Engage with Elaine!
Campus Location: Chicago
Title: Head of Access Services Librarian
Years in the field: 3
Hello! I’m the Head of Access Services Librarian at The Chicago School. Prior to switching careers to become a librarian, I worked in advertising for about 7 years. Outside of work I love reading, hanging out with friends, going to the movies, and seeing live theater. A few years ago, I read 124 books (including audio) in a year, and I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
Q: What’s your favorite part of working at our library?
A: Helping the students! I love the moments when I’m able to help a student with something or tell them about a resource they didn’t know we had.
Q: What book made you fall in love with reading?
A: The Amelia Bedelia books were the first that made me get into reading.
Q: What’s one library resource you think students would be surprised to know we have?
A: Zotero! It’s such a huge help with keeping all your research and notes together. I didn’t learn about it until graduate school and kept thinking to myself how much I wish I’d known about it in undergrad.
Q: What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
A: Having people complete surveys outside of gas stations one summer in college to help an advertising professor with some market research for a client.
Q: What’s something you wish you had known in college that you know now?
A: You can’t be a perfectionist with every assignment. Sometimes good enough is good enough.
Q: What’s the funniest or most unusual thing you’ve ever been asked in the library?
A: I had someone call about a book when I worked at DePaul University and they asked if our copy had the same “Isbin” as the one they were looking for. It took a few questions to realize they were asking about the ISBN number.
Q: Are you a “pile it on the desk” or “everything in its place” kind of person?
A: I’m definitely a pile it on the desk person. Probably too much so.
Q: What’s your “happy place”?
A: My ultimate happy place is the beach in South Haven, Michigan. I’ve been going there since I was a baby. But if it’s not the specific portion of Lake Michigan in South Haven, I would say Lake Michigan as a whole is my happy place.
Q: What’s something you could give a 30-minute presentation on with no prep?
A: How romance/romcom books should not be treated as lesser forms of writing and why. This would also include recommendations of books and authors in the genre.
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be an actress! However, sometimes that changed and I said I wanted to be a lawyer if I didn’t become an actress.