National Library Week April 23 – April 29
We are excited to celebrate National Library week with you! Read below about a few of the amazing staff who contribute to the daily operations of our libraries. Learn more about their positions and some of their favorite resources we offer at University Libraries for the community.
This library week we invite you to participate in a special drawing that will make you eligible for some fun prizes. Email Carol.Kennedy@unmfund.org with the subject Library Week Giveaway. In the email, please write a short sentence on your favorite resource the library provides. You will then be entered in a random drawing for UNM Swag that will go through April 23- April 29. The winner will be contacted the following week.
Meet Our Library Staff
Meet Cristobal Bello, Library Information Specialist 3, Resource Sharing
I am a library information specialist in the Resource Sharing (or more widely known as Interlibrary Loan) department. My work involves processing requests from UNM patrons for books, articles, and a variety of documents that UNM libraries does not own or have access to, while also fulfilling requests from other institutions for our library's materials and resources.
How did you become interested in this line of work?
I have always valued the overall concept behind libraries offering access to information and resources that are not necessarily freely available elsewhere. Naturally, I find that sharing library resources with the UNM community and with other institutions is appealing work, and contributing to the social structure of library institutions matches with my personal beliefs.
What is your favorite part of your position?
I find it very satisfying when I am able to obtain something for a UNM patron that seemed initially unlikely because of the obscurity, the rarity, or simply because information available on the requested title or work is limited.
What is a resource the UL offers that you wish more patrons utilized?
Interlibrary Loan! Haha, really I am not kidding. In particular, we work on behalf of our patrons to support their research, their teaching needs, or simply for something that appeals to a current interest.
How do libraries remain significant and important today?
I think libraries continue to provide the physical space necessary to offer traditional print materials, new and changing technologies, or a mix of those mediums that are open to a variety of populations both nationally and globally. And wherever libraries continue to offer free access to resources there will be people who will be able to enjoy that benefit.
Meet Isabella Pilar, Library Information Specialist 3, Technical Services
I work as a cataloger in the Technical Services Department of CULLS. Along with my team, I work to maintain and create records for diverse resources at the library like print and electronic books, journals, musical scores, photographs, maps, audiovisual materials, and archival collections. In addition, my team and I contribute authoritative records stemming from our unique collections to cooperative cataloging programs amongst other libraries and research institutions that work together to promote and sustain metadata according to nationally and internationally recognized standards.
How did you become interested in this line of work?
Like many of my colleagues, I have always loved libraries. As a child, I read every book that I could get my hands on at my school and local library and relished the sense of freedom to pursue whatever I wanted to know about there. I also am a lover of history and am interested in the long legacy of libraries and the organization of information in some form throughout humanity. If only I could have cataloged the Library of Alexandria…
What is your favorite part of your position?
My favorite parts of my position are working with the special collections that we have at the library, adding elements of New Mexico local history and voices from diverse creators to be nationally and internationally discoverable, the opportunity to engage with knowledgeable colleagues in the field towards a shared goal, and my wonderful coworkers and mentors at CULLS.
What is a resource the UL offers that you wish more patrons utilized?
From my perspective we have many interesting and equally valid resources for patrons to pursue. I appreciate that we belong to a category of universities classified by very high research activity (R1), which means both that we provide a lot of resources and have a lot of researchers researching a lot of things.
How do libraries remain significant and important today?
I’ve often heard comments about libraries becoming less relevant because of the latest technological development. Libraries have existed in some form for at least five thousand years, and have been metadata producers throughout that time despite threat, erasure, and changes in the information landscape. As long as there is the pursuit of knowledge and information being created, there are archives and libraries.
Meet Izzy McMullin, Centennial Science and Engineering Library Operations Manager
I’m the Operations Manager for the Centennial Science and Engineering Library. In practice, this means that I work with staff, student employees, faculty, and our library patrons. I also help manage the collection and work with facilities. In addition to all that, I work with my peers in Access Services to develop and implement policies and procedures for the University Libraries.
How did you become interested in this line of work?
I have loved libraries and the welcoming spaces that they make possible ever since I wandered into my elementary school library. Throughout my time as a student and researcher, I’ve taken pleasure just being in libraries, reading within the stacks and among other people.
What is your favorite part of your position?
Working with people is my favorite part of this job. I greatly enjoy working with staff and students, and the diversity of UNM’s community makes this job especially rewarding.
What is a resource the UL offers that you wish more patrons utilized?
Our spaces! I think it’s easy to overlook how valuable a welcoming, quiet place can be for students. Many of our newer students are just now starting to discover that for themselves, and I can’t wait for even more of them to get to know our libraries.
How do libraries remain significant and important today?
For all its wonders, the internet has made us a more socially and intellectually fragmented society. We’re increasingly siloed in our social circles and diminished in our exposure to unexpected information. Libraries, however, provide one of the few spaces that afford us diverse social and intellectual experiences. This is an essential service that libraries, both public and academic, provide to their patrons.
Meet Portia Vescio, University Archivist, Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections
As the University Archivist, I am responsible for maintaining the historical records of the University. These records can be paper based, photographs, or lately many of them are digital. I work with departments to help them transfer the records into the University Archives and I also work with researchers who want to use the materials to write papers and give presentations. I also help to promote the collections through events and tours. There are a lot of different aspects to the position.
How did you become interested in this line of work?
I studied chemistry as an undergraduate and got a student job working in the archives. I didn’t know anything about archives at the time, but I had much more fun at my student job than in the chemistry lab, so I decided to work in archives full time after graduation and go to graduate school to be an archivist.
What is your favorite part of your position?
I am constantly learning new information about the history of UNM. When I work with collections, I get to see new aspects of the university. When people come in and ask questions, I learn new things in trying to help them find resources. UNM has over 130 years of history and there is so much that has been unexplored.
What is a resource the UL offers that you wish more patrons utilized?
My favorite resource that contains a lot of history about UNM is the Digital Repository. The University Archives has its own section that contains many resources, such as yearbooks, course catalogs, student newspapers, and annual reports. Lately we have been putting up smaller publications, such as El Servicio Real, which was created by the Facilities department in the 1970s and spotlighted many of their projects, but also the people who were keeping campus running.
How do libraries remain significant and important today?
I love special collections libraries because we have materials that are unique and cannot be found anywhere else. Without libraries to keep these collections, the voices of so many people would be lost to history. I also think that there are always new technology platforms being developed that allow us to make these materials available in a new and interesting ways. There are so many possibilities and so much potential!
Support University Libraries
Consider celebrating National Library Week with us by making a donation to the University Libraries. Like many academic institutions, we rely on the generosity of our donors to help accomplish new goals and continue to provide resources and services to the community such as the ones mentioned in this newsletter. Please consider donating today!
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