According to Hailley Fargo (MSLIS '16), the mentorship and educational opportunities she received at the iSchool provided a strong foundation for her current role as interim associate dean and head of education and outreach services at Northern Kentucky University. She enjoys building a strong and collaborative team and helping colleagues across campus understand the ways a library can impact the academic experience.
Where do you work, and what is your role?
I'm currently the interim associate dean and head of education and outreach services in Steely Library at Northern Kentucky University (NKU).
What do you like best about your job?
In my current interim role, I am enjoying the chance to stretch and grow as a professional. I'm learning new things, leading different projects, and getting to know the library on another level. Interim roles can be challenging as you try to juggle a variety of responsibilities, so I’m working to strike the best balance.
As a department head for a teaching and learning unit, my favorite part of the job is building a strong and collaborative team. It's fun to watch the department grow each year and find our shared path forward. It's rewarding to work side by side and learn from my colleagues.
What do you see as the most important impact of your work?
As both an interim associate dean and department head, I see myself as a connector. Within the library, I work with folks in my department to connect their work to one another and to priorities across the library and campus. Outside of the library, I help colleagues around campus understand the ways a library can impact the academic experience. I feel like I've made a difference when I see library colleagues collaborating on a project I coordinated or when I help a faculty or staff member discover a new way to collaborate with the library.
How did the iSchool at Illinois help you get to where you are today?
My time at the iSchool was transformational. I was fortunate to have some wonderful mentors within the iSchool (such as Martin Wolske) and in the greater Urbana-Champaign community (such as the late Janice Mitchell, who founded and led the Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center). They taught me so much about libraries and working with the community, which has shaped the way I work within the field today. This mentorship was paired with some really wonderful opportunities through assistantships, grants, and volunteering. These opportunities gave me the chance to learn and grow as a librarian and to connect with my peers in the program. The iSchool gave me a strong foundation that enabled me to jump into my first professional job after graduation, and I'm thankful for the two years that I spent in Urbana-Champaign.
What advice would you like to share with iSchool students?
Be open to what's next after the iSchool. Although I originally came into graduate school thinking I would become a public librarian, my path post-iSchool took me into academic librarianship. I think the flexibility of the curriculum allowed me to take a variety of courses and apply what I learned in different kinds of librarianship. I'm happy with where my path led and glad that I was open to those possibilities when I was on the job market.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
When I'm not working, I like to craft (mostly embroidery), bake, read, listen to podcasts, and spend time exploring Cincinnati.