MLIS student
NNLM MCR Student Intern
My name is Crystal Hastings (she/her/hers) and I graduated from Emporia State University with a Bachelor of Science in 2008. At Emporia State, I was a student assistant for William Allen White (2004 to 2008) working with students, faculty, and the general public. I was cross trained in reference, circulation, inter-library loan, and mending and processing. I was involved in the curation of the William Allen White Children's Literature Collection. From 2008 to 2015, I worked as a library assistant at Emporia Public Library. Emporia Public served the greater Lyon County Kansas area. During my employment, I assisted in circulation, reference, children services, and minor duties in genealogy research. Currently, I am a third semester graduate student in the SLIM program at Emporia State University. SLIM is the School of Library of Information Management. I am serving as a student intern for a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion survey team for my graduate practicum.
I am originally from Parsons, Kansas. I graduated from Parsons High School in 2001 with National Honor Society honors. I attended Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas and graduated in 2004 with an Associate of Arts in English. From the time I entered high school I was aiming to be a librarian. The inspiration came from my middle school librarian who was a mentor to me. Her encouragement put me on the course of seeking a masters in LIS.
In my years since graduation, I have served in several customer service roles. I learned the meaning behind service, assistance, and guidance in my time within the public sector. Much of my time went towards helping where I could benefit clients or customers. I grew to love assisting my customers with hopes of giving back as much as I gave. This led to the notion of seeking my masters, which I am currently working towards. Considering customer service, I shifted my focus from customer service and user-centered approaches to wanting outreach. Outreach to me means helping users and patrons with greater value. It goes from an individual focus to the focus of the community and its needs. I want a chance to succeed in working in outreach and development programs or services. If I am capable, I would love to work in EDI or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). All too often our society sets the pace to the individual and I am set to find the motion for the underserved and underrepresented.
My experience in customer service has taught me to look at our profession as a constantly changing field. I hope during my courses I can further the studies of EDI. I want to create programs where the research represents improvement, adding to the value of profession, and giving more to the populations librarians serve. I wish to solidify the future or a library and the purpose it has in the modern world. In the past few decades, technology and society have greatly influenced how libraries adapt, and I wish to be on that front.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
2:50 PM – 3:15 PM CT