Cherry Williams is the director of distinct collections at the University of California Riverside. Cherry has been a member of ACRL for 21 years and is your ACRL Member of the Week for February 6, 2023.
Describe yourself in three words: Curious, joyful, committed.
What are you reading (or listening to on your mobile device)? I am currently listening to Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series.
Describe ACRL in three words: Overarching professional guidance.
What do you value about ACRL? As the umbrella organization for academic and research librarians, it provides both structure and guidance to a wide variety of professionals working in a wide variety of academic settings and with a wide variety of professional expectations.
What do you as an academic librarian contribute to your campus? As an academic librarian working with both special collections as well as archives, I provide an opportunity for both the community of UCR as well as the off-campus communities which we serve, to access and enjoy the particular pleasures of working with primary source materials that enrich each visitor, either professionally or personally, in a depth, breadth and myriad of ways.
In your own words: Life as an academic librarian, particularly working in special collections, not infrequently provides its own unique service opportunities to share, on occasion, life-altering experiences with visitors and scholars alike. These experiences of wonder and awe, never fail to delight and reinvigorate one’s own passion for the profession as well as heightening the acknowledgment and recognition of our responsibilities to current and future scholars, researchers and the general public.
Editor’s Note: Would you like to be featured as ACRL Member of the Week? Nominate a colleague? Fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!