Alfred University Libraries welcomes Melina Sanchez as the Evening Reference Assistant in Scholes Library. As an AU Alum and a former Library Student Assistant herself, Melina is very familiar with the academic needs of college students. In the role of Evening Reference Assistant, she is responsible for library services, assisting students with their research questions and facilitating the use of Scholes Library as well as acting as a supervisor and job mentor to the student employees working evening shifts. Melina brings a strong commitment to customer service and student development to the role.

Q&A with Melina

What was your background before Alfred University?  

I graduated from Alfred University in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and a minor in Writing. During my sophomore year, I began my journey as a student worker at Herrick Library and then was promoted as a student supervisor during my Senior Year. Currently, I work in the Social Work arena and as the Evening Reference Assistant in Scholes Library. 

  
What interests you about your current position?    

What interests me about my current position is being able to work with college students and help them grow in their college journey. Also, being a resource to the college campus and community.  

Do you have any advice for current Alfred University students? 

Don’t underestimate the seasons you go through; they prepare you for what’s ahead and always enjoy a good laugh.  

What do you like to do for fun outside of work?    

Outside of work I enjoy writing, listening to music, and spending time with family and friends.  

What is something new you would like to learn?    

I would like to learn gardening and baking.  

What do you appreciate about the Alfred campus and community? 

I appreciate how welcoming the Alfred community and campus are and the different opportunities the town provides for individuals to grow.  

Please join the Libraries in welcoming Melina!

November is Native American Heritage Month! This month “is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people.”

To celebrate, Scholes and Herrick each have curated displays in their front lobby areas, showcasing offerings from the AU Libraries collections. 

In addition to resources within Alfred’s collections, the Association of Research Libraries has compiled a resource listing events, news stories, online collections, and exhibits from its member libraries. The AU Libraries have compiled a list with more information and resources celebrating Native American Heritage Month below.

Film, Radio and Television
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Public radio and television programming related to Native Americans.

PBS Native American Heritage Month
Through dance, family traditions, art, and music, these stories show both the contemporary diversity and long history of Indigenous people across the land we now call the United States. 

NPR celebrates Indigenous communities
Stories, podcasts and more from NPR media and news outlets.

Online Resources and Exhibits
Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
Virtual exhibitions at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA)

Native American Heritage Month, Exhibits and Collections
The official .gov website lists exhibits and collections from the Library of Congress, National ARchives, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, as well as curated social media offerings. 

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture produces online exhibitions illustrating themes and ideas related to Native American material culture. Some online exhibitions complement the exhibitions on view in the galleries, others are created specifically for the Web.

Research Resources
American Indian Records at the National Archives
Find information relating to American Indians from as early as 1774 through the mid 1990s. 

Indigenous Research & Knowledges in North America, University of Colorado Boulder
An overview of indigenous knowledge and starting points for exploring these knowledges by geography, format of materials, or theme. This guide intentionally centers materials created by indigenous peoples. Some resources from our archival collections or other databases contain valuable documents by indigenous peoples among other documents authored by settler colonialists, colonizing governments, or non-indigenous scholars. 

In the summer of 2020, Alfred University Libraries made a Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression. In this commitment, we affirmed our support for the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement, recognized the role libraries have played in creating and perpetuating systems of oppression (we are not immune), and committed to action items — both short-term and long-term — designed to strengthen the inclusivity of AU Libraries. Our commitment was intended to be a living document, supporting a sustainable and ongoing process of change. 

One year on from the initial publication of our commitment, we want to update the Alfred University community on our progress and lay out where we plan on going next. 

2020-21 Progress:

• All professional library personnel participated in a retreat focused on implicit bias and microaggressions, with a focus on how these manifest in libraries and colleges/universities.
• All professional library personnel participated in a retreat focused on Psychological First-Aid (PFA) training, with a focus on how the approach can be used to support the students, staff, faculty, and others in the Alfred community.
• All professional library personnel were encouraged to participate in Safe Zone training.
• A Student Advisory Group was established with the mission of providing a dedicated venue for student input and feedback on where the Libraries are doing well and where there is room for improvement. All AU students are welcome to participate in the group, but the focus is to provide a space to platform the voices of the marginalized students in our community. 
  • The Student Advisory Group helped facilitate progress on several action items in the Commitment, including soliciting suggestions for collection development; evaluating spaces, services, and policies; and collaborating with students on library displays and programs.
• Integrated dedicated training and best-practices to reduce bias and increase equity in the search and hiring process for a new librarian. Documentation and lessons-learned from this process will inform future searches.
• Dedicated collection development funds to build the Libraries’ collections of BIPOC scholars and works focused on DEI and anti-oppression work. 
  • Physical materials were purchased from a Black-owned bookseller: Kizzy’s Books & More.
• Created a resource guide focused on anti-oppression: https://libguides.alfred.edu/antiracism.
• In collaboration with the Seneca Nation and the Institute for Cultural Unity, the Alfred University Archives developed a land-acknowledgement statement for Alfred University recognizing the history of the land we are on and the historical and continuing relationship with the Native Peoples of this area.
• Identified “inclusion” as one of three focus areas for the 2021-2024 AU Libraries Strategic Plan.
• Wrote a brief article for the SUNY Librarians’ Association (SUNYLA) newsletter about the process of developing and implementing the AU Libraries Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression with the intention of providing inspiration and insight for other institutions considering developing similar statements/commitments.
  • Adams, K., Bahr, E., Dannick, S., and Romanchock, M. “Making a Commitment to Address Racial Injustice: One Library’s Experience.” SUNYLA News 51(1). SUNY Librarians Association, February 2021. 

Ongoing Projects:

• Continue working with the Student Advisory Group to hear, discuss, and integrate student suggestions and feedback for library collections, events, projects, services, displays, and policies.
• Continue soliciting feedback from the student body on “What would make you feel more welcome and/or comfortable in the Alfred University Libraries?”
• Require all professional library personnel to participate in bystander intervention training.
• Strongly encourage all professional library personnel to participate in Safe Zone training.
• Integrate anti-racist and/or anti-oppression values and language into the Alfred University Libraries Mission, Vision, and Values. 
• Begin a reading and discussion group for library personnel focused on anti-racism and anti-oppression.

New Action Items:

• Expand the Libraries’ anti-oppression efforts to explicitly incorporate other marginalized populations, such as the LGBTQ+ and disability communities. 
• Include the Alfred University land-acknowledgement statement at the start of all library programs.
• Develop documentation of equitable hiring procedures — based on the 2020-21 librarian search process and continued evaluation of best-practices — to inform future library searches. 
  • Along with notes about the aspects of the search which improved equity, this documentation should include notes on the trouble-spots which were identified during the search and suggestions for addressing them in future searches. 

Alfred University Libraries welcomes Maria Planansky to the position of Collection Management Librarian.

In this role, Maria will oversee acquisitions, cataloging, serials, donations, and electronic resources management across Samuel R. Scholes Library and Herrick Memorial Library and coordinate on State University of New York consortia-wide initiatives for collection management.

Maria will also work as the liaison to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with the Sociology, Criminal Justice and Political Science programs.

What was your background before Alfred University?

For undergrad, I went to Beloit College, which is similar in a lot of ways to Alfred. Both are smaller schools very focused on experiential learning. At Beloit I studied Political Science and Philosophy and continued with that after graduation: I worked at a social science research organization for many years and later taught high school social studies and humanities. More recently, I earned a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Dominican University. While in school, I worked at Dominican University’s Crown Library and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago.

What interests you about your current position?

So much! The heart of the Collection Management Librarian role is making sure library resources serve students. That means ensuring that students are active participants when it comes to choosing what we include in our library collections.

What social media platforms do you use?

Instagram is my favorite, but Twitter is a close second. I’m not on TikTok, but this basset hound has me rethinking that decision.

Do you have a favorite research or tech tool?

I have favorite research advice.

Earlier this year, sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote an essay on Dolly Parton, called The Dolly Moment. It is really, really good. A week or so after that essay was published, she wrote about her research approach: read around the subject. In McMillan Cottom’s words, “Reading around a subject is about going beyond the object of study to unpack, examine, or pick apart what the person or the object of study represents. That is usually where the good stuff is.”

For straight-up research tools, though, I use Primo’s citation generator. It makes everything so much easier! Citations can be tricky, and Alfred has a great Citation Help LibGuide that’s full of resources.

What are you reading or listening to?

Earlier this summer a friend recommended the novel Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. It was fantastic! I’ve also been reading novels by Louise Erdrich, one of my favorite authors, and I’m pretty excited for Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You. This past weekend we had the Otis Redding and Carla Thomas album King & Queen on repeat. It was a good weekend.

The Libraries are offering Information Literacy and Library Instruction sessions for all courses at Alfred University. We can provide anything from a basic library orientation to an advanced information literacy sessions.

We are happy to work with you to create a customized session that fits your learning objectives and the needs of your students. For more on the options available to you, check out this menu: Information Literacy Instruction Menu.

To request a library instruction session, please contact your liaison librarian or use this form: Information Literacy Instruction Registration Form.

In an effort to support student learning while maintaining social distancing, numerous spaces around campus have been made available for studying or participating in classes online.

Herrick and Scholes Libraries both have study spaces and computers available. A limited number of reservable spaces are available for commuters or students taking courses online.
Email libraries@alfred.edu for more information.

Library hours can be found here:
Herrick
Scholes

Campus Computer Labs are available when not in use for scheduled classes. A list of spaces and hours can be found here.

There are additional spaces around campus such as Powell Campus Center, The Science Center, Miller and Seidlin. Some of these spaces are available for students studying specific subjects or require a reservation.
More details can be found here.

Link: https://alfred.libapps.com/libguides/admin_c.php?g=1013274&p=7837589

The Information Literacy Librarian, Kevin Adams, has created a series of Information Literacy modules to support student learning. These modules have been created for AU faculty to easily import into their Canvas courses. If you are interested in using any of these modules in a course, just email Kevin Adams at adamska@alfred.edu.

Each module has clearly stated learning outcomes. Topics currently include library concepts, finding sources, developing research questions, evaluating sources, and providing citations in MLA, Chicago, and APA. You can explore the modules here: Information Literacy Modules.

Engineering and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Samantha Dannick authors jocose essay in a national library science publication.

“The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship”, published in the January issue of College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News) , is a playful and “irreverent” guide to finding your niche in librarianship. C&RL News is the official newsmagazine of the Association of College & Research Libraries.

Dannick encourages library professionals to establish their own personal  “policies” and “professional value system” by way of behavior analogies between librarians and jellyfish, nudibranch, and octopus. Dannick writes, “The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship is intended to help librarians recognize and name their own professional tendencies… There will be times to be an Octopus, a Nudibranch, and a Jellyfish. Most of us will have a form that is more comfortable than the others. What’s appropriate is to recognize what that form is, how it helps and hinders, and whether a different form would be more suitable for a given situation.”   What’s a nudibranch? Learn more here.

The full article can be read here: The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship