Meggan A. Houlihan is a first-year experience and instruction librarian at New York Univeristy Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Meggan first joined ACRL in 2009 and is your ACRL member of the week for October 2, 2017.
1. Describe yourself in three words: Dedicated, adventurous, kind.
2. What are you reading (or listening to on your mobile device)? I am currently reading Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett.
3. Describe ACRL in three words: Community, engagement, leadership.
4. What do you value about ACRL? ACRL has given me the opportunity to connect with librarians from around the globe and discuss practical and theoretical issues that many librarians are facing today. Everything about ACRL from the annual conference, online education, publications, and blog, allow me to stay engaged with colleagues and better prepare myself for life as an academic librarian.
5. What do you, as an academic librarian, contribute to your campus? As the first-year experience and instruction librarian at New York University Abu Dhabi, I work with the Writing Program, Writing Center, and the Office of First-Year Experience to equip first-year students with information literacy skills. Together, we’ve created an embedded IL program that all first-year students participate in, and thus far, our assessment data has been extremely positive. I also collaborate with liaison librarians and on-campus partners to improve our outreach services and library programs.
6. In your own words: Life as an international academic librarian is both extremely rewarding and challenging, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My favorite part of my job is working with our diverse student body, who hail from over 110 countries, and making the library accessible to them. This can be a difficult task since our students have such poplar library experiences–some students have never been in a library, while some students attended prestigious boarding schools where a librarian was embedded in course content. Overall, my goal is make our students and community feel welcome in the library, as well as know where to find help.
Editor’s Note: Are you an ACRL member? Would you like to be featured as ACRL Member of the Week? Nominate a colleague? Contact Mary Jane Petrowski at mpetrowski@ala.org for more information.