Daisy Muralles (she/her/ella) is the Equity and Open Resources Librarian at Cal State East Bay University Libraries since July 2020. She also co-advises the Library Student Ambassador Program at CSU-EB and is the liaison to the departments of Art, Global Studies, Modern Languages & Literatures, Music, & Theatre & Dance. Daisy received her BS in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara and received her Master’s in Library and Information Science from Simmons University.
Diana Delgado has worked at Weill Cornell Medicine for over 20 years. She is a medical librarian currently serving in the position of Associate Director, Information, Education and Clinical Services. She manages a team of faculty and staff that work together to provide various programs such as scholarly publishing, grant editing, patient education, and clinical librarianship. Diana realized she wanted to work in the health field while in college and serving as a library clerk at the Manhattan VA Medical Center. There she got to help vets from World War II and the Vietnam War, as well as doctors and nurses, access much-needed medical information.
Emily Ping O'Brien (she/her) is the Digital Repository and Metadata Librarian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She manages the ingest of digitized and born-digital objects into the digital repository at her institution including student works and archives and special collections material. Emily is interested in enhancing discovery through inclusive and meaningful metadata and improving interoperability across collections and repositories.
If it weren't for...
If it weren't for my extended family members, I would have never become a librarian. Like many people, I did not know that most librarians had a master's degree. Hearing about a family member's experience working in an academic library and the MLIS she completed to obtain the position, I became curious about the profession. After talking to another family friend who worked as a research and instruction librarian, I took their advice and sought out a library internship at a nearby college to see if librarianship was for me. One internship led to another, and those experiences clinched it. My career path did not start in librarianship, but my past work helped pave the way to my current role as a Digital Repository and Metadata Librarian at an academic library - a job I truly enjoy!
Joanna, an alumna of SJSU, works as a Youth Services Librarian at the San Francisco Public Library.
If it weren't for...
In 2014 I had major changes in my personal life that prompt a change in my career too. After 12 years of providing social services in non-profits and law enforcement, I started working in special programs in public libraries. The Spanish-speaking families I saw every week in a literacy program I facilitated at the libraries were the primary reason I pursued my Master's in librarianship. Here I was encouraging hard-working immigrants (like myself) to pursue education and career goals for themselves and support their children in pursuing their own goals, but I had neglected my goals for many—many years. The parents in the program asked me the same questions I asked them as we built SMART goals, talked about hurdles, and supported each other. I walked the walk, applied for the MLIS program at SJSU, built a support system to meet my educational goal, and completed my MLIS on May 2020.
Naomi is an Associate Librarian at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. Previously, she worked as the Science and Engineering Librarian at Northern Arizona University and the University of Denver. She has experience as a solo research librarian at Roche Tissue Diagnostics (Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.) in Tucson, Arizona. She received her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington in 2010. From 2010-2012 she worked as the Librarian in Residence at University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. In 20201 Naomi was awarded the "I Love My Librarian" award from the American Library Association and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
If it weren't for...
"If it weren't for Cynthia del Rosario, I would never have become a librarian. I met Cynthia my senior year of college at a campus fair at the University of Arizona. She was meeting students and telling them more about the Library Science program at the University of Washington. Cynthia is the Diversity, Equity & Access Administrator at University of Washington Information School and she helped me apply for graduate school and find funding opportunities to attend UW. She signed me up for a campus visit and helped me navigate the university. She was so friendly and helpful for me during my masters program and I will forever be grateful for meeting Cynthia."
Tiffani is an Instructional Librarian at Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose, CA).
If it weren't for...
If it weren't for a particular hard physics class, I would never have become a librarian.
When I was in high school, I heard the way to both impress colleges and ensure you had a light course load your senior year, was to double up math classes as an underclassman. As a noted math hater, I figured could substitute it by doing two science courses instead. Turns out physics was just secretly still just math, and I was absolutely miserable. My guidance counselor took pity on me and suggested I take an alternative class in the library. Rather than being in a traditional classroom, I'd work as a student aide in the school library. I worked with three lovely librarians who all had different approaches to the work. They taught me not just about shelving and checking out books, but the customer service aspects and the technical aspects. I already loved libraries, since I was a big reader, but this "class" is where I fell in love with librarianship. Although my road to being a librarian hasn't been straightforward, I think my positive experience with this class laid the foundation for me. Certainly, it did more for me than Physics I ever could (sorry Mr. Bohman).
Tracie Randolph is a highly experienced library professional with a strong background in leadership within large public library systems. She currently serves as the Library Manager for the Del City Library, a branch of the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County. With over 25 years of experience as a library manager and director, Tracie has also served on the Board of Directors for the California Library Association.
If it weren't for...
If it weren't for the Children's Librarian at the Riverside Public Library, I would never have become a Librarian. Volunteering in the children's room and eventually at my church library, I was exposed to the exciting things librarians do. At the age of 13, I was invited to attend the California Library Association with my church librarian, who at that time was the San Bernardino County Librarian. The conference was in Sacramento and I was introduced to State Librarian Gary Strong. That was the moment I knew I wanted to be a librarian.