Audrey Gunn
91´«Ã½ Divisions:
Curious, thoughtful, hopeful.
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I am reading "Bad Blood" by Colm Tóibín and "Boys and Oil" by Taylor Brorby.
Many wonderful people.
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I’m grateful for the opportunities ACRL has given me to collaborate with colleagues. Since July 2021, I’ve been serving on the ACRL STS EDI Committee. Our co-chairs have been fantastic leaders as we pursue projects to make the profession more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. I also want to give a shout-out to the STS book club; it’s been a great, low-stakes way to get to know other STEM librarians!
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Most of my time on campus is spent either teaching or preparing to teach. One of my favorite aspects of my job is that I get to work with students in a variety of STEM disciplines; one day, I might be discussing source evaluation strategies with a senior
seminar in Environmental Studies, and the next, I might be helping prospective Kinesiology majors discover the wonders of MeSH terms. Another way I contribute is by serving on the libraries’ UX team; St. Olaf shares a catalog with our colleagues at Carleton College, and our libraries work together to ensure that the catalog is usable and accessible.
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When I was a sophomore in undergrad, I heard Minnijean Brown-Trickey give a speech about her experiences as a member of the Little Rock Nine. There was one phrase she used over and over, a phrase which I’ve never forgotten: “embrace complexity.” “Embrace complexity” has become one of my guiding principles in my work as a librarian, and it’s a principle that I hope to pass on to the students I teach. To me, embracing complexity means resisting the urge to accept simplistic narratives, seeking out new perspectives, practicing both/and ways of thinking. In other words, information literacy at its best is all about embracing complexity.
Title:Research & Instruction Librarian for Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Workplace:St. Olaf College
Location:Northfield, Minnesota