Meet Monica!
Campus Location: LA
Title: Research and Instruction Librarian
Years in the field: 2 in January!
Hi everyone! I’m your Research and Instruction Librarian here at The Chicago School, based in Los Angeles. I have a Master of Science in Information and a Master of Arts in German. When I’m not working, I enjoy playing Tabletop Role Playing Games with my friends, entertaining my three cats, and watching Critical Role or Dimension 20.
What’s your favorite part of working at our library?
Research Consultations. I love getting to meet students and helping them learn about how to use the library resources while talking about all of their interesting projects!
What book made you fall in love with reading?
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It’s the first book I can remember my grandfather reading to me, and I always loved his spirited narration and silly voices.
What’s one library resource you think students would be surprised to know we have?
Sage Campus/Sage Skills! These self-paced learning databases are great for picking up new skills or brushing off old ones, including study habits and business skills.
What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Unusual project: Before becoming a librarian, I was a freelance translator/copy editor for ten years, and I once translated a set of judging standards for a German chicken breed that was being brought to show in the US for the first time.
What’s something you wish you had known in college that you know now?
Good research and writing always take longer than you realize they do.
What’s the funniest or most unusual thing you’ve ever been asked in the library?
I help our chat co-op with questions from other academic libraries and once helped a student formulate a research question and find articles for natural animal abilities that mimic Pokémon.
Are you a “pile it on the desk” or “everything in its place” kind of person?
Pile it on the desk, absolutely.
What’s your “happy place”?
On the coast – give me the roar of the ocean any day.
What’s something you could give a 30-minute presentation on with no prep?
Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. As a forever DM, I have encyclopedic knowledge.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A marine biologist. There’s so much about the ocean we don’t know!
We are so lucky to have Monica on our Library Team!
Stay tuned for more Staff Spotlight posts throughout the academic year.