Ngoc-Yen Tran is a science librarian at San Jose State University in San Jose, CA. Ngoc-Yen first joined ACRL in 2008 and is your ACRL member of the week for October 16, 2017.
1. Describe yourself in three words: Collaborative, adventurous, and enthusiastic.
2. What are you reading (or listening to on your mobile device)? My 30-minute train commute gives me a lot of time to read and to listen to podcasts or audiobooks. Currently, I am reading the latest David Sedaris book for book club via OverDrive and catching up on podcasts such as Note to Self (a show that focuses on the impacts that technology has on our lives) and Hidden Brain (where the host reveals the unconscious patterns and biases that drive human behavior).
3. Describe ACRL in three words: Relevant, community-builder, and forward-thinking.
4. What do you value about ACRL? The best part about ACRL is that it is focused on academic librarianship; the ACRL conferences, publications, and initiatives are all highly valuable and applicable in my daily and future work as an academic librarian. I also value the supportive community that ACRL builds amongst its members and have always felt welcomed and that I belonged.
5. What do you, as an academic librarian, contribute to your campus? As an academic librarian, I am in a unique position to be a bridge between student academic lives and their life outside of school in order to promote student engagement and success. I contribute by collaborating, conducting outreach, and developing initiatives that encourage students to participate in activities that have been shown to improve student retention and graduation rates of students from all populations, such as first-year experience programs or faculty-mentored research opportunities.
6. In your own words: I cannot imagine myself being anything other than working in academic libraries where I am connecting people to the information that they need to solve a problem, to answer a question, to complete a task, or to fill a gap in their knowledge. I look forward to demonstrating the value of academic libraries by showing and providing evidence of the importance of libraries and librarians in the academic and future successes of our students.
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.