News Library News Online
Vol. 23, No. 1/Fall 2001

Table of Contents
Regular Features

New This Month

News Library News
SLA News Division Home

 

New members introduce themselves

Renee BurnsRenee Burns
News Librarian
Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

I have worked for the Times Leader since August 2000. I recall the job description said, "the ability to deftly and consistently handle many projects at once without blowing a gasket AND while smiling and truly enjoying the team effort." How true those requirements turned out to be!

I entered librarianship purely by chance and it has been the best decision I never made. After receiving a Journalism degree from Arizona State University I headed back East. The New York Public Library was hiring Information Assistants and any undergraduate degree was acceptable. 700 people showed up for that open call! After working there briefly, I knew I wanted to become a librarian.

I was raised in Wilkes-Barre and moved "home" to attend graduate school. Library jobs here are scarce and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I am currently working towards my MLS at Clarion University of Pennsylvania through the Dixon Center in Harrisburg.

My job at the Times Leader is a perfect marriage of my two passions - journalism and library science. I am the sole employee of the library and my responsibilities vary greatly. There is always something different and exciting around each corner. I manage all library functions – research, archiving, public requests, online databases and a newsroom intranet. I also have the opportunity to hone my journalism skills and occasionally contribute to content.

I love being part of a company whose role is so vital to the community. I know membership in the SLA News Division will help me better serve the library’s patrons – the newsroom.


Karen Assar
Lead Collection Development and Reference Librarian
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Health Sciences (Los Angeles, CA)

Even as a child, instead of watching cartoons, I was more interested in the evening news. I knew Walter Cronkite, Harry Reason, Howard K. Smith and Tom Brokaw better than Tom & Jerry. I always have had such a love and hunger for news. Imagine my utter joy when I found there was a job where you could eat, drink, and sleep news!

I came to my interest in news libraries when I had an opportunity to work at Phoenix Newspapers' library. Until that time I had worked in libraries in both Germany and Phoenix. Although I had some college courses, I needed to finish a degree. I was working in the news library and was very happy. Unfortunately, our company disbanded the afternoon paper as other papers had done and I was out of work.

On that fateful day in January 1997, I made a decision. The company gave us some severance pay and that very day I went to Arizona State University West and decided on Communications as a major. Two years later (and twenty years after I started on a four year degree), I finally graduated! I decided on Indiana University to get my MLS. I did the fast track and fourteen months later I finally was the proud owner of a Master’s in Library Science.

I have taken a job as a medical librarian at a health sciences university. You may think it is strange that I am a member of NewsLib. Oh no. I have never given up the love of news and being part of the chase. I am honing my skills and hope one day to find that special place in a news library. I remain current by reading Newslib religiously. I look forward to meeting news buddies and being a part of that very special group - news librarians.