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Nancy S. Kirkpatrick (she/her/hers) is the Executive Director and CEO of OhioNet, a multitype library consortium based in Columbus, Ohio. She has over a decade of experience working in and with libraries. Before entering librarianship, Nancy practiced non-profit law and advocacy. A 2005 ¾«¶«´«Ã½Spectrum Scholar, she is currently serving on ALA's Spectrum Advisory Board and the Diversity Research Grant Committee. Nancy holds a BA in Journalism from Drake University, a JD from the TC Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, and an MS in Library and Information Science from the iSchool (formerly GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For more information, visit her LinkedIn profile:

Doreen Dixon (DD): How has being part of the Spectrum community impacted you?

Nancy Kirkpatrick (NK): It's impacted me in several ways. When I was in library school, it provided me with a group of built-in colleagues, which was really helpful, being that I was new to the career of librarianship. I also have some really great friendships that have come out of Spectrum, and Spectrum is really what has kept me feeling connected to librarianship. I think you’ll find that you'll still be in contact with your Spectrum colleagues years and decades down the road.

DD: What inspired you to pursue your form of librarianship or current position?

NK: I don’t know that I ever planned to be in a consortium, but I’m glad that they found me. This type of work combines my diverse educational background (journalism, law, and librarianship). I couldn’t have handpicked a better job.

Initially, I thought I would be a law librarian because I was a lawyer, that was my first career. However, when I graduated, there were no law library jobs in my area. I had a family, so I couldn’t just pick up and move. I ended up going into academic librarianship instead of law librarianship, and working as the Director of Library Services for Marian University. It was a great segue into library consortium.

DD: How long did it take you to find employment as a full-time librarian after graduating?

NK: It took me four years! I had two part-time jobs that I was cobbling together to try to have a full-time income. I did that for a year, and then our family moved for my spouse’s job. It took me another three years of searching before I finally got a full-time library job.

DD: How do we build diversity in organizational culture, library services, and education?

NK: There are two aspects to building diversity. First, people need to identify the things that need to change individually, and within the systems/organizations where they live and work. Second, people and systems/organizations must be willing to do the necessary work to make and support changes. For example, at OhioNet we’re working with an outside organization to go through a year-long curriculum that covers areas that range from bias and microaggressions, to having conversations about race, to examining our policies and reworking where necessary.

Individuals and organizations have to work together, whether it's changing work culture, library services, or even in library education. For example, the Spectrum Scholarship initiative has been around for more than 20 years and yet we’re not seeing the rate of librarians of color increasing. Instead, we’re leaving the field as fast as we’re entering it. That's what we need to be talking about. Why is that happening and what can we do organizationally to address this issue? What can university and public library systems do? There has to be a willingness to take action and not just talk.

DD: What is your advice in navigating conferences/recommendations on specific events?

NK: Attend events that address topics that are of interest to you or presentations by individuals who are doing exciting things in the LIS field. It’s valuable to attend statewide and regional events; these give you the opportunity to get to know librarians in your area. My other recommendation—if you can afford it—is to attend ¾«¶«´«Ã½Annual. It’s a wonderful opportunity to engage with Spectrum Scholars, vendors, and other librarians.

My tip for those who are introverts like myself who struggle sometimes with meeting new people at events is to set small goals. For example, mine is to either introduce myself to three new people or stay at the event for at least 15 minutes. Usually, after 15 minutes, I’m having a good time and may stay longer. I find that giving yourself small goals helps in these particular situations.

DD: What aspect of your professional life are you currently most excited about?

NK: I’m excited about two things, one organizational and the other is personal. On the organizational level, OhioNet continues to grow and has just hired a new Director of Consulting. I’m really excited to see where that work leads us. On a personal level, I’ve been doing a lot more research and writing lately. I enjoy making time to deep dive into a topic. For example, I’m currently interested in exploring how library consortiums could be modeling change in the areas of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in a way that our members could model and implement.

DD: How do you practice self-care?

NK: I’ve started trying to put hard stops to my workday. I’ve realized that since I’ve been working from home, I often work too long, and that's not good. Another tactic that I’ve used is to turn off notifications on my phone. It’s important for me to keep in mind that if I’m not at my desk because it’s a weekend, for example, then the task can probably wait until I get back to my desk.

Also, I enjoy spending time outdoors, working in my yard, reading on the front porch, and traveling. l look forward to getting back to travel, once it’s safe to do so.