Professional Philosophy

My primary mission as a librarian is to strengthen community ties and to assist in building information literacy skills within the patrons I serve. Using accessibility as a guiding force within my professional practice, I have goals of providing and expanding access and resources for the community/ies I will serve. Throughout the course of my MLIS program at Syracuse University, I sought out and excelled in classes that would prepare me for the future I intend to cultivate for myself.

To be a librarian is to expect and encourage change. Librarians are life-long learners and should expect to be surprised with new developments within the practice. As technological advancements change the way individuals and communities work, the library should expect to change alongside their community. During a project for this program, I had to spend a morning shadowing Academic Librarians. While speaking with Stephan Macaluso, an academic librarian at Suny New Paltz Sojourner Truth Library for over 20 years, said to me “look at the library as it is right now, it will be completely different in 5 years.” To be successful is to know the landscape and responsibilities of libraries and their staff is ever evolving and to lean into the changes as they present themselves.

I would love to focus on Information Literacy, Instruction and Reference within my library responsibilities. I will be a trauma informed librarian, utilizing UDL framework within my programming and instruction sessions, showing up for each of my patrons in ways they need.

I have my B.A. in Sociology from SUNY New Paltz, my previous education has always influenced my thoughts and goals. C. Wright Mills, and The Sociological Imagination(1959) especially.

“It is the political task of the social scientist – as of any liberal educator – continually to translate personal troubles into public issues, and public issues into the terms of their human meaning for a variety of individuals. It is his task to display in his work – and, as an educator, in his life as well – this kind of sociological imagination. And it is his purpose to cultivate such habits of mind among the men and women who are publicly exposed to him. To secure these ends is to secure reason and individuality, and to make these the predominant values of a democratic society.”

— C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, page 187

By connecting personal troubles with larger public issues, the power of community is valued, understanding current events is needed, and empathy is expected. This translates into the work I wish to accomplish in many ways. I will be learning every day, information that is relevant to both the bigger picture and the intimate details. In a Lynchian way, I intend to equally focus on both the ‘donut’ and the ‘hole’.

Within my previous professional experience, working for Congress and a small non-profit museum, I will be bringing the skills developed within these roles to my next position. As a Federal Liaison, I had to know what services and information I could and could not provide for the constituents in need. When being asked by a constituent for help regarding a State or Local agency, rather than illegally shifting the checks and balances of our democracy or telling the constituent no, I made sure I knew the intricacies of State and Local officials, agencies, and offices. I would rather leave a person in need with resources for their next steps than leave them in the dark because of my professional limits and restrictions. As a Research Fellow in a small museum, I utilized my platform to build school tours, assist in organizing and running a Teacher’s Workshop, connecting the themes within the museum collection with NYS Common Core Standards. I facilitated programming events in partnership with the local public library, as well as working with other local businesses, business owners, and institutions, connecting them to the site and staff. I am trained in cyber security, ethics, and constituent services through the Federal Government in 2022 and trained in public speaking by award winning director, Warner Shook through my Fellowship in 2024, I am prepared to enter a library career with confidence.