Name: Cynthia Mari Orozco
Pronouns: she/her/ella
Title: Librarian for Equitable Services
Library System/University: East Los Angeles College (ELAC)
MLIS Program: San José State University
Primary Service Roles: Instruction and Outreach; Reference; Open Educational Resources (OER)
How does your work align with service to Latinos and Spanish-speaking communities?:
At our community college, the majority of our student population identify as Hispanic/Latino. The majority of our students are also first-generation college students, so one of my driving philosophies as a librarian is to demystify the library and research experience. If I’m really honest, I myself learned a lot of things undergraduate students should know when I was in library school! My goal is to make the library as welcoming and accessible as possible.
How have you assisted your community during the COVID-19 pandemic?:
Our instruction librarians continue to teach workshops and one-shot library instruction for classroom faculty. Last fall, we also began creating information literacy modules in Canvas Commons, which allows classroom instructors to simply import library research lessons into their online courses. We finished up this project around March, so the timing worked out.
The other big thing is access to textbooks. Publisher textbooks today are prohibitively expensive, and many students relied on in-person textbook reserves to access their required readings and homework prior to the pandemic. Since moving completely online, I’ve had more faculty contact me about exploring OER textbook options, which is really encouraging.
Some words of advice to other librarians and/or present and future MLIS students:
For MLIS students, I highly suggest reaching out to library workers for informational interviews. People in our field are generally incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. For everyone, being in community has never been more important in these unprecedented, difficult times! I’m very thankful for the online spaces in which I can continue to be with my people and make new online friends!
Previous programs that I have done (or Upcoming events you are planning):
When I was a resident at Loyola Marymount University, I was able to kick off a Banned Books Week program in the Outreach department, which is one of my favorite programs to date! I’m currently working on a storytelling board for students to share their experiences with expensive publisher textbooks for Open Access Week this month.