[00:03] Ali: If you wouldn't mind, quickly just introduce yourself with your name, pronouns, and other information you'd like to share. [00:11] Laura: OK, sure. My name is Laura Tadena. I use she/her pronouns, and I am the Equity and Inclusion Consultant at the Texas State Library. Something unique about me is that I have worked as a school librarian, an academic librarian, and now, most recently, at a special library. I kind of have a unique viewpoint of librarianship and I've been able to bring all my experience to one place that really builds on my strengths. That’s the fun part about me. I would consider myself also a third career librarian. When I started after graduating, I worked in architecture as an architecture consultant for a little bit in facility programming. Then, I worked in education when the recession hit. I worked as a Texas public educator for about six years before transitioning to become a school librarian, and then, I became a librarian. So I feel like this is my third career in life. I don't know. Who knows what the future holds? [01:33] Ali: You talked a little bit about your career background. What is your educational background? [01:38] Laura: Yeah, so my undergraduate degree is in architecture, which is pretty cool because it really provided me with a foundational design background. So much of librarianship is soft skills that are transferred from lived experience and random work experience you pick up. It's like all of the information coming together. My architecture background has really helped form how I move through space, both the physical space as well as the digital space, and then also just helps me in regards to organization of information, form versus function, and things like that. I then also switched and got alternatively certified so that I can teach, so I do also have a certificate to be able to teach K through 12, or something like that. I don't even remember what I have, like middle school up. My education experience provided me the opportunity to learn different teaching skills that, oftentimes, librarianship forgets that we do. We teach people how to access information and how to find resources. In some ways, curriculum design and instructional design is really built off of my background in education because I've been able to understand how people learn, how people experience different educational settings, and so that's another piece of my education that has been pretty formative to librarianship. What got me where I am today was I was working as a math teacher and I had been teaching for maybe five years at the time. I had been working as a department chair, and one of the biggest struggles of my math teachers was that our students weren't able to read. I started working with the school campus librarian at the time to help incorporate literacy strategies into our math curriculum. Like most librarians, she's like, "You know, have you thought about librarianship?" When I entered librarianship, I really entered it with the idea that I was going to be focused on school libraries. At the time, there was a shortage in Texas, so I was able to work as a school librarian while working on my Master's in Library Science. I went through the University of North Texas program, and I worked as a school librarian for a few years. It was a great opportunity. I probably would still be doing it today had I not decided to apply for different jobs. I was in one district, and I decided to apply to go to a different district, and I stumbled upon a diversity resident position at the University of Texas. I ended up getting both jobs: another school librarian job and the University of Texas job, and I went with the University of Texas job because of what it would expose me to. It was in that position that I really, really was able to see the vast inequities in access, education, educational opportunities, and resources. In my diversity resident position is where I really honed in on equity,inclusion, and diversity issues, which were already being talked about in K-12 for many years. Seeing how organizations work and—being in a primarily white institution, in a primarily white library—trying to serve a diverse population, was really where I switched gears and wanted to focus on more of the EDI work. That's where I am today at the Texas State Library, which is interesting because when I was initially asked to be part of this, I wouldn't have considered my work to be digital libraries, but we have been doing so much remote work, so much digital work that really, it is a mindset shift to begin to think, "Yes, even our space, the work that we do is a digital library." We have an archive of webinars and trainings, we have web pages devoted to resource guides and informational guides, we create training videos, and we have a YouTube playlist. Really, what has gotten me here is thinking about how to get the most information out to the communities that we don't often reach and really trying to work to bridge some of the gaps. So that's a long wind of how I ended up where I am today. This was a big intimidating factor: I didn't have a literature background, I don't own any cats, so I don't necessarily fit into this idea of what a librarian is, and I think that's something to think about when we do think about digital libraries. It's not just a library that's digital. Really begin to think about how we're changing our profession, where our audience is, and how this concept of digital libraries is bridging that gap. It is the pathways, the tool that we're using to relay that information. [07:28] Ali: What is your current job description, and what does the day to day job look like for you? The second part of that is, what kind of digital work are you doing? [07:41] Laura: In my job, I am situated within our library development and networking division, so there's two big pieces to it. There's the continuing education side and there's the development networking side where we have grants and our interlibrary loan program. A lot of the whole function of it is to support Texas libraries with resources, training material, and whatever they need to be set up for success. My role is the Equity and Inclusion Consultant. I was initially hired as an inclusive services consultant, but the work has very much shifted, and so a good portion of my job includes providing the training, resources, and access to information around equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Another piece of it is working internally with our library to help push some EDI initiatives. That's been something that has developed over the past year. Those are the big, broad topics of what I do. Within my work, I work both locally—so within our state library—but also across Texas public libraries, and also nationally. I'm involved in multiple EDI groups. A typical day for me would be something like this. I'm meeting with somebody, talking about my work, talking about a project that I've been working on, or in some type of work group where we're working towards something. That's kind of the nice thing about my job, that no day really looks the same unless I have strategically planned for it to look a certain way, like I want a day where I'm only going to be working on my web page, or I want a day where I'm just working on blogs, or whatever. But typically, it's random meetings with either people in Texas or people across the nation. Some of the biggest goals in my current job are to push EDI initiatives or EDIA, which is equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. I'm on one work group where there is a cohort of other individuals in libraries who are tasked with doing EDIA work in their libraries. We, as a group, have a grant right now, and we're trying to bring in more people who are doing this work. We're trying to consolidate a lot of the work that we're already doing very separately and create one big piece for public libraries, or for generally any libraries. In Texas, our goal is to get some training out so that we could begin to see more inclusive libraries, or help libraries recognize that they're already doing inclusive work and maybe they just need additional support here and there to get to the next level. That would be the biggest, I would say, current goals. Right now, I am really trying to get out a webpage for my work. We each have specialty or expertise areas. I've been trying to get this webpage out for a while. That's been the biggest goal that I have right now. In the past, we would have done a lot of training that would have just been an in-person workshop-type setting. We would travel to different areas in Texas and provide whatever training that we're doing, come back, and then continue to correspond via email or something. What we're starting to do is—we're still doing our webinars and we're still doing our trainings—hybrid sessions where our staff are in person and we're virtual, and we're trying to provide the training but also have an engaging session. That's been really interesting because part of that, too, is the continued learning that happens after the training. It involves getting resources, getting collective or collaborative working notes, and using tools. One thing we always try to be mindful of when we're putting on these trainings is: who is our audience? What does their broadband look like? Will they even have the bandwidth to post Zoom and show cameras without buffering? Part of it, too, involves thinking critically about some of the digital divide that also happens within our profession, and recognizing ways to begin to resolve or support in those cases. The other big thing that I would think is changing is that collection of resources. We're really trying to get the work that we're doing in one place. Part of Texas is that we are a public library. We are public record. This information also needs to be freely available without any barriers to access that information. Right now, for example, I'm working with other state libraries who are also working on internal EDI committees, and and we're trying to get all those resources in one place so that as our state libraries or any library is deciding, "I'm going to start a committee," they know to go to the committee folder. What information do we have? What examples do we already have? Or, I'm going to write a survey. What example surveys have already been published that we can pull from? It’s, again, bringing in this collection of resources in one place that in the past would have probably just been a webinar with the PowerPoint, or a webpage. Now, it's really thinking about how do we have shared folders? How do we have collective notes? How can we compile all these different pieces from all these different agencies and organizations? Every library is using something different. Not all libraries have a Google account. Not all libraries have SharePoint. Not all libraries have Microsoft Word. Really thinking about the tools, the access behind the tools, and the barriers that may be present when we're developing and designing the resources that we're sharing. That's like always kind of on our forefront. On top of all that, making sure it's all accessible and meets accessibility standards. [14:58] Ali: You sort of alluded or mentioned this a little bit earlier, but thinking about sort of all of this different digital work that you do, like if someone asked you how you defined what a digital librarian is, what would your response be? [15:18] Laura: I think in the past, I probably would have been like, “Well, someone that works with a digital library.” It would just have been something kind of blanket like that. When I was at UT, I did some work with the LLILAS Benson Library to ingest all this digital collection of resources from Guatemala. In that sense, I probably would have considered myself a digital librarian then because I was working with digital material, or physical material but now digitized. Now, as we're changing and we're in this big information age, I think a digital librarian is anybody that's working with digital material, anyone that's putting, collecting, or curating resources to be accessed, both physically and also digitally, but you are adding in that electronic resource sharing platform. I do think that digital libraries and digital librarians are working electronically, providing information that's available online. Hopefully, digital librarians are guided under access for everybody, barrier free, and open access. All those things hopefully are at that root so that we are providing information to everyone. [16:54] Ali: In relation to that, how do you see digital librarianship continuing to change in the next five to 10 years? [17:03] Laura: Well, I think because of the pandemic, one of the things that has happened is that there has been a recognition of the fact that not everyone has the same access. The internet should not be a utility like it is. Everybody should have access to that. I think how it's going to change is there’s going to be a continued push for more open resources, less paywalls, and less barriers. I think there's going to be a lot of struggle with that because it is hard to capitalize when things are open and freely available. I also think a big shift is working within the current information structure we have. We have misinformation, interpreted information, potentially factual information, so really honing in on our ability to evaluate sources, and critically question who these sources are. Who is publishing this information? What authority or power do they have? What are they gaining from that information? I think a lot of what we share sometimes is potentially perpetuating a cycle of power. I hope that there is a shift of providing open information that's unbiased and that we're able to evaluate these sources as well. I don't know if I answered your question, but that's at least how I see a shift in my work: really investigating the infrastructure behind what allows us to have digital libraries and really working against current systems that continue to perpetuate inaccess. [19:06] Ali: What do you think The LIS and MSIS programs should be teaching current students about digital libraries, and what advice would you have for students who are interested in pursuing this kind of nebulous digital library career? [19:23] Laura: I would start on the back end and say that thinking about digital librarianship is in everybody's work. I don't think it's going to be siloed. I don't think you can be a youth services librarian without having some digital librarianship embedded into your work. I don't think you're going to be able to do outreach without digital librarianship. The same way if you're working in an academic library, you have LibGuides, research consultations, webpages, or programming, and all of that is digital librarianship. I would hope that our programs are helping students really think about digital librarianship in a broader, transferable skills asset. Oftentimes, people think of the digital component or computers, and it's scary, especially as more and more library programs shift towards becoming Information Science programs, and really encouraging students to think how they are already currently using digital skills. They're on their phones, they're on social media, they're going to certain websites, and so how might they continue to do that? The other piece of it, too, is to begin to teach digital librarianship with a critical lens and going back to teaching about the history of redlining, because there is a connection between redlining and infrastructure. There's something called "web redlining" or "Internet redlining", which basically is where different communities have different Internet providers that they can choose from that have competitive rates, where other communities maybe that are lower income or less affluent may not have that competition. Their rate be incredibly high, and so they may not have access. Teaching the digital skills, how to be a digital librarian, but also really thinking about how there is this long history where there are people that don't have access. How do we begin to carve the path and transform our work so that it's no longer "It's here. Come to me," but, "I'm creating it, and I'm taking it to you." How do we get our libraries, whether it's physical or digital, out of this area that we've only really encompassed, and move it forward. and work towards bridging that gap? That’s my soapbox speech. That's what I would hope. Part of it, too, within that context, are things that I wish I would have learned, I learned about the user experience, the collection piece, the information retrieval piece, but I hope that when there are those heavily focused technical classes, we're also teaching about how within the user experience, there are algorithms that we could be using or that we are implementing that could be creating barriers. I think there's a book called Algorithms of Oppression, which is really good. Just recognizing that, and teaching students to really begin to think about how not every user is experiencing the same experience, how it can vary, and how those variations can create barriers. [23:22] Ali: What do you love about your job, about digital libraries, and what keeps you motivated to keep going in this field? [23:30] Laura: What keeps me motivated is that there are a core amount of people. I have some people that I work closely with and then also aspirational friends outside of library land, like in the nation, that I just am in awe of because they're doing such great work and really changing the profession. I think that’s what keeps me going: knowing that I am, in some ways, making a change, and am providing information in a way that people have access to. They get to see it. Otherwise, maybe it wouldn't be there. The thing that I like about my work is that I get to do a lot of outreach, and I get to engage with communities in ways that maybe, we wouldn't have traditionally been doing. I'm going to continue to keep pushing my barriers, keep trying to get out there, and continue to provide the resources and information that people need. I like that I can find anything. What I don't like is that I can't find everything. When I worked at UT, the access to the library was amazing. I don't know who is watching this. I don't know how this is going to get transcribed. Take advantage of your library right now because when you graduate, that library does not exist. Your library from there is your public library. The main motivator for me to go back to school to get a PhD is so that I can get access to a university library right now. I love my public library. I also have access to databases at TSLAC, but in no way does it compare to university access. The fact that the average person doesn't have access to those types of resources speaks to the world that we are currently living in. What motivates me, or what I love about libraries, is the potential to have that for everyone. That's what's keeping me motivated, is getting not just digital libraries, but all the resources that libraries provide for everybody. [26:01] Ali: Is there anything else that we didn't cover that you'd like to talk about in regards to digital libraries, or anything you really want people watching this video to know? [26:14] Laura: Whoever's watching: you're going to be graduating soon, and you're going to be going out in the profession. Continue to learn. What you're being taught right now is a subset of what other individuals are finding important for you to know. If there's something that you want to know more about that you are interested in, there is probably a librarian already that is focused on that. Find those networks, find those communities of people that are doing the type of work that you want to do, because that's what's going to help push you forward and continue to stay in trend of what's happening so that you're able to begin to design digital libraries and spaces proactively instead of reactively, and really understand the communities that you're serving. Also, take advantage of your library right now because that's going to go away eventually. Use it, appreciate it, and hopefully, design so that people can also have access to that.