Meet Forefront’s Librarians
April 12, 2016
We're celebrating National Library Week 2016 this week! Today is National Library Workers Day, which recognizes the hard work, dedication, and expertise of library support staff and librarians. Kathleen Murphy, our Director of Communications, interviewed Robin Dillow, Manager of Library Services (pictured, right), and Marisa Bernstein, Librarian (pictured, left).
What inspired you to pursue a career in Library Sciences?
Robin: I believe access to accurate information is critical to social justice and social change.
Marisa: I've always been a book nerd/people pleaser with a closet teeming with cardigans, but I didn't think about library school until I began managing a college library resource center. I learned how to navigate databases, and then teach those skills to students, by reading every database tutorial ever posted. I wanted to be better at my job, so I earned my MLIS and started working at the Forefront Library. I learn something from my colleagues, our patrons, and our research and databases at every shift.
What do you find most exciting about the future of library and information work?
Robin: Libraries truly continue to be a place of community, a place where lifelong learners can access resources, and where librarians can guide users through the information maze.
Marisa: Today I got really excited about a database that summarized business book content into the most perfect balance of a Kirkus Review and Cliff Notes. Robin and I counted all the ways we could share these summaries with our colleagues, members, and library patrons. My hope for information science and library work is that we continue to create tools that make information accessible in small and large ways, from niche readers' advisory databases to research workshops.
What’s the first request from a patron that you received today?
Robin: A member submitted a request for salary information.
Marisa: A member was seeking funding for a camp for young adults with arthritis.
Name one thing we didn’t know about you.
Robin: I love goats.
Marisa: My decoupage and glue-gun skills helped clinch the 2014 People's Choice Vote and 2015 Judges' Vote at Open Books' Make the Case fundraiser.
What do you do when you’re not working at Forefront Library?
Robin: The usual – volunteer, errands, read, spend time with family (spouse and furry ones) and friends.
Marisa: I'm raising two little readers, so if I'm not at the Forefront Library, I'm probably at my local library, in the kids' section.
What’s your favorite flavor of Skittle?
Robin: The purple one.
Marisa: Lemon
If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?
Robin: I only need one thing – the transcripts to the episodes from Lost.
Marisa: Coffee, my Kindle, perhaps a cardigan in case the weather turns.
The Forefront Library is open to the public, and provides access to prospect research databases, including WealthEngine for individual prospects, and Foundation Directory Online for foundation and corporate grants and sponsorships. It also holds more than 3,000 volumes on grantmaking, fundraising, nonprofit management, and governance. Click here to learn more about the resources available at Forefront Library that can help you do your best work.