The ALIA Students and New Graduates Group would like to introduce our new Social Media team! This team of highly intelligent and interesting volunteers will be working hard to keep you up to date with the latest industry news, cat memes and food for thought.

Meet the new team!

Jade

One of these days, I’m going to spend a summer on an archaeological dig in the Middle East! I will also write a book, probably something about ancient history, social media and connecting the past to the present and future. I enjoy being creative and find an outlet through design, I’ve already designed 22 book covers for the book I’ve yet to write. I also want to build a family home to pass onto my son. Imagine walking up to Bilbo Baggins’ house and that is what my home will look like, green roof and all!

Starting in libraries, I always thought I’d end up in collection management or maybe as an ancient history subject librarian. But since discovering data visualisation and interpretation I’ve been a keen advocate of increasing my peers (and my own) data literacy.

Jade will continue her awesome work on the ALIA SNGG Twitter account in 2017.

Angela

Entering into the library and information profession has been a rewarding experience. I have recently become a Librarian in training with a coffee addiction having been accepted into University. It is interesting to see the current library trends and how information and libraries have kept up and gone forward with how information is delivered. Libraries can have a positive impact on the community, especially for young people.

Angela will be working with Jade on the ALIA SNGG Twitter account and will be contributing to the ALIA SNGG blog.

Maddy

I am a Harry Potter obsessed, unpractising zoologist who loves a good cat meme! Getting into the information profession has been eye opening  and I am very passionate about bringing libraries and librarians out into the open and showing the world what we are all about. Especially showing new, upcoming and potential information professionals how exciting the world of information and libraries can be. I am also passionate about sharing with the world the cuteness that is my cat, Aurora!

Maddy will be working on the ALIA SNGG Facebook Group and the upcoming ALIA SNGG Instagram account.

Bre

I’m a politics nerd, book addict and sleeping professional who has a bit of love/hate relationship with stability. I’m working on inserting myself into the library industry because I’m passionate about the role libraries play in the community.

Bre will be working on the ALIA SNGG blog and upcoming LinkedIn account.

Kylie

I am in my second semester of a Master of Information Science (Library and Information Practice) at QUT and I also work as a library adviser at QUT.  I’m interested in gamification, gaming in libraries and promoting social justice through libraries.  I’m also a keen gamer, Twine tinkerer, tea enthusiast and cat collector.

Kylie will be working on the ALIA SNGG blog.

Christine

I LOVE ancient history, ancient near east, to be precise. I had this wild idea of knocking over a Masters in Information Studies so I could work in an academic library to pursue this love… and then I fell in love with public libraries. So here I am reading stories, playing my ukulele and dancing around with toddlers and being paid for it. Not bad at all 🙂

Christine will be working on the ALIA SNGG Facebook Group and the upcoming Instagram account.

Irene

One of the best experiences I have ever had has been to do the harvest and follow the wine process in France for two seasons. Even if not strictly related to the library field, I later used those feelings and knowledge to plan a couple of projects for the library I was working at that time. Once again, I had experienced that every involvement enriches more than you think and especially for librarians is essential to be curious, active and to go beyond the shelves to support literacy without geographical or social limits.

Irene will be working on the ALIA SNGG Facebook Group.

Q&A

To get to know the team a bit better, we asked them a few questions:

Q1: Where was your last holiday and/or where would you like to go next?

Angela: I would love to travel to Europe mostly to Italy, Croatia and Greece during the summer!

Bre: My last trip was to South America and Europe in 2014. The two months I spent in Peru during that time just wasn’t long enough, so I’m off there again in September!

Kylie: I would like to travel around the USA paying S.P.E.C.I.A.L attention to visiting some of the landmarks in the Fallout games … I really love Fallout.

Christine: My last few holidays have been to Israel. My husband takes tour groups each year, and I’ve also worked on a dig – a Crusader castle on the Mediterranean coast – it was an amazing experience.

Irene: I usually travel for personal researches rather than real (and relaxing) holidays, but if I have the chance, I love to discover new places with a backpack and acting like a local, wherever I am. My dream/goal would be to visit at least once in a life every continent on Earth: South America and…Antarctica are still missing!

Q2: Who would be your ideal dinner party guests and why?

Angela: Probably Emma Watson, Maggie Smith, J.K. Rowling and John Green I think they are very inspirational but also think the conversations would be interesting.

Bre: My ideal dinner party guests would be Julian Burnside, J.K. Rowling, Sam Harris, Colin Wright, Winnie Byanyima and James Hansen – these are the most awesome people in the world and I would give anything to be even slightly as cool as they are.

Kylie: I’d like to have dinner with time travelers from the future.  I want to know if humanity ends up colonising Mars or living in space stations, whether we figure out FTL travel, whether we’ve made contact with other far flung civilisations, what the average day job will be a few hundred years from now and what a space-faring society looks like.  I might read too much Sci Fi.  Extra points if they like buffalo wings as much as I do.

Christine: To be totally honest, I’m done with dinner parties! Give me a quiet corner at my local bar overlooking the ocean, at sunset, my hubby and a glass of merlot and I’m in heaven.

Irene: It would be interesting to have at the same table David Foster Wallace, Roger Federer, Stanley Kubrick and Freddie Mercury, to discuss about sport, music and the meaning of life. Meanwhile, I could prepare homemade gnocchi, tiramisù or a traditional pizza.

Q3: Who or what is your GLAMR inspiration and why?

Angela: Been currently inspired by American program Read Aloud Day highlighting the importance of literacy especially to children.

Bre: Libraries Without Borders! It’s about more than just books. Their efforts show how libraries facilitate community and social well-being, as well as contributing to peace building efforts. Education is so important!

Kylie: I have many!  Two that stick out for me are Hugh Rundle and Kim Tairi.  They’re both making a big impact on the GLAMR community by encouraging collaboration, learning and idea sharing.  They are incredibly motivated and creative, which I admire.

Christine: It would have to be author of The Atlas of New Librarianship, David Lankes. His work made such an impact on me at uni, and really opened my eyes to how influential and important libraries are to communities. It put a fire in my belly! And it was a real treat to hear him speak at the VALA conference last year!

Irene: Information professionals who passionately advocate for librarians’ critical role in nowadays society, using interdisciplinary approaches, are a great inspiration to me. I also appreciate the GLAM-Wiki project, as I believe in the necessity to share resources by collaborative communities.

The new ALIA SNGG social media team will be working hard to bring you even more amazing content in 2017.  Stay tuned!