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Name: Karina Kletscher Institution: Creighton University, Phoenix, AZ Title: Health Sciences Librarian
Brief description of what you do/your responsibilities at your institution.
I had the great pleasure -- and challenge -- of launching the Health Sciences Library here on Creighton University's Health Sciences Campus, a satellite campus of our Nebraska-based university. So I do a mix of access services and liaising to our professional programs both here in Phoenix and some in Omaha, Nebraska.
Why is MLGSCA important to you?
MLGSCA has been an important community for me to network with other medical and health sciences librarians. In this role, I started out as a semi-solo librarian (all my library colleagues were in Nebraska!) so it's been fun to learn from and just hang out with other librarians. I never thought I would be in this area of librarianship, so it's been such a great resource to find learning opportunities.
What was your first library job or professional position?
My first paid library gig was as a Research & Teaching Fellow when I was still in my LIS program. It was a training program that solidified my interest in academic librarianship where I learned the ins and outs of library pedagogy, reference and research support, and in-depth reflexive practice on the kind of librarian I wanted to be. I got to work with so many students on a variety coursework or research projects across so many disciplines - it was a ton of fun!
What is your advice to someone new to medical librarianship?
Don't be afraid of what you don't know and never feel silly for asking for help from colleagues in your workplace or associations like this! If you're someone like me who doesn't have a sciences background, starting out or even starting to work with a new discipline can be overwhelming. Librarians poke fun at our own amount of jargon and acronyms, but I think health sciences have us beat! It has been incredibly helpful to talk to other librarians to hear about their journeys, approaches, and resources as well as pay attention to listservs and LIS publications. Honestly, I also love to read other library's LibGuides and watch their YouTube tutorials -- I'm a learner, too!
What do you consider to be the most pressing issues or trends in librarianship?
Vocational awe is always on my mind; I might describe feeling "called" to this work, but I'm always trying to avoid the pitfalls of a helping profession that include scope creep, emotional labor, and burnout. I'm also usually thinking about the invisible labor in our profession, from the processes and labor required to make information and materials discoverable and accessible to health sciences' heavy teaching and/or performing complex searches. As much as I like being compared to a wizard, I have been squeezing in more education to faculty/staff/residents/students during interactions and have actually had some great conversations about it!
What is something you have on your bucket list?
My top two bucket list trips are to 1. backpack throughout New Zealand to visit my favorite fantasy production filming locations, take part in the adventure tourism, and visit their wineries and 2. reverse my immigrant ancestors footsteps to visit the cities and towns they came from along the Baltic Sea, starting in northern Germany and Poland and getting up to Denmark and Sweden.
What do you do in your spare time for fun, or to relax?
I love to read; I'm usually simultaneously reading fantasy and a non-fiction title in whatever has recently piqued my curiosity. I also love to explore vintage markets and have been very slowly teaching myself furniture restoration. I don't have a workshop or a dedicated garage space, so I really have to timeblock these projects and their inevitable messes.
What is the best thing you have read/watched/listened to recently?
I just finished listening to "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams," by Matthew Walker, PhD. I'm fascinated by the neuroscience of sleep and dreams, and this book was an excellent deep dive into the historical and updated research. Walker's arguments and ideas for improving sleep hygiene are so compelling. I also loved his style of writing, which was approachable and a bit snarky. Highly recommend!
As a hospital librarian, I have an inherent curiosity to see how other hospital libraries are set up to meet the needs of their community. So naturally, I had been looking forward to the NLM Exhibition Tour at the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Library.
I had the pleasure of meeting recently rejoined MLGSCA member and Woodland Hills Library Director, David Keddle. Also, it’s been a long while since I had seen Judy Kraemer in person, so it was great to catch up with her as well. David was such a gracious host; he offered coffee to anyone who visited the library, he gave us a grand tour of the facilities, showed us the KP Libraries website, and answered our many questions. Of course, all of this happened while visitors continued to come through the library to perform a variety of things. For instance, he assisted a staff member who was looking for a book to study for the CEN Exam. It was the sort of request we are also accustomed to getting at my hospital library.
The NLM Traveling Exhibit, “Harry Potter and the World of Medicine” was such an amusing exhibit to have in the Medical Office Building where the library is located. I was surprised to learn it took two years to get the exhibit due to the extensive waitlist! After the library visit, we continued our conversation at the BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery which was a close drive from the hospital. I have to say, for the small price I had to pay for food, drink, and gas (I drive a hybrid thankfully), the time I spent with these other librarians was invaluable, and it was such a wonderful learning experience to see David in action! – Sunny McGowan
What a great opportunity to see a NLM Traveling Exhibit AND see another MLGSCA library AND meet and get to know other MLGSCA members! Thank you to David Keddle for hosting our MLGSCA gathering and to Sunny McGowan for coordinating the event.
I truly loved seeing the exhibit, meeting David, seeing his Kaiser Woodland Hills library, and catching up with Sunny in person! In addition to enjoying time at the library, we had a good time at Happy Hour at BJ's Brewery. I look forward to meeting up with more MLGSCA members at a date/time within the next six weeks to be determined at the Anaheim Public Library which I learned is the next stop on this NLM exhibit's tour! So, if you missed Woodland Hills, stay tuned for another MLGSCA Meet Up invitation for an Anaheim gathering! - Judy Kraemer
Presenting the candidates for the MLGSCA 2024 Election as approved by Advisory Council.
For complete Bios please see https://mlgsca.wildapricot.org/2024-Candidates/
Please watch your email for ballots coming soon, and VOTE by March 29, 2024.
President Elect (3-year term), 1 candidate
Secretary (1-year term), 2 candidates
MLGSCA Nominating Committee (2 seats, 2-year term), 3 candidates
MLA Chapter Council Representative and Alternative (3-year term), 3 candidates
Name: Sarah Tillery Institution: THMEP/TMC Health, Tucson, Arizona Title: Medical Librarian/CME Administrator
I run our fully online library--I pull articles for healthcare professionals, run literature searches on topics they are researching, and maintain our library website and database. I also handle tracking CME credit and CME applications for our hospital system.
I am incredibly new! This is my very first library job out of grad school, and so I am so happy that there is an incredible organization like MLGSCA with many wonderful folks whose wisdom I hope to learn so much from.
Why did you become a librarian?
Miss Coughlan was the librarian at the Bahrain School where I went to first and second grade, and she had an after school library club where we would read, do arts and crafts, and write and perform plays--that club was everything to me, and I still have lots of the books and crafts we did. I had to move a lot as a kid, and one of the consistent things in my life was always the library--everywhere we went, there was a library, and everywhere we went, the library was a safe haven, some place where I could explore everything my heart desired. I pursued art first, but after a bit of growing, I realize that what I really wanted to do with my art and love of writing and stories was doing things like Miss Coughlan did. I want to share my passion, and libraries are the perfect place to do that.
Ask a lot of questions! Connect with people--there are so many cool aspects to medical librarianship I never knew about. I am interested in comic books, and there is a whole world of Graphic Medicine I am just now learning about and exploring. Whatever your passions are, there's a world for it in medical librarianship, I guarantee!
Information literacy. I am incredibly passionate about educating and making sure people understand the information that they are getting, and know how to get that information, and how to vet it. I think that connects many of the big issues in librarianship.
What has been the most interesting project you have worked on?
I have been working on incorporating Graphic Medicine and Medical Humanities into the work I do at my hospital--its still in early stages, but I'm very excited! Currently it just looks like a colorful binder on my desk, but I'm hoping to do very cool things with it.
Draw, write, play dungeons and dragons and video games, cook, and overanalyze media.
Cyclopedia Exotica--a graphic novel about Cyclops living in the real world. Highly recommend!
What are you most proud of?
Even though they are on hiatus currently, I am most proud of my webcomics that I made with my husband, one of which received a positive review from a comic book website we both enjoy--it's silly and small, but it was a great day!
The 2024 MLA Awards have been announced and our members shined.
MLGSCA won the MLA Chapter Project of the Year Award for our Coffee Chat program, which includes a $500 award for the chapter to use on programming for the chapter annual meeting.
Individual members were honored with the following Honors and Grants:
Elisa Cortez, Naomi C. Broering Latinx Heritage Grant Andrea Harrow, Hospital Libraries Professional Development Grant Angela Murrell, MLA Rising Star
Elisa Cortez, Naomi C. Broering Latinx Heritage Grant
Andrea Harrow, Hospital Libraries Professional Development Grant
Angela Murrell, MLA Rising Star
Congratulations to all our members!
See the complete list of 2024 MLA Awards & Honors Recipients
CJ Garcia is a member from Phoenix. NISO scholarship details here: https://niso.plus/2024/01/announcing-our-2024-niso-plus-scholarship-winners/
Name: Ellen Aaronson, AHIP Institution: Mayo Clinic Libraries, Rochester, MN Title: Librarian
Fully remote librarian providing literature search and project support for all campuses across the Mayo Enterprise.
MLGSCA has been one of my professional homes from the beginning of my medical library career. I was encouraged to join to meet other medical librarians in my local area and found that getting involved in committee work and the Advisory Board gave me a voice and expanded my professional knowledge. We went through many changes through the years, and I am truly encouraged by the continued activity that keeps our chapter vibrant and relevant.
My first library job was in high school working as a student clerk for the Los Angeles Public Library. I was responsible for shelving from book carts and retrieving magazines from the stacks. While doing my undergrad work, I moved on to become a library clerk complete with a miniature date stamp indicating when items were to be returned! My first position after library school was as a Tech Services Librarian at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.
Follow the same advice I did - jump into the deep end! Get involved in a local MLA chapter or MLA caucus. MLA has valuable tools for new medical librarians including the Hospital Library Caucus (HLC) "New Hospital Librarians Resouces" page which provides an array of great information on everything from AHIP to training opportunities. MLA has a New Members Caucus designed to introduce new librarians to the organization. Getting involved early was professionally and personally beneficial for me. I have learned so much along the way and made many "frolleagues" (colleagues who have become friends)!
In the spring of 2021, just prior to the beginning of my tenure as HLC Chair, the CHLA (Canadian Health Libraries Association) published a "Statement on the Importance of Hospital Libraries", a document written partly in response to the growing number of hospital library closures, and one that MLA signed on to. I worked with several members of the HLC Executive Board as well as the MLA President and MLA staff to create a response to that document which was published and endorsed by a number of other organizations. That statement entitled "Partner with your Hospital Librarian" can be found on the MLA website.
I love to hike, cycle, read, travel, and spend time with family, especially my 2-year-old grandson, and friends. I also love to play mahjong and canasta.
Describe yourself in five words.
Compassionate, realistic, loyal, fun-loving, team-player.
I am most proud of my family. My husband has been my champion since we married 43 years ago, and my children are hard-working, respectful, and genuinely kind people.
A.T. Still Memorial Library named Library Excellence in Access and Diversity Award recipient by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine
A.T. Still Memorial Library named Library Excellence in Access and Diversity Award recipient by INSIGHT Into Diversity
A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) A.T. Still Memorial Library has been named a recipient of the 2024 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
The LEAD Award honors academic libraries’ programs and initiatives that encourage and support diversity, equity, and inclusion. These include, but are not limited to research, technology, accessibility, exhibitions, and community outreach. A.T. Still Memorial Library will be featured, along with 55 other recipients, in the March 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine.
“ATSU thanks Insight Into Diversity magazine for recognizing A.T. Still Memorial Library’s efforts in the areas of diversity and inclusion,” said ATSU President Craig Phelps, DO, ’84. “Congratulations to Library Director Hal Bright, MLS, AHIP, and our Missouri, Arizona, and California library staff on this achievement.”
Insight Into Diversity magazine selected A.T. Still Memorial Library because of the library’s multitude of projects in support of its diversity statement and action plan, including staff education initiatives on accessibility and cultural competency, diversity collections and exhibitions, and engagement with ATSU’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion, student organizations, University diversity initiatives, and committees.
“Diversity and serving the underserved, both of which are mentioned in our University's mission statement, are some of the strongest core values of ATSU,” Bright said. “I am proud of the work our team has performed in these areas and this award shines a light on the success we have had in the past year.”
A call for nominations for this award was announced in October 2023.
“We know that many academic libraries are not always recognized for their dedication to diversity, inclusion, and access” says Lenore Pearlstein, owner and publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. “We are proud to honor these college and university libraries as role models for other institutions of higher education.”
The LEAD Award is the latest Insight Into Diversity honor ATSU achieved. The University has been awarded the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award in each of the last seven years, and ATSU’s innovative Dreamline Pathways program has earned the magazine’s Inspiring Programs in STEM Award.
For more information about the 2024 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award, visit insightintodiversity.com.
Want to get more involved with MLGSCA? Have ideas for keeping our organization engaging for its members?
The MLGSCA Nominating Committee wants to speak with you!
--Judy Kraemer, Chair with Lisa Marks, Andrea Harrow, Marcia Henry, David Bickford
We are seeking great candidates (YOU) for the following elected positions.
Review the MLGSCA Bylaws and Advisory Council Manual and/or contact a Nominating Committee member for more information.
Let us know if you want to run or to nominate a colleague preferably by January 19, next Friday.
Getting more involved with MLGSCA is the BEST thing I did for my career! Instant colleagues and friends!
Name: Karen O'Grady Institution: University of San Diego, San Diego, CA Title: Nursing Librarian
I am an embedded librarian at the Hahn School of Nursing, meaning my office is in the nursing building and not in the campus library. USD only has graduate nursing students, so I mostly help students and faculty with their research.
MLGSCA is important to me for friendship and networking.
I had previously worked in publishing, and I worked with a lot of librarians. The more I learned about the profession, the more I saw it was a perfect fit for me.
My future dream project is to connect my nursing students with the hospital librarians at their clinical sites to help bridge the classroom-to-bedside gap. Many nursing students stop reading the nursing literature once they graduate. Oh, how this frustrates me.
Find your niche. Unlike public librarianship, medical librarianship positions vary widely in day-to-day duties. If you don't love what you are doing, look around and make a change. The perfect job awaits you!
I think the profession would benefit greatly if library students jumped into participating in professional organizations. Beyond that, I think AI has many people in academia worried.
I am listening to John Green books. I finished Looking for Alaska, and now I am listening to Turtles All the Way Down. That guy can really write!
Is there anything about you that others would be surprised to know?
I have a Secret government clearance because of my previous position at a submarine base.
I am most proud of completing the Alcatraz swim in San Francisco.
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