(via ACRL)
Jenn Kelley, a reference librarian and faculty chair of professional development at the College of DuPage, is the ACRL Member of the Week for April 4-10. Below, she shares her thoughts on how she has benefited from membership in ACRL and what her most significant contributions to the College of DuPage community have been.
What do you value about ACRL?
Where do I start? Probably with the Immersion Program and its immeasurable impact on my professional career – from Teacher Track as a new librarian, Program Track years later, and now the opportunity to connect with hundreds of academic librarians as an Immersion Program facilitator. Of course, ACRL Conferences provide the perfect occasion for periodic reunions with the close friends and mentors that I’ve developed through Immersion Programs, not to mention the innumerable sessions and experiences that have provided me with something to take back to my own practice and institution. Online courses and workshops, as well as publications like C&RL, provide ongoing professional development and keep me in touch with scholarship, trends, and practices across academic librarianship.
What do you as an academic librarian contribute to your campus?
One of my interests as a librarian has always been working with educators to incorporate information literacy into their curricula and teaching practices. For the past four years, I’ve been able to take on a role coordinating faculty professional development at my institution – developing and facilitating workshops, webinars, and courses; sharing content through teaching guides, newsletters, and blogs; and consulting with individual instructors. I’m most proud of my contribution to creating our Anti-Racism Action Initiative, a community of faculty, staff, and administrators seeking to improve conversations about race, racism, and oppression in the classroom and across campus. I’ve learned so much about my colleagues and my college through these interactions while also helping to build a culture of professional development.
To read the full interview, please go here. Congratulations!