Laura Gariepy
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Energetic, relational, passionate.
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I am reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova (vampires seem appropriate for October!)
My library people. :)
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The relationships with colleagues all over the country that I have been able to build and maintain over the past ~15 years through ACRL are absolutely invaluable. The highly relevant programming that ACRL offers is essential for my professional development, but equally importantly, it has served as the anchor for making connections with other librarians with whom I can exchange information and ideas outside of conferences.
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I see my role as advancing student success and faculty research through the libraries' unique services, collections, spaces, and expertise. This ranges from redesigning spaces to provide innovative learning and study spaces to developing multimodal services and programs and everything in between. At the associate dean level over the past four years, I've had wonderful opportunities to leverage connections across campus to participate in general education initiatives as well as student wellness focused programming, which has been very fulfilling. I'm passionate about ensuring the library is a critical player in campus-wide initiatives. At the end of the day, I went into academic librarianship because I love our students, and that's what brings me the most joy every day.
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When I decided somewhat on a whim to go to library school, I never could have imagined what an incredibly fulfilling career I would find. ACRL has been such a critical part of that, and I am so grateful! I've been so pleased to have opportunities to give back to my professional community through ACRL service opportunities over the years.
Credentials:MLS, Ph.D., she/her
Title:Associate Dean for Research and Learning
Workplace:Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
Location:Richmond, VA