By Jordan Williams, W&M Libraries
William & Mary Libraries has selected its next set of members for the Mosaic Diversity Program, which is granted to both post-baccalaureate and undergraduate students.
Funded entirely by private dollars, the program provides valuable, paid library work experience to students looking to pursue library careers. Developed in response to the W&M Libraries Diversity Plan, this program has been designed to provide the support needed to encourage, develop and grow future librarians, archivists and library professionals.
The following students have been selected for the third cycle of the program:
2019 Summer Interns
Elana Reed ’20
Elana will be working in Content Services with Libby McDaniel, head of cataloging, serving as her mentor. She will help the department identify government documents to be retained and make sure all retained documents are fully cataloged and barcoded. Elana majors in psychology and minors in public health. She has already worked multiple jobs on the W&M campus, including as a laboratory research assistant in the Psychological Sciences department and student assistant at the Roy R. Charles Center for Academic Excellence. Elana seeks to earn a master’s degree in museum studies. She applied for the program to gain the skills related to becoming an art museum curator.
Daisy Zhang ’21
Daisy will be working in Circulation with David Morales, head of Circulation, serving as her mentor. Over the summer, Daisy will help the department document and consolidate the procedures that inform the work they do. Daisy is pursuing a major in psychology and minors in educational studies. She has served as a Tribe ambassador for the Undergraduate Admission Office and library ambassador since the fall of 2018. Daisy aspires to attend the university's School of Education to study higher education administration. She applied for the Mosaic program to gain more experience working in a college setting.
Isandro Gallego-Garcia ‘20
Isandro will be working in Digital Services with Marian Taliaferro, digital scholarship librarian, serving as the mentor. During the internship, he will learn more about scholarly publishing, including institutional repositories and textbook affordability. Isandor majors in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in game design. He applied for the program to develop a better understanding of effective, research, categorization and outreach. Isandro has a strong interest in making open-source, low cost and free game development tools accessible to the public so people can discuss their experiences through games.
2019-20 Fellows:
Yitazba Largo-Anderson
Yitazba will be working in Research with Candice Benjes-Small, head of research, serving as her mentor. As the research fellow, she will be involved in promoting the resources and services of William & Mary Libraries to students through outreach and instruction projects. Yitazba comes to W&M from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA. She will graduate in May 2019 with a B.A. in English with a concentration in multicultural literature. As the only Navajo woman at Hollins, she has served as president of a multicultural magazine, worked as a residential assistant and led efforts to educate the campus community on current issues facing Native American communities. She speaks Spanish and Navajo.
Preston Neukirch ’18
Preston will be working in the Reeder Media Center with Cindy Centeno, multi media Specialist, and Troy Davis, head of media services, serving as his co-mentors. As a fellow, Preston will assist with developing the Media Center’s instructional efforts, planning activities such as multimedia software workshops and media equipment training. Preston graduated from William & Mary in May 2018 with a B.A. in history. While a student at W&M, Preston worked in the library’s Special Collections department, assisting patrons and pulling materials for researchers. When not working in Special Collections, he spent much of his time in the library’s Reeder Media Center, composing music in its media booths. He was an active student, co-hosting a radio show on the campus radio station, serving as an officer in the student hip hop club, writing for the campus student magazine and serving as historian for the African-American Male Coalition (AAMC).
Shayna Gutcho
Shayna will be working in Special Collections with Meghan Bryant, special collections public services archivist, and Jennie Davy, exhibits manager, serving as her co-mentors. As a fellow in Special Collections, Shayna will be assisting with public service, instruction and exhibit curation duties, such as providing reference assistance for patrons, assisting with instruction session preparation and curating materials for exhibits. Shayna graduates from Radford University with a B.S. in sociology in May 2019. While at Radford, she has served as a research assistant for the Center for Social and Cultural Research, a peer instructor for University 100 and 150 courses, an intern in the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, president of the university’s Jewish student organization, and educational and cultural chair of the Diversity Awareness Programming Board.