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Tag Archives: Staff
Scott Scholz: Director of the Talking Book and Braille Service
Congratulations to Scott Scholz, who recently completed his MLS degree from the University of Missouri. Scott joined the Library Commission in 2005 to take what might be described as the perfect job for someone with his interest in reading and qualifications for recording. We are fortunate his wife Heidi found the original job posting for circulation manager that led him to us. In recent years, he has taken a leadership role on a number of NLC projects, including moving lower level operations to a new space on the first floor of the Atrium Building in 2014, helping Nebraska become the first state to convert its magazine recording program to digital format in 2010, and implementing assembly and review procedures in the TBBS studios. Currently, Scott is performing the work of two staff, as both the Acting Director of the Talking Book and Braille Service and the Circulation and Audio Production Coordinator.
Scott’s commitment to books, culture, and community makes the Talking Book and Braille Service hum, and he is a devoted advocate for Nebraskans who are unable to use traditional print. This interest started early, in Columbus, NE, where Scott was raised only two blocks from the Columbus Public Library and served as a volunteer for summer reading programs. As a young reader, he was interested in all kinds of fiction and nonfiction, from Encyclopedia Brown to science books. While working at a bookstore in high school, Scott developed an interest in music and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music composition from the University of Denver. Scott lists authors David Foster Wallace, William S. Burroughs, and Miranda July among his current favorites, along with interests in Surrealist and Dada literature and history.
Outside of library work, Scott hosts a podcast called Words on Sounds, writes for several online publications, and runs a boutique experimental music label. Scott writes about and reviews experimental music to promote artists and connect with others who share the same passion for the underground music scene.
Scott credits Glee Nelson (the former children’s librarian at Columbus Public Library), and Kurt Cylke (former director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) as influences on his career path.
On the home front, Scott has been married to Heidi Uhing for 13 years and they share their residence with two dogs, Olive and Izzy, as well as some backyard chickens. As a Lincolnite, Scott appreciates what is happening in the local arts and culture community, and the ease and beauty of life in Nebraska. As a staff member of the Library Commission, we hope he stays for a very long time, because nobody could ever replace him and what he offers to our staff and to our patrons.
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Holli Duggan: Continuing Education Coordinator
Meet Holli Duggan (pronounced: DUG in) who joined the Library Commission earlier this year as our Continuing Education Coordinator.
Holli was born and raised in North Platte and attended UNK where she received degrees in English and Spanish. She received her MLS from the University of Missouri in addition to an MA in Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education from UNL. She is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Educational Studies at UNL.
Growing up, Holli was always at the library and a favorite childhood author was R.L. Stine. She aspired to be a librarian at a young age and has a resume that includes working at Waldenbooks, the UNK and UNL libraries, the Gere branch library in Lincoln, and Concordia. The most satisfying thing about her current position is helping people find resources to assist them to perform their job better and in turn, help their patrons more efficiently. When I asked Holli what she thinks of when I ask her about the Library Commission, she says it is awesome. She enjoys working together with others to better libraries in Nebraska. If she could switch jobs, she would be a Spanish translator or something science-y. If she won the lottery, the first thing she would do is go to Costa Rica.
During non-work hours, Holli is most likely doing classwork for her Ed.D. In the rare free hours, she enjoys reading, watching shows on Netflix, or doing Crossfit. If she could have dinner with anyone she would pick the author Lin-Manuel Miranda because it would be so much fun to talk to him. She fondly remembers that Stephen King’s Pet Sematary was the very first book she checked out of her library from the adult section.
Holli shares her home with her husband Zac, a chocolate lab mix named Kyrie, and three cats named, Loki, Beowulf, and Mei Mei. If she could choose two words to describe herself they would be driven and patient. It’s wonderful to have Holli on our team!
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Sam Shaw: Planning and Data Services Coordinator
Meet Sam Shaw who serves as our Planning and Data Services Coordinator.
Sam collects and gathers statistical data about public libraries and produces a variety of products. A large portion of the data collected is from the annual IMLS Public Library Survey. Sam was born and raised in Northeast Lincoln and is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University where he received a BA in Philosophy. Since philosophical jobs were in short supply, Sam worked at a law firm in Lincoln and discovered that he would rather devote his time to public service as opposed to private practice. Sam then became the public services librarian at the Nebraska State Library, better known as the Nebraska Supreme Court Law Library in the capitol building. After staff elimination from budget cuts (Sam got RIF’d), he became the librarian at the Nebraska State Penitentiary and later the Library Coordinator for the Nebraska Correctional Libraries. He obtained his MLS from the University of Missouri. Sam says the most satisfying thing about working in libraries is finding information, helping people with projects, and serving the public
When I asked Sam what he thinks of when I mention the Library Commission he responded: Its laid back, there is support for new ideas and ways of doing things, and a great group of people. When Sam isn’t working at the Commission, he enjoys light workouts, chen style tai chi, gardening, fixing things, visiting botanical gardens, and ballroom dancing. He is the father to a daughter (age 9) and a son (age 5). If he could choose any other profession he would like to found and run non-profits supporting the local community. Likely these would be bringing a large scale botanical Garden or an Asian Cultural Center (tai chi and Asian botanical garden or self-realization center) to Lincoln. Sam describes himself as non-fiction reader and a lowbrow fiction reader, with his favorite authors including John Waters, Raymond Carver, Charles Bukowski, Albert Camus, and Larry Brown. It’s not uncommon for Sam to have 40 or more items borrowed from the Lincoln City Library at one time, including kids’ books and DVDs. A perfect day might include a favorable climate, sleeping late, drinks, napping, dinner, and late night salsa dancing. It’s wonderful to have Sam at the Library Commission after he has served other Nebraska State Agencies so well.
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NLC Staff: Meet Amanda Sweet
Meet Amanda Sweet who joined our staff in August as a Library Reader’s Advisor for our Talking Book and Braille service.
Amanda was born in Milwaukee, WI and was raised in the small town of St. Francis, near Lake Michigan. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English with an Emphasis in Publishing from Carleton College. After a brief stint with a literary agency in New York City, she decided to veer away from the making of books and shifted to the circulation of books in the library. As long as she is near a book, she is happy.
It was while working for Beyond Vision, a nonprofit that employs 85% blind and visually impaired individuals, that she began her Masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. At Beyond Vision she heard tell of some difficulties in raising awareness for TBBS services and she decided it was time to get more involved with the service as a whole. Here at the Commission, she loves the personal interaction she gets with patrons and will be completing her degree in December. If all else fails with the library career, she will content herself as a professional Dorito taster.
Amanda is a lifelong user of libraries and generally has at least one book in her oversized purse at all times. Some of her favorite authors include Sherman Alexie, Patricia Briggs, Dean Koontz, Richelle Mead, and many others. In her spare time she makes jewelry for the Etsy site she shares with her father- Sweetwater Creations. She lives with her boyfriend Sean and, since their move, they both have a craving for Oakland Gyros Greek Restaurant back in Milwaukee. The silver lining is that Amanda loves the people here in Lincoln as well as the new bead store/ art gallery she stumbled upon. Ideally, she would spend her entire weekend holed up with a gyro while reading, watching movies, making jewelry, and mindlessly surfing the web. We are grateful Amanda has joined us.
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NLC Staff: Meet Craig Lefteroff
Meet Craig Lefteroff, who joined the Nebraska Library Commission as our Technology Innovation Librarian a year ago this month. Craig was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi and attended college at Delta State University, in Cleveland, Mississippi, graduating with a BA in English. After graduation, Craig taught English and speech for one year in a Mississippi Delta town with one store and a prison. This experience encouraged Craig to seek new employment, so he moved to Versailles (pronounced ver-say-elles), Kentucky, where he cleaned computers for Walmart. Next up was a job as an accountant for a Holiday Inn in Lexington, Kentucky. This job afforded him some flexibility so, affirming his love for books and literature, he enrolled in library school at the University of Kentucky.
Craig’s first professional library job was as a reference librarian at St. Tammany Parish Library north of Lake Pontchartrain after Hurricane Katrina. A tipping point occurred during this chapter of Craig’s life and it was time to try living closer if not north of the Mason-Dixon Line. To fill a job title of Reference and Electronics Librarian, Craig moved to West Virginia to work for the Kanawha City Public Library where he lived at the top of a hill. When Craig was selected by the Nebraska Library Commission, it was a priority to be able to walk to work as this was never a possibility in Elkview.
It is typical for librarians to have eclectic interests and Craig fits this description. He surrounds himself with a variety of people and enjoys movies, music, and reading. Some of Craig’s favorite authors are Thomas Hardy, George Elliot, Herman Melville, Cormac McCarthy, and Mary Roach. A book that Craig has read at least five times is Stoner by John Williams owing to the theme of a young man growing up in the south who falls in love with literature. If money were no issue, he would spend his time reading and traveling first to Italy. When asked what other profession he would like to practice, Craig would be a writer and when I asked him to comment on his associations about his workplace, he responded: food day.
We’re grateful Craig has made the Midwest his home and is willing to share his skills and interests with those of us in Nebraska libraries.
Holly Woldt: Library Technology Support Specialist at Nebraska Library Commission
Meet Holly Woldt whose job title is Library Technology Support Specialist.
Holly began working at the Library Commission in 2010 in a temporary grant position and proved invaluable so we hired her as a permanent employee. Holly is one of the very few Commission employees who is a non-Nebraska native. She was born in Bad Hersfeld, Germany and adopted by an American family living in Paris, France while her father was serving as an aide-de-camp to the General in charge of NATO. She became a naturalized citizen at the age of 3. As the daughter of a career Air Force officer in the intelligence field, Holly lived in Annandale, Virginia; Oahu, Hawaii, and Ramstein, Germany. She graduated from High School in Hawaii and as her parents had Iowa nativity (which allowed in-state tuition for dependent children), she attended the University of Iowa where she received degrees in both Computer Science and Political Science. Her first job was as Systems Analyst at UNL. She met her husband Wayne at the Zoo Bar in Lincoln although unbeknownst to both of them, his father had worked for her father in Vietnam and both swam competitively at some of the same competitions in Hawaii. Together Wayne and Holly have three children: Weston age 26; Dylan age 24; and Cara age 22; and live on an acreage north of Lincoln. Wayne is a professor of Biosystems Engineering at UNL. He told their children they could major in anything as long as it was engineering because they’d always be able to find a job with that degree.
What makes Holly the right person for this job is that she has a love for technology and a passion for teaching how computers can be useful. Holly has been to many of your libraries to help unpack boxes and install computers and adaptive technology. During this time, many of you have become friends and Holly has learned about your libraries and your communities. She’s heard stories of how these computers have made a difference to your library customers as she continues to be a source of help with these services. Holly is in awe of librarians and their tenacity in serving the needs of their community. As Holly thinks about retirement in San Antonio, she would like to teach water aerobics to her neighbors in her 55+ Community. We’re grateful Holly is part of our library community
NLC Staff: Meet Allison Badger
Allison Badger started t
he year 2016 as the new cataloger for the Library Commission.
Allison is a fifth generation Montanan and comes to us with what she describes as a homestead work ethic: hardworking, rarely sedentary, and not taking modern conveniences for granted. She worked at several Montana institutions including the Montana State Library and the Montana State Historical Society. She most recently worked at the Montana Office of Public Instruction doing cataloging, interlibrary loan, collection management, and reference assistance. She received her BA in History from Rocky Mountain College and an MA in History from the University of Montana Missoula. While working as a historian for a research firm, she encountered library catalogs that weren’t particularly helpful nor were they the most efficient pathfinders so she started thinking about becoming a cataloger which required an MLS. Her choice for this education was the University of North Texas in Denton which could be achieved mostly online with a few in person classes.
When Allison is not at work, she is quite happy at home sitting on her deck, reading, watching television, or taking a walk. She also enjoys cooking and baking. One of her signature items is butter brickle bars for which all of the ingredients are always on hand. Which books have influenced Allison the most? Two titles come to mind – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen because of Jane’s ability to see inside the human character and Isabelle Allende’s House of the Spirits. She read it the first time in high school and with each subsequent reading gleans something new. Allison feels books are like old friends worth reading again and again. When I asked Allison how she describes her workplace she said she feels like she’s always worked at the Library Commission and that it is a natural fit with the staff. There is an ease and respect amongst her colleagues. We are pleased to have Allison in Nebraska and at our library.
Posted in General
Tagged Allison Badger, Cataloger, Nebraska Library Commission Staff, New Faces, NLC Staff, Staff
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Meet Aimee Owen, Information Services Librarian
Chances are, you’ve already met Aimee – but just in case …
Meet Aimee Scoville 
Owen who joined the Nebraska Library Commission in the Talking Book and Braille Service in December 2013. Aimee is a native of Elwood, NE and a graduate of UNO where she received a BS in Management Information Systems and two master’s degrees; the first in Information Technology and the second in Library and Information Science. Aimee and her husband of nearly 10 years, Lowell, share a home in Omaha with their two children – Asher, age 5, Margot, 6 months, and Ryker the 12 year old miniature schnauzer. In June of 2015, Aimee joined the Information Services Team and is a voice you’ll hear answering the Library Commission phone or calling you for updates for our library directory. Aimee came to us from the Omaha Public Library and has been well-connected with NLA, so many of you have already worked with her, but did you know she has a gaggle of relatives in Nebraska that also work in libraries?
This group currently includes: Alicia Lassen – Media Specialist at Overton Public School (2nd cousin); Barb Keep – Media Specialist at Elm Creek Public School (aunt); Shawna Lindner – Librarian at Kearney Public Library (2nd cousin’s wife); and Karrie Huryta – Director of Ravenna Public Library (cousin’s sister-in-law).
In her rare spare time, Aimee participates in the Raqs Awn Bellydance Troupe, the NLA Paraprofessional Section (secretary), and the GirlFriends volunteer guild board for Girls Inc. of Omaha, as well as reading the Golden Sower nominees for primary and intermediate level, and striving to meet an annual reading goal of 120 books, all while taking kids to violin, soccer, and basketball.
Throwback Thursday: NLC staff photo, 1988
Nebraska Library Commission staff photo taken on Centennial Mall, 1988.
Throwback Thursday: NLC staff photo, 1993
Nebraska Library Commission staff posing at entrance to NLC in the Atrium Building, 1993.
Meet the Library Commission Reference and Interlibrary Loan Staff!
Front row left to right: Mary Geibel, Mary Sauers, and Lynda Clause
Back row – left to right: Lisa Kelly, Beth Goble, Bonnie Henzel and Susan Knisely
Meet the Library Commission Reference and Interlibrary Loan Staff!
In the past year and half, we’ve experienced several changes in personnel on our reference and interlibrary loan team. Here are the updates as to the whereabouts of our former staff in addition to our new arrivals:
Departures:
January 2012:
Julie Pinnell – leaves the Library Commission after nearly 17 years of service to become the director of the Doane College Library.
Summer 2012:
Beth Goble – becomes part time and is now our Historical Services Librarian. She still spends time at the reference desk answering email questions and will celebrate 20 years with the state this July. Beth and her husband Ron travel regularly to Michigan to visit their two granddaughters and also spend time at their other home in Alberta, Canada. Not to be left out are the family pets, Arwen, a Sheltie and Allie, a rescue cat.
December 2012:
Dave Eckmann leaves the reference team to return to working with the Talking Book and Braille Service.
April 2013:
Evelyn Kubert retires after 13 years of doing ILL for the Library Commission and just received happy news of grandchild number 6.
Arrivals:
January 2013:
Mary Sauers comes to us by way of Lincoln City Libraries where she worked at the Anderson and Bethany Branches in public services. Prior to moving to Nebraska in 2009 she worked at BCR, the former OCLC regional network located in Denver. It was there that she met her husband, Michael Sauers, who you may recognize as another employee of the Library Commission. Mary has two daughters (Diana and Sara), three dogs, and spends many hours in her greenhouse.
Mary Geibel is already recognizable to many of you since she’s been answering and routing incoming calls to the Nebraska Library Commission for many years as a member of the Administrative Services team. Since the reference desk recently took over “switchboard” duties it’s a particularly fitting time for Mary to transition to our team, where she will be one of several team members answering the phones. Mary will also now be your first contact for book group reservations and questions. Mary and her husband John have two sons (Sean and Nikolas) and two dogs. Mary cares for her mother in her home and also enjoys regular meetings with her scrapbook friends.
April 2013:
Lynda Clause is our most recent team member and also comes to us by way of Lincoln City Libraries. Lynda will be working primarily with Interlibrary Loan and helping and guiding us in our change to WorldShare. Lynda will also be at the reference desk and will be corresponding with you all by email. Lynda is planning to return to school this fall to study Digital Humanities, but she will still be here at NLC full time. Lynda and her partner Eric enjoy hiking and live music, and are planning to adopt a dog from the Humane Society this summer and we are all eager to see who will join their home.
Still here:
Bonnie Henzel continues helping the team on Friday mornings. Bonnie works with Nebraska State Publications and is the proud mom of a son Alex and twin high school graduates (Alaina and Kayla) who will matriculate at Peru State College this fall. Bonnie is married to Vince and together they are active in coaching basketball and volleyball. Last but not least in their home is Bonnie’s Golden Retriever Chloe.
Susan Knisely is a part of the Technology and Access Services Team but also spend time at the reference desk on Mondays. Susan is the person you speak to for overdrive and database subscription questions in addition to many other topics. Susan and her husband Will share their home with their son Ian and 4 rabbits.
Lisa Kelly remains at the reference desk after 20 years and has learned many new tasks as people have come and gone. Lisa lives with her rescue cat named Moon in the historical Stuart Building where she organized a book group that has been meeting for 12 years. Susan and Lisa are a month apart in age and have planned their joint retirement party for the year 2035.
Posted in General, Information Resources
Tagged Nebraska Library Commission Staff, NLC Staff, Staff
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