Biographical
Name?
Jen Brown; my full name
is Jennifer, but I usually shorten it because I always feel like it’s three
syllables too long. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Current job?
I’m the Emerging
Technologies Coordinator at Columbia University Libraries.
How
long have you been in the field?
Four years, if you count
my assistantship work at the University of Michigan (which I definitely do).
How Do You Work?
What is your office/workspace like?
Living and working in New
York City has given me an interesting perspective on space (in short: we never
have enough of it); to get your own office, even in the libraries here,
isn’t the norm.
So I treat mine like my
home away from home. As you can see, I’ve splashed the walls with artwork from
my favorite comics, pictures of my family, memorable conference swag (my
#PoCLibrariansAtWork and #BlackLivesMatter ribbons comfort me at eye level
every day); I also display a watercolor painting I purchased from Monireh, an artist I met while
strolling through the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome earlier this
year. I put it
up to keep a piece of my recent travels with me, and to remind myself that I’m
privileged to be able to see the world and support aspiring artists near and
far. This is nice because that’s pretty much my life goal -- to make and
support art wherever I am! Alongside all that, I’ve got spur of the moment art purchases
up too, like a selection of Georgia O’Keefe postcards; buttons and pins;
stickers and totes; signed posters from some of my favorite comic book writers;
you name it.
Though all of this
probably sounds like A Lot™, I see my office as a
site of both resistance and reflection; a place where I get to challenge the
professional norms that say you can’t bring your full self, or outside
passions, into the workplace.
How do you organize your days?
So I recently started
using the Pomodoro Technique, which has been very
helpful for structuring my time and getting the most out of my day. This also
lets me focus intently on work for a burst, then refresh with bite-sized
breathers in between.
In general though,
mornings are for catching up and prioritizing; midday is for digging into large
projects that need sustained amounts of my time and attention; late afternoons
are for exploring, researching, or investigating new technologies.
I try to stick to this
format as much as possible, but of course there are plenty of days where
this plan goes completely off the rails!
What do you spend most of your time doing?
Recently, big picture thinking.
Columbia Libraries just underwent a large-scale strategic planning process,
which saw (among many changes) me re-organized into a brand new division called
Digital Scholarship. Since transitioning, I’ve spent a lot of time
brainstorming ways to reimagine technological support, services, and programs
in broader, interdisciplinary contexts.
I also spend a fair
amount of my time thinking about instruction and outreach, which happen to be
my favorite parts of this job.
What is a typical day like for you?
It’s really hard to pin
down a “typical” day, but lately it’s been a mish mash of handling email,
scheduling consults with students interested in our microcontrollers (like the Arduino and Raspberry Pi) and virtual reality devices, delivering or planning for
library workshops, working on grant-funded projects, and attending lots
of meetings.
What are you reading right now?
SO. MANY. THINGS. I just
started The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin, and
I’m rotating that book with Crooked Kingdom for (somewhat) lighter
reading. In the short fiction realm, I’m also reading Fireside Magazine (just finished the
October issue and, hot diggity, was it good) and Fiyah: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction.
What's the best professional advice you've
ever received?
Two things:
- Find your people; it would be much harder to stay in this profession if I hadn’t connected with so many fantastic librarians of color through formal and informal networks. (POC libs, if you’re reading this check out We Here to connect with other POCs in closed group settings).
- Set aside time every day/other day for learning something new. It’s like setting up your own mini professional development goals, and could inspire whole new areas of inquiry. I try to do this as often as possible, and it’s really rewarding to catch up on the latest instruction or tech literature. Also, our time is valuable and we deserve taking time to better ourselves.
What have you found yourself doing at work that you never expected?
Never thought I’d be
working on large, grant-funded projects; it’s been interesting so far.
Inside the Library Studio
What is your favorite word?
Obsidian.
What is your least favorite word?
Moist.
*shivers*
What profession other than your own would you love to attempt?
I would
love to be a graphic designer! Spending my day pouring over typography options,
color palette ideas, and layouts sounds heavenly.
What profession would you never want to attempt?
Beekeeper.
If you know me, you know I’m terrified of bees (and wasps or anything else that
buzzes and stings), so I literally don’t know how those people do a job where
the creature you are trying to care for or protect just jabs a part of its
body into you because it doesn’t understand that you’re trying to help it.
I have
mad respect for beekeepers though.
Everything Else
What superpower do you wish you had?
Teleportation
would make my life so much easier. Second choice would just be outright flying.
What are you most proud of in your career?
Maybe
this is a cop out, but I’m really proud that I’m still chugging. [Editor's
Note: Note a cop out.] This is my first role out of library school, so
impostor syndrome was a huge thing to overcome early on. I’m happy to say that
every day, I feel more and more like I deserve to be here.
If you're willing to share, tell about a mistake you made on the
job.
Early
on in my position, I was asked to lead an internal professional development
initiative to promote skills training among myself and other colleagues. I felt
pretty in over my head and struggled to thoughtfully structure the experience.
What helped, though, was acknowledging that I was in over my head; I actively
sought feedback from my colleagues and asked them for suggestions on how to
make the experience better. That meant being humble and embracing my mistakes.
When you aren't at work, what are you likely doing?
Often,
I’m writing. I spend a lot of time working on short story drafts and novel
outlines. I’m also one of those people who gets lost down internet rabbit holes
like the cat videos section of YouTube :).
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
I would
LOVE to see the ever wonderful and dope likes of Rebecca Martin at Harvard and
Nicholae Cline at IU Bloomington answer these questions!
Jennifer tweets at @jeninthelib.
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