Happy National Library Week! The RVC Library wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for our librarians and library staff. We'd like you to get to know the people behind the books.

Meet Kaitlin Gaffney, Rock Valley College Library's Access and User Engagement Manager, also known as the Outreach and Archives Librarian. Kaitlin develops and implements campus-wide and community user engagement activities and programs to increase library awareness, increase the use of library services, improve user experience, and contribute to student learning. They also receive and evaluate materials to determine origin, importance, and condition for inclusion in the Archives collection.

Kaitlin has a BA in Theology from Elmhurst College, a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Alabama, and did some graduate studies in Biblical Studies and Education at Loyola University. Kaitlin joined the library staff in January of this year. Before coming to RVC, Kaitlin spent several years working in libraries in Georgia at Shorter University and Emory University. We asked Kaitlin what drew them to the field of library science, and they said, "I love creative problem solving and research. You get to a lot of both when you work in libraries!"

Kaitlin's favorite books are the His Dark Material series by Phillip Pullman. "I love fantasy and Pullman's excellent prose. It's young adult fiction, but I love it! You're never too old for YA!" says Kaitlin.

Kaitlin wants people to know that librarians, especially RVC's, are actually very friendly and cool! 

"Don't believe the tropes from TV, movies, and books. Sure, a lot of us have cats and wear cardigans, but we aren't all dowdy shut-ins."

Don't just take Kaitlin's word for it. We encourage both students and community members to visit the RVC library and see for themselves how cool the staff is and what a great place it is. And if the RVC Library doesn't have what you're looking for, they can request from another library using Interlibrary Loan.

Kaitlin and the rest of the library team are there to help you. Whether it's a research project or finding your new favorite book, they have a ton of resources to share with the RVC community.

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