I am originally from New Hyde Park, New York. It is just outside New York City, about the same distance from Columbus to Phenix City. When it was time to go to college, I went away to a small college, SUNY (State University of New York) Potsdam. It’s about 8 hours north of my hometown. (Side Note: I didn’t think about how cold it got when I decided to attend.) I was awarded a full scholarship to study music education, which was enough for me.
When I graduated with a BA in History (music education just wasn’t for me,) I had just experienced one of Potsdam’s coldest winters on record, and I was done with cold weather for a while. I packed my car with a friend and drove west to Las Vegas. At the time, it was the fastest-growing city in the country, and I wanted to live on the west coast for the experience. My logic was that if I was going to make a big mistake, might as well do it while I’m young.
After living in Las Vegas for a few years, I met and married a soldier in the army. After getting married, I moved to Hawaii, where he was stationed, for a few years and started my master's degree in Library and Information Science. However, the army ordered us to head to Fort Knox, Kentucky. The University of Hawaii did not have an online program yet, so I had to transfer to the University of Kentucky to finish my degree, which I did in 2012.
I also obtained a part-time position in the University of Kentucky Special Collections, working on the monograph collection. This was a really neat experience, and I was able to see some historical stuff. It also introduced me to academic libraries, which I would concentrate on in the UK. We weren’t in Kentucky long before we got another set of orders to head to Fort Benning, now Fort Moore, so I ended up in Columbus, GA.
When I moved to Columbus, I began to plant roots by becoming active in the library network, I had a baby girl, and she would be entering elementary school. I worked and volunteered at the two libraries on Fort Moore, Donovan Research Library and Sayers Memorial Library, while I completed my Masters's degree. I developed relationships with other librarians in the Columbus Area and became involved with local and state professional organizations.
A few months after I graduated, I was hired at Columbus Technical College as the Serials and Assessment Librarian and stayed there for almost 3-years. In 2015, I came to Columbus State University to become a Business and Government Information Librarian and have been here ever since. This year will begin my 8th year at CSU. I have about 15 years of experience in libraries, 10 of them as an academic librarian.
My academic interests are information literacy, misinformation, and combatting disinformation, particularly with news, government information, and politics.
Some of my interests outside of work are traveling. I love to take long road trips to places, especially if it has the world's largest (insert anything). I'm an avid baker and love to make things with my daughter. I'm also a crafter and spend some time channeling my inner Martha Stewart. I am also a freelance writer in my off-time.
I have a bit of a binge-tv habit if I find something interesting on Netflix or Hulu, so send me your recommendations. Most importantly, I love spending time laughing with friends and family.
A silly fun fact about me: I have double-jointed thumbs that bend backward.