12 years (from October of 2004 to until April of 2017). While there, I also managed the library's website. My areas of interest and research are the First-Year Library Experience, how to make one-shot instructional sessions dynamic and engaging and media literacy.

Teaching Experience

At Columbia College, I was proud to be part of a lively and robust information literacy program, cultivated over many years by a dedicated staff of reference librarians, teaching as many as 30 information literacy sessions per semester. This provided me with a vast amount of teaching experience covering a variety of disciplines and course levels.

Additionally, for five years, I taught a credit-bearing First-Year learning community course, which provided me with an outlet for reaching Columbia College's freshman class.

At Santa Fe Community College (since May of 2017), I am the lead instructor for a highly active and visible information literacy program where we teach 60+ instruction sessions in the fall and 40+ in the spring.

Passionate Library Advocate

Whether it's serving the profession through the South Carolina Library Association or advocating on my college's campus, I have always been a passionate advocate for my library and for information literacy.

Outreach is a huge part of what I do - for students, faculty, staff and campus stakeholders. Outreach is so much more than a well-timed email or attending a department meeting, although those things are incredibly important. I enjoy engaging in serendipitous day-to-day outreach - such as chatting with a staff member in the cafeteria line or with a faculty member in the hallway - as well as more formal, planned outreach - such as partnering with the Tutoring Center or TRiO.

My Outreach Activities

Students: social media (Facebook, Instagram), announcements on the campus electronic board, embedding in their classes whenever possible, campus events (Orientation, Fall Fest, etc.)

Staff/Faculty: social media, departmental meetings, well-timed, carefully-curated emails, campus events (Adjunct Contract Signing, Convocation, etc.) and...cafeteria/hallway/parking lot conversations! :-)

Campus Stakeholders: Most recently, my library has partnered with the Tutoring Center. This has taken a couple of forms: firstly, the librarians and the senior tutors met for an information exchange Q&A session in which each of us learned in great detail how we work with students. Tutors have also attended library research workshops. We also have a strong relationship with the campus Adult Education Center, working to get library cards into the hands of temporary adult ed students. Even something as seemingly small as taking bookmarks and handouts to various campus departments can be an important part of outreach.