Student Profiles
We interview LIS students about their library journeys, how they juggle work and study and advice they have for those considering study.
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Thank you Jessica for volunteering your time to be our featured Student Profile for this edition of Library Life! We really enjoy highlighting students who are on their way to completing their qualification in Library Sciences and Information, and also connecting them to the community they’ll be joining after school! Can you tell us a bit about your journey so far? Kia ora, I’m Jess. I was born and raised near Atlanta, Georgia in the U.S. I went to the University of Georgia and studied a combination of linguistics and education, initially intending to be a Spanish teacher. Even if it wasn’t strictly related, I think those studies prepared me well for the field, especially when teaching technology skills! I moved to New Zealand with my kiwi partner in January 2019 and have fallen completely in love with this country. READ MORE > |
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Emma Stilwell is a Community Librarian with Christchurch City Libraries and has just completed an MIS qualification with Victoria University of Wellington. Originally from the Wairoa Gorge outside of Nelson, Emma has lived in Wellington and Edmonton (Canada) and currently resides in Ōtautahi. When not working (or thinking about work) Emma can be found struggling to figure out what people do in their free time when they’re no longer studying. Recent attempts include opshopping, sewing, gardening, and foraging for fruit in Christchurch’s Red Zone You already seem to be fully submerged in this community though, so can you tell us a bit about your journey so far? Over the last five years I’ve worked in six different libraries in three different systems in Aotearoa and Canada. I think this change and movement has given me a broad perspective of public libraries and helped me grow more than I would by staying in any one role READ MORE > |
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Lisa-Dean Gallagher, Studying Bachelor of Library and Information Studies through the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Can you describe your library journey up to this point? My love affair with reading began as a young child, modelled in part by my older sister who is blind. My sister was a voracious reader, and our parents gave us matching books – audiobooks for her and print books for me to read along as we listened. My appetite grew. I started school, discovered that libraries exist, and that was it! I have frequented them ever since. I volunteered as a student librarian in high school and joked with my friends and family that my love of reading and my growing book hoard would lead to my own ‘Beauty and the Beast’ style library one day. I finally met my fiancé, who agrees wholeheartedly, and we are slowly working towards our goal one book at a time. READ MORE > |
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Kingsley Ihejirika, PhD, School of Information Management, Victoria University Wellington.
I learned how to read quite late (aged nine), but I felt like reading all the books in the whole wide world when I did. I grew up in a small university town in the eastern region of Nigeria. Back then at the university, we had a children centre library that the University Women Association pioneered. As a child transiting into the teenage phase, the books in the centre transported me to a world where I felt secure and reassured. As time went on, I decided to either become a lawyer or a librarian; the latter won! When I started my undergraduate degree, I made up my mind to be the best that I could be, which has been my driver and motivation. Incidentally, my university (University of Nigeria) retained my services after my undergraduate study and that marked the beginning of my career as an academic librarian. READ MORE > |
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Donna Lemarquand , Bachelor of Library and Information Studies at the Open Polytechnic.
My library journey began in 1989 when I was employed as an assistant librarian for a medical publishing company. Initially, I was planning on staying for a year and then applying to teachers training college. However, I really enjoyed working in the library so my career path changed and I started studying towards the New Zealand Library Studies Certificate through Wellington College of Education, which I completed in 1992. After 10 years in special libraries (with some time off to start a family) I moved to the National Library of New Zealand. There I was involved in the Strengthening School Libraries Programme, which ignited my interest and passion for school libraries. Over the last 18 years, I have been a school librarian in a primary school; a large high school; and currently at Blockhouse Bay Intermediate School. I love going to work every day and I am very grateful to work in a school where the library is valued and well resourced. READ MORE > |
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Amanda Dickson, Bachelor of Library and Information Studies at the Open Polytechnic.
My previous career was as a classical (hand-drawn) animator and ink and paint artist. I always had a passion for storytelling – reading aloud, picture books, music, film. At the age of seven I decided I wanted to be a cartoon animator, a dream I fulfilled when I was 18 and started training under ex-Disney acclaimed animator, John Ewing. I went on to work in a well-established animation studio in Auckland that mainly created advertising with the odd television programme for kids on the side. What made you decide to change careers? I visited libraries, talked to librarians. In the early 2000s I was discouraged, being told that there were no jobs – that old-school librarians never died. After a spell in government departments and working on a Scooby Doo online game I went back to the library. Things had changed! Libraries were now inventive, more inclusive, vibrant places, and I wanted to be a part of it! READ MORE > |
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Cameron Pierson, PhD School of Information Management at Victoria University Wellington.
It started when I was aged around twelve – my middle school librarians took notice of me and started giving me books I wanted to read. After a while they let me volunteer with them. Eventually, I made my way to graduate school to get an MLIS. During that time, I was very lucky to have an internship with the National Library of New Zealand for one winter, working on different projects with amazing people. Toward the end of library school, I worked a variety of jobs with two universities (mostly reference work) and a library vendor in consulting and marketing. Then I moved to Australia, where I was able to continue working with the vendor, but eventually left and spent some time in a primary school library with students up to Year 9. At this point, I was considering further study and my curiosity won out, so I returned to Wellington. READ MORE > |
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Fiona Tyson, Master of Information Studies at Victoria University Wellington.
I’ve worked at the University of Canterbury Library since 2007. I started as a part-time library assistant, as I was planning to start a PhD and thought it’d be a good job to support my study. But I found I loved working in the library and have moved from role to role – some project-based and some permanent – from co-ordinating the RFID-tagging of the collections, to copy-cataloguing, to co-ordinating customer services. My current role is a subject librarian, supporting teaching and education students and staff. READ MORE > |
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Monika Nair, Bachelor of Arts: Library and Information degree at Open Polytechnic.
This journey has been a surprising one but definitely a great one! I started my library journey as a casual library assistant in 2014, a year that was meant to be my gap year from uni. However, that changed when I found my passion in libraries. Now, six years later, I am a Senior Librarian – Children and Youth at Tupu Youth library, Auckland libraries, and absolutely LOVE my job. I’m in my dream role at the moment but I aspire to become a library manager one day, which is why I’ve taken on studying towards my future career goals.
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Genavieve Tarawa, Degree in Māori Information Management – Poutuarongo Puna Maumahara at Te Wānanga O Raukawa.
By the time I was nine-years-old, I had read the entire school library. It was quite small. Next, I turned my attention to the books my elder siblings were reading: The Godfather, and books by the likes of Jackie Collins, Jacqueline Susan, and Robert Ludlum. One of my brothers was an avid graphic novel enthusiast and this led to me reading The Phantom, The Hulk, and Creepy which gave me nightmares. I didn’t read because I wanted to – I read because I had to. My favourite book was and still is the dictionary, as it is an endless source of new information. I love that. At 10, I discovered the public library and my mind was blown by the potential for more reading. I thought it was paradise and I wondered how I could live there. I never intended to be a librarian. READ MORE > |
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Hannah Goile-McEvoy, New Zealand Diploma in Information and Library Services at Open Polytechnic.
Libraries have always been a large part of my life ever since I was young. From being taken on regularly library visits when I was little to attending the local Young Adult book club and being a part of a Teen Advisory Group for a little while I also volunteered at Kapiti Coast District Library where I spent a few summers helping with check-ins for the Summer Reading Program which is like coming full circle as I participated in these programs while in primary school. I am very thankful for the opportunities provided by my library growing up on the Kapiti Coast. This November has marked my first year in the role of a Library Assistant at Nelson Public Libraries. Now, at 22 I am loving this next chapter of my personal journey - a new library in my new home town with an amazing team supporting me. |
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Wendy Horne, Graduate Certificate in Library and Information Leadership at Open Polytechnic.
I have worked at Upper Hutt City Library since 1999, following a brief stint at National Library as a Library Assistant and an illustrious career at Pak ‘N’ Save as a checkout operator. I loved the library as a kid and have very fond memories of visiting the mobile library, as well as our central branch. I spent lots of time in the school library at college and I just thought it would be an awesome job and was lucky enough to be the successful candidate at Upper Hutt. I have had many roles at the library, but the core of all the jobs has been customer service, which I am really passionate about (read into that what you will!). In the last 5 years I have been delivering core circulation training with the new Kōtui libraries and this has been the best fun – visiting other libraries and sharing knowledge! |
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Rob Cruickshank, Graduate Certificate in Library and Information Leadership at the Open Polytechnic.
I came to libraries relatively late in my career after many years working as a biologist in various different guises, an interest that I continue to maintain as an academic journal editor. My first library job was as a part-time library assistant at Aranui Library, a small community library in the east of Christchurch. In many ways that was the perfect introduction to the importance of libraries to people’s lives. The team were so warm and welcoming and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, although it was not without its challenges. After about nine months at Aranui I was lucky enough to get a job at Tūranga, where I work now as a Programming Specialist, a relatively new role at Christchurch City Libraries that allows me to combine my new found love of libraries with some of the knowledge and skills I gained doing research and teaching science. |
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Deborah Hart, Master of Information Studies at Victoria University Wellington.
During the last six months at university I was looking for a part-time job, and saw a fixed-term position working in the Serials Department at the University of Waikato Library. I had never thought about working in a library before, but I applied, got it, and found I really enjoyed working there. My library career was launched! Since then I’ve worked at Huntly Library; the University of Waikato Library (Reference & Interloans; and the Law Library); and Tauranga City Libraries. About 10 or 11 years altogether. Then I made a career change in 2011, and trained to be a primary school teacher. I started teaching at Tauranga Waldorf School, but my Mum and Dad were both getting very frail, so I left my job and cared for them full-time for four years. When I was returning back to work, I realised that, although I loved teaching, I didn’t want to have to start from scratch again. Te Puke Library was looking for a Children and Teen’s Librarian, I got the job – and I’ve been here ever since! |
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Stephen Clothier, Master in Information Science at Victoria University Wellington.
My library journey started at the tender age of 14, when I got my library job at Hastings District Libraries. Many moons later, while I was finishing my undergraduate degrees in Wellington, I got a job in customer service at Wellington City Libraries. I was involved in projects and programmes in a bunch of different areas across the library network, from children and youth services to the eLibrary, from database evaluation to robotics and coding. A month ago, I became WCL’s Children and Youth Services Specialist – I work to support the breadth of programmes and services for children and young people across our library network, and specifically to design and ‘own’ the host of new services we’re creating for Waitohi, our brand new library and community hub in Johnsonville. |
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Tara Boonaree, PhD graduate, School of Information Management, Victoria University Wellington.
In my early career, I worked as a law librarian for Linklaters (Bangkok) Ltd while the London-based international law firm established their Bangkok office. After two and a half years I furthered my studies at Chulalongkorn University then started my teaching career in a university before moving to the Information Science Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University (KKU) in Isan. I took 4 and a half years study leave for to complete my PhD. After graduating later last year, I was back to teach at KKU. I’m now an assistant professor in Information Science. |