HERE TO HELP
As a trusted leader in the democratization of knowledge, the Library makes information accessible in order to inspire innovation, foster critical inquiry and advocate for social justice. Meet Karen Heskett and Gen Thipatima, two Library employees whose work closely supports student research, advocacy and engagement in unique ways.
Gen Thipatima ’18 (she/they) Engagement and Assessment Supervisor Tell us about how your work supports student advocacy and activism. My work is driven by user feedback. Each academic year, my team conducts over a dozen assessments about Library spaces and services. We engage with the Library Student Advisory Council (LSAC), which provides feedback and insights from a student perspective. For example, users have long been asking for more meditation or quiet spaces in the Library. Last year’s LSAC cohort provided great ideas of what a Library meditation room could look like. We have since incorporated their feedback and have organized additional user assessments as we plan for this forthcoming space. Tell us about some of the programs you manage at the Library. My team manages the quarterly therapy dog visits in collaboration with the nonprofit
organization Love on a Leash. Pet therapy at the Library was constantly requested via our student feedback forms, and it has been growing in popularity on campus. The series is one of our most successful offerings. We welcome more than 180 students per 90-minute dog therapy session. Fortunately, we were able to expand this activity at the start of the academic year and now offer more sessions for both students and Library staff. I also introduced the weekly publication of online de-stress materials for students. Created during the height of the pandemic, I worked with our student employees to develop selfcare and wellness content. This was a timely solution to our inability to host in-person activities. Our team’s student employees designed coloring pages, Sudoku puzzles, word puzzles and
inspirational quote graphics. I was delighted to see content from the publication was featured in the San Diego Public Library’s Summer Reading Room activity book in August 2020. We have also moved some of the archived content to the new De-Stress LibGuide, which connects users to wellness resources in the Library and across campus. What are you most proud to have accomplished within your work at the Library? I am so proud of creating the Virtual Library Tour in Winter Quarter 2020. During the production stages, I learned how to use a 360-degree camera and how to leverage a tour creation platform. While putting together the captions, I became much more familiar with the Library website, services and spaces. The tour was shared with individuals who could not visit Geisel Library in person during the pandemic and is now used for virtual orientations. Is there anything else you would like to share about the work you do? I hope to create the expectation that the Library is more than just a place to cram for exams. I want users to know that Library staff cares deeply about their success. We sincerely listen to student feedback on what we can improve, change or add to our offerings to support them. I am genuinely grateful to have the guidance and support to try new things and implement activities and services that make a difference for our users. Contact Gen: gthipati@ucsd.edu
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