Mads Christiansen first heard about the growing presence of social services within libraries in one of their social work classes as an undergraduate.
After learning that "libraries were one of the latest places that would have social workers on staff since libraries have been becoming more than just a place to check out media," they were intrigued.
"I've always found libraries as a safe space," remembered Christiansen, a recent graduate of the MSLIS program. "No matter where I moved, I could trust that the school would have a library and nine times out of ten, the librarian would be a nice person. I wanted to continue the loop where I could potentially be that librarian for others as well."
It was this ancillary introduction to libraries as third spaces that first piqued Christiansen's interest in the idea of being a social worker who is embedded in a library. After discussions with their family, Christiansen, who holds a bachelor's degree in English from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, ultimately decided to pursue librarianship.
Christiansen was inspired to apply to the iSchool and the MSLIS program by their parents. Both are alumni of the university and Christiansen's mother pointed to the iSchool's ranking as the top library and information science program in the country.
After arriving on campus, they quickly acquired assistantships with both the Champaign-Urbana (CU) Community Fab Lab and McKinley Health Center's Health Education Unit.
At McKinley, Christiansen helped organize outreach opportunities, assisted with the Stress Management Peers program, and developed partnerships with the Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative and the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center.
They also worked with two other students in creating a resource "flipbook" of the services offered by McKinley for the LGBTQIA+ community on campus. Christiansen connected with Chris Schlarb, assistant director for the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC), who was interested in partnering with them on the project.
Christiansen and team members from the GSRC and the McKinley Health Center were awarded the Inclusive Excellence Grant to assist them in creating the guide. Sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs through its Inclusive Excellence initiative, the grant is awarded to programs or projects that inspire learning as it relates to social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or belonging.
The $5,000 grant allowed Christiansen and the team to expand the guide to include campus-wide resources that are available. They also organized a panel for students to learn about gender-affirming care resources and produced workshops for both medical and non-medical student-facing staff to better serve the campus community. Physical copies of the guide are currently available at the GSRC.
In addition to their assistantships with the Fab Lab and McKinley Health Center, they also worked with Associate Professor Colin Rhinesmith in the Digital Equity Action Research Lab and Reaching Across Illinois Library System to build a framework to collect data and evaluate the digital literacy and navigation resources of public libraries in Illinois.
Christiansen received financial support for their studies through the Jeffrey I. and Lisa Lovivich Award. Presented by Disability Resources and Educational Services, the award was established to support students as they pursue their academic and professional goals.
"Grad school's expensive," they said, explaining that the award made it possible for them not to have to be as dependent on their parents. "My dad is retired, and I was trying to find ways to lessen the burden for both of us. This award gave me a little more grace, and it was nice to have this cushion."
While Christiansen is both excited and nervous for what the future holds for them, they are confident that their experiences with the iSchool has more than prepared them for what comes next.