Description: 

Have you made a career change on your path to academic librarianship? Do you deal with feelings of impostor syndrome, uncertainty, or otherness as someone newer to academia?

Join this session, presented by three librarians who successfully transitioned from youth services to academic and medical librarianship by embracing their “inner unicorn,” the unique skills developed in their previous roles. We will discuss how academic librarians can use prior work experiences to their advantage in new positions, embracing an abundance mindset and battling back against impostor syndrome.

Topics will include successes, challenges, and strategies for navigating job transitions and finding support with time for open discussion at the end.

Presenters: 

Mary Kamela - Student Support and Engagement Librarian, University at Buffalo

Mary Kamela is a Student Support and Engagement Librarian at the University at Buffalo. She transitioned to academic librarianship after five years working in K-12 school libraries. As a member of the University at Buffalo Libraries’ Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences team she serves as a liaison to the Department of Communication and University Honors College. Her research interests include information literacy pedagogy, instructional technology, and extracurricular academic library programming.

Joel Shoemaker- Medical Librarian, HPC International, Inc.

Joel has a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican University and a specialization in Consumer Health Information from the Medical Library Association (MLA). He has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a minor in Theatre Arts and Drama from Eureka College. Joel has more than fourteen years of experience as a librarian in medical, public, and primary school libraries. He is a magician and has published four books.  

Justin Crossfox- User Experience and Outreach Librarian, SUNY Buffalo State College

Justin Crossfox is a User Experience and Outreach Librarian at SUNY Buffalo State University. After 18 years in public libraries, primarily working in children’s librarianship, he made the jump to academia and joined the faculty at Buffalo State. As a member of the Reference and Instruction unit, he does reference consultations, desk hours, programming, and teaches credit bearing courses. He currently serves as a Senator on the Buffalo State Senate, and chairs both the Grant Allocation Committee and Senate By-Laws and Elections Committee. 

*Registration is Required*

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