Name: Raymundo (Ray) Andrade

Title: Student Engagement Librarian

University: Loyola Marymount University (LMU)

MLIS Program: San Jose State University, Masters in Library & Information Science (MLIS)

Primary Service Roles: As a member of the Library Outreach department, I lead the library’s efforts in serving students by coordinating library orientations for all students, developing programs and special events throughout the year, and promoting the library’s central role in supporting student success. In my work, I especially focus on traditionally underserved populations, including first-generation, Asian-American, Black, Latinx, LGBTQ, international, and other students. To serve these students, I often collaborate with many departments across campus, including the Academic Resource Center, Ethnic & Intercultural Services, the Office of International Students, the Office of Student Success, the Office of First Year Experience, Student Housing, Transfer Programs, the Center for Service & Action, and the Office of Student Leadership & Development. Lastly, I also serve as Librarian Liaison to LMU’s department of Chicanx-Latinx Studies (CLST), which means I purchase library materials to support the research of CLST faculty and students, and I also teach classes and offer 1-on-1 research consultations for this community.

How does your work align with service to Latinos and Spanish-speaking communities?:

serving LMU’s First To Go (first gen) program, which is predominantly Latinx;
collaborating with the office of Chicanx-Latinx Services for collaborative programming;
serving as Librarian Liaison for the department of Chicanx-Latinx Studies;
serving as a 12-year member of LMU’s Latinx Staff Association.

How have you assisted your community during the COVID-19 pandemic?:

In my role within the Latinx Staff Association, one group I especially advocate for (especially during the pandemic) is LMU’s 70+ custodians and groundskeepers, approximately 90% of whom are Latinx or Black. For example, since the earlier part of the pandemic, I began periodically calling or text messaging the custodians whose cell phone numbers I have – (32 and counting) – to find out how they’re doing. (Note: I’ve had a close relationship with many custodians since fellow members of the Latinx Staff Association and I used to offer computer workshops between 2010-2015.) Approximately 66% of custodians and groundkeepers were furloughed in March. In collaboration with faculty, a GoFundMe campaign was created to assist furloughed staff. The campaign collected $20,000 and I coordinated members of the Latinx Staff Association to call furloughed custodians and groundskeepers to ensure they receive financial support from the campaign while they waited for their first unemployment check to arrive. Currently, I’m joining the Latinx Staff Association to advocate for furloughed staff to come back to work ASAP, especially before their unemployment benefits expire after one year.

Previous programs that I have done:
For the second August in a row, I collaborated with LAPL’s Jené Brown (Associate Director of Community Engagement) to introduce participants in LAPL’s Diversity and Inclusion Apprenticeship program to LMU’s library. Last year (pre-COVID), I conducted a tour of LMU’s library immediately followed by a “Careers in Academic Librarianship” panel event I coordinated to feature a handful of LMU Librarians to represent different areas of academic librarianship. For 2020, we successfully pivoted both events to an online format, including a virtual 360-degree LMU Library tour, and a virtual version of another Careers in Academic Librarianship panel.

Some words of advice to other librarians and/or present and future MLIS students:
If you want to be a librarian who’s going to make a difference, then be prepared to be more than a Librarian, regardless of whether you work in a public library or academic library. Also: be authentic – library users can easily tell if you’re making a genuine effort to help them to the best of your ability … and they can also tell when you’re not making a genuine effort to help them to the best of your ability.