Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Once a month the Student Engagement and Communications Assistant co-op student interviews Library staff to provide patrons with a peek behind the bookstacks at all the work that happens to provide a variety of services and resources that support the learning, research and innovation that happens at Waterloo.
This month, co-op student Emily Fitzgerald interviewed Mark Anderton, Library Coordinator and Supervisor in Circulation Services at Musagetes Library.
Q1: How does your position benefit the Library Community?
As part of a thoughtful and dynamic team at the Musagetes Library in the School of Architecture, the major benefit is our mindset on providing exceptional service and resources to students and faculty. Being able to learn from and grow with the talented staff in the Library has been a great experience, pairing nicely with seeing first-hand the positive impacts that a supportive and nurturing environment can offer to students. At the end of the day, the better we can serve our students and faculty, the more incredible this space can become.
Q2: What is one Library service or resource that Library users should know about?
I feel that the incredible range of field-specific experts is the one major service that Library users should know and will certainly love. Having liaison librarians, GIS staff and so many other people in your corner will help clarify what you’re looking for, move research forward and help to find the best outcome for you. Every student and faculty member can benefit from that kind of support.
Q3: What other faculties or departments do you work with on campus?
Beyond the staff here at Musagetes, we work extensively with the School of Architecture’s staff and faculty, with the goal of optimizing the student experience and supporting the UW community as best we can. Our goal is to cultivate an environment that the faculty can see as a resource for their research and course needs, helping to anticipate challenges and find solutions for obstacles as they arise, including finding quiet study areas or helping classes to use the space for discussions and research.
Q4: Where do you see the future of the Library?
I see the future of the Library as continuing to play a critical role at UW as we continue to provide exceptional research supports, while finding new ways to engage with students and enhance the incredible customer service environment that the Library prides itself on. The ability to act as the focal point for students and faculty in their academic research, while taking a holistic approach to how our community interacts with our spaces, is something that will help to create exciting opportunities.
Here at the Musagetes Library, that means creating new opportunities for students to find space to have discussions, dive into course work, reflect, relax, showcase their efforts – even being able to come in for a treat if there are still some left on the counter.
Q5: What is your favourite book?
This is a really tricky question because there are so many! I would have to lean towards The Gruffalo as my favourite book to read to my kids, because there are so many layers of clever thought in the writing and with that mouse. I still have it memorized from all the times it’s been read! Great Expectations is my favourite non-fiction, I love the way Dickens wrote the expressions for each character’s voice. Paulo Cohelo’s book The Alchemist would have to round it out for me, serious depth and simplicity.
If you enjoyed reading about Mark’s role at the Library, read our previous interviews with https://bit.ly/5QuestionsJude, https://bit.ly/5QsJackie, https://bit.ly/5QulBethN and https://bit.ly/5QuestionsRandy. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to be notified when we post the next interview!
