Library ambassadors: written by Rabia Gill

Hi! My name is Rabia Gill and I just graduated with an Honours Biomedical Science degree, with a minor in Psychology. This is my fifth term working as a Library Ambassador, and I have had a lot of fun in this program. I heard about the Library Ambassador program while working as a student shelver at the Dana Porter library. A Library Ambassador interacts with the UWaterloo community to raise awareness about the services the library has to offer.

The library has always been a place that makes me feel comfortable on campus, and a place where I could relax when school would become overwhelming. I love how the library has so many services to offer UWaterloo students, whether those are the Waterloo Reads collection, the course reserves, or the board games. I love how the library actively engages with students and takes their feedback into consideration when deciding on new services to offer.

Being a Library Ambassador is awesome, and it is a job that helps you improve skills such as communication, public speaking, and problem solving. We also create a project each term to  help engage students and staff with the library. Some of the projects I have helped create were the Lego Creation Contest, the B Mindful Challenge, and the Activities Table. Most of the time you are having so much fun that you don’t even realize that you are at work! There is always something different going on, and there is always something for everyone. The position definitely keeps you on your toes, but it is really awesome to be able to promote the library and have fun while doing so.

I am very grateful to the Library Ambassador program for giving me various opportunities to develop my communication, public speaking, and teamwork skills. I am actually really shy, but I do my best to practice talking with others so I can learn to have conversations more easily. As a Library Ambassador, I was given the opportunity to practice communicating with people one on one, in small groups, and in large audiences. This position really helped me learn how to speak with confidence. The Library Ambassador program is really just students helping students, and I am really happy to have been a part of this program

-Rabia