Your name, current work place and position (for students, please tell us what school you’re attending and if you have chosen a specialization):
Jennifer Embree, Binghamton University Libraries
Sustainability Hub Coordinator & Subject Librarian for Biology, Psychology, Comparative Literature, Translation Research, and Latin American & Caribbean Area Studies
Where did you attend school for your MLIS degree?
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
How long have you been an APALA member? Why did you first join? Are you currently involved as an APALA officer/committee member/other volunteer?
I have been an APALA member since mid-2018, so almost four years now. I joined about one month after starting at my first librarian position out of my MLIS program. I was looking for a professional organization that would provide opportunities for growth and development but also provide a strong, welcoming sense of community. I found all of this and so, so much more in APALA. Currently, I serve as a co-chair of the APALA Scholarships & Awards Committee.
We’re very interested in the diversity of ethnic/cultural heritage within APALA. Please share your ethnic/cultural heritage with us and any other background information, as desired.
I identify as a mixed race Asian American of Korean and Irish descent. My pronouns are she/hers.
What aspects of librarianship are key to your personal satisfaction at work?. Please share some of your professional goals and interests.
What I find the most personally satisfying about being a librarian is creating opportunities for truly meaningful engagement and education. Recently I have been doing this by developing spaces, services, and programming at my academic library that help encourage the campus community to engage in practice-based sustainability education and skill-building. This included starting a community seed library, hosting seed-saving workshops and events that delved into the cultural and social impact of seed saving in diverse communities, creating a curated sustainability book collection that focuses on materials that teach more practical skills, such as mending clothes, foraging for food, and growing resilient gardens, and starting a sustainability loanable items program where patrons can check out items such as citizen science kits, kilowatt meters, and air quality monitors. This type of work is what really makes me excited to be a librarian!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
APALA is the organization and community where I feel most at home and most myself in the field of librarianship by a very significant margin. I have loved every minute of being a member of this organization. I learned so much about myself, my identity, and what really matters to me, both personally and professionally, through my participation in this organization. I encourage newcomers to this profession to get involved in APALA in all the ways that seem right to them!