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How one librarian inspired this Highlander's career path
A chance meeting with a Special Collections librarian completely altered the career path of UCR alumna Andrea Valencia.
A Latin American history major, Valencia often visited Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) for a history course with Professor Juliette Levy. While in SCUA, she met Robin Katz, Arts and Humanities Teaching Librarian, who led a teaching seminar for Levy. (At the time, Katz was the Outreach and Public Services Librarian for SCUA.)
Katz’s enthusiasm for teaching and learning with primary sources made a strong impression. Valencia explained, “Her expression of joy to share that information with us, and our joy of receiving it was an entirely new experience for me. Seeing someone so happy, so charismatic, and having so much fun teaching students how to handle these documents, I realized that I wanted to be in that kind of position one day.”
So, Valencia asked Katz, “How do I become you?”
Katz replied, “You’ll have to get your MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science).”
After graduating from UC Riverside in 2016, Valencia enrolled at San Jose State, where she completed her MLIS in 2019.
Until that day, Valencia had thought she wanted to become an elementary teacher. “For some reason, my perspective on education and teaching was that it was only something you could do with a large age gap,” Valencia explained. “I never realized until that moment that you could be an adult teaching other adults or young adults something that they are passionate about. Being that source of information for them, and having a slightly more equitable sharing of knowledge.”
A Corona native and only child, Valencia’s parents presented her with two choices for college: UCR or Cal State Fullerton. “I really wanted to go to UCR because I’m a life-long Riverside resident. I plan on staying in Riverside long term. It’s my home, and UC Riverside was the obvious choice.”
Valencia now works as the Reference and Instruction Librarian at the Riverside County Law Library. She has been working in libraries for nearly five years now.
Upon learning of her impact on Valencia’s life path, Katz said, “It’s an honor and a privilege to get to help UCR students forge their academic and post-college careers! I am always happy to speak to anyone interested in librarianship, archives, museums, and related cultural heritage professions.”
To Katz, Valencia would say, “Thank you for presenting this job opportunity for me, this path in life that I never would have considered. As many other students, I was like, ‘What’s next? What am I going to do after I graduate?’ Growing up and going into college, thinking you want to be a librarian is not so common.”
Valencia encouraged her fellow Highlanders to learn about libraries in different settings, the Library Bill of Rights, and libraries’ commitment to the freedom of information. “Libraries are an integral part of society. Your local library, they want to meet you, they want you to come, they want you to talk to them. We’re sitting there waiting for the next person to come in because we're so excited.”
Still early in her career, Valencia is excited to see where this path takes her. “I’m using this period of my life to learn as much as I can, to find as many mentors as possible, and to go to as many conferences as possible. I just presented at CLA for the first time last year, so this is a growth and learning period for me and I really hope that in five years, I’m ready to be in the next place where I’m ready to be at home more permanently. The dream is obviously to go back to UCR.”
For UCR’s current students, Valencia shared this advice: “Don’t be so set or worried that you have to decide your future at such a young age, because ultimately your future is unfolding before you in ways that you can’t expect. It’s not like reading your story and you don’t know the end. You’re not supposed to know where you end up when you’re starting the story! You’re supposed to be flipping page by page, experience by experience, person by person, and end up where you’re supposed to end up by fate, or whatever you want to call it. Ultimately, that’s how I feel the UCR Library impacted my life. The people I met, the experiences I had there, and the time that I spent there ultimately changed my story, unfolded it in the way it was supposed to, and led me to a very fulfilling career that not many people know of.”
Fall 2024 Finals Week Stress Relief at the UCR Library
Fun FREE Stress-Relieving Events at the UCR Library
The UCR Library's Finals Week Stress Relief is back, Monday, Dec. 2 - Thursday, Dec. 12.
This quarter, we have FREE craft events (we're supplying everything that you'll need), food giveaways, contests, and more—just for students! Our partners this quarter are The Well's Active Minds, the Academic Resource Center (ARC), and Basic Needs.
Please note: Only currently enrolled UCR undergraduate and graduate students are able to participate in Finals Week Stress Relief events.
Fall 2024 Finals Week Stress Relief Event Series
Instagram Contests
- Mon., Dec. 2 - Fri., Dec. 6 | Follow us on Instagram and comment on our daily contest posts for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card. Winners will be chosen at random.
MONDAY, DEC. 2
- Mindfulness Jars (Craft event)
- 2 - 3 p.m. | Orbach | While supplies last | Keep your jar!
- Surprise Snack Giveaway
- Time is a SURPRISE | Rivera & Orbach | While supplies last
TUESDAY, DEC. 3
- Bagel Break (Giveaway)
- 11 a.m. | Rivera | While supplies last | Grab a bagel and cream cheese!
- Jeopardy!
- 2 -3 p.m. | Orbach | While supplies last | Participate to win an Amazon gift card, there will be two rounds!
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 4
- Therapy Fluffies with The Well's Active Minds
- Noon - 2 p.m. | Rivera & Orbach | Spend some time with animals in Rivera or Orbach!
THURSDAY, DEC. 5
- Collage Time! (Craft event)
- 2 - 3 p.m. | Orbach | While supplies last | Use paper strips to make a collage that you'll take home with you!
FRIDAY, DEC. 6
- Bingo
- 2 - 3 p.m. | Orbach | Winners receive an Amazon gift card!
SUNDAY, DEC. 8
- R'Finals Study Jam (Tutoring) with The Academic Resource Center (The ARC)
- 4 - 8 p.m. | Orbach
MONDAY, DEC. 9
- Finals are NACHO Problem (Giveaway)
- 2 p.m. | Orbach | While supplies last
TUESDAY, DEC. 10
- Crunch Time! Fuel Up With Cereal! (Giveaway)
- 1 p.m. | Orbach | While supplies last | Grab a bowl of cereal!
- Finals Rock Painting
- 2 - 3 p.m. | Rivera | While supplies last
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11
- Healthy Snack Giveaway with Basic Needs
- Noon | Orbach | While supplies last
THURSDAY, DEC. 12
- Surprise Snack Giveaway
- Time is a SURPRISE | Rivera & Orbach | While supplies last
Virtual Stress Relief Activities
Need virtual stress-reducing activities now? Our FWSR committee has curated a list of activities and services available remotely through online platforms that you can enjoy all quarter long! Visit our Virtual Stress Relief Activities page for more information.
Library Finals Week Hours
Study 24 hours in Orbach from 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 through 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13
During Study Hall, Orbach Library will be open for studying, scanning, and printing, including the use of public computers. The borrowing of materials and equipment (reserves, books, calculators, and/or chargers) will NOT be available during Study Hall.
Thursday, Dec. 5
Service hours for Rivera & Orbach: 7:30 a.m. - 12 a.m.
Study Hall for Orbach Library: 12 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
Friday, Dec. 6
Service hours for Rivera & Orbach: 7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Study Hall for Orbach Library: 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Saturday, Dec. 7
Service hours for Rivera & Orbach: 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Study Hall for Orbach Library: 10 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 8
Service hours for Rivera & Orbach: 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Study Hall for Orbach Library: 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.
Monday, Dec. 9 - Thursday, Dec. 12
Service hours for Rivera & Orbach: 7:30 a.m. - 12 a.m.
Study Hall for Orbach Library: 12 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
Friday, Dec. 13
Hours for both libraries: 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. (Orbach ends 24-hour Study Hall)
One Desk, Two Services: Library Support/IT Support Desk
The UCR Library has partnered with UCR's Information Technology Solutions (ITS) to create a dual-function support center where the UCR community can receive library help and IT help.
In mid-September, we transformed our Information Desks in Orbach and Rivera into the Library Support/IT Support Desk! One side of the desk is staffed by ITS and the other side is staffed by the UCR Library.
IT Support is open Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. in both libraries. Services include:
- Password and login help
- Campus wifi issues
- VPN connection issues
- Wepa cloud printing assistance
- Hardware issues (for UCR issued devices only)
- Laptop kiosk support
Library Support is staffed Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. in both libraries. Services include the same services offered at the former Information Desks. These services include:
- Help finding books and articles
- Help finding specialized sources
- Assistance with research assignments and topics
- How to use library databases
- Citation management help
- Referrals for specialized sources (data management, GIS, etc.)
If you need library or IT assistance outside of the desk's operating hours, visit its.ucr.edu/support for IT help and library.ucr.edu/ask for library help.
A new way to access UCR Library’s streaming video service
The UCR Library offers the Kanopy video streaming service to support the research and teaching needs of UC Riverside faculty and students.
Kanopy has thousands of films and educational videos available for research or classroom use.
Previously, listings for individual films were available in the UCR catalog. Those listings have now been moved entirely to the Kanopy platform so that library users will have access to the most up-to-date menu of films.
While it now takes one more click to complete a search, the results should yield a more extensive collection, increasing efficiency for library users. In the past, the library would receive catalog updates only once per quarter, whereas Kanopy updates their own website database each week.
The easiest way to use Kanopy now is to visit: ucr.kanopystreaming.com.
On campus, that link will allow UCR Library users to search and begin watching films right away. Patrons who access Kanopy from an off-campus location will first need to sign in through the VPN.
“This is a huge improvement because now our patrons will be able to know everything that’s available,” explained Carla Arbagey, UCR Library’s Collection Strategist for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
“Kanopy is a wonderful resource for using streaming video in the classroom because the videos all have non-profit screening rights, so you can screen them and show them to a large class without worrying about paying for performance fees,” Arbagey added. “It supports different styles of learning because of the films’ visual and auditory nature, and the wide variety of films offered means that you can find something for every discipline.”
Library student employees who are “Living the Promise”: Eli Labinger
Eli Labinger is a fourth-year psychology major who works as a Student Assistant in Special Collections and University Archives at the UCR Library.
Labinger grew up in West Hollywood, California as the younger of two sons. His mother is a first grade teacher and his father is a wholesale bookseller.
UC Riverside was an easy choice to make for Labinger because he wanted to stay close to home for college, but also wanted to attend a research university. “When I first visited, I really loved it. It has a very intimate feeling about it,” he said. “It was just a really good fit for me.”
Working at the library also turned out to be a great fit for Labinger. “There’s a lot to love about this job,” he said. “It’s really the anticipation of working with new things or in new areas every day keeps me interested and excited. There’s always something new to experience here.”
One of his favorite work-related memories comes from a 2016 event for the Chancellor’s Associates. “Donors who were visiting the library stopped by Special Collections,” Labinger explained. “We had seven or eight display tables set up around the reading room. Each table had things representing a specific area, and I got to present on The Lord of the Rings as representative of the fantasy literature collection. That was cool.”
His interest in fantasy literature helped to establish a friendship with Science Fiction Librarian Jacqueline “JJ” Jacobson. “I have talked a lot with JJ especially about The Lord of the Rings,” he said. “That’s sort of my outside interest.”
Aside from his work at the library, Labinger also works in a research laboratory in UCR's Department of Psychology. “I’m working on a project right now for the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship,” he said. “Psychology is a really new field and there’s a lot of research out there but there’s so much to be done. There are a lot of important discoveries yet to be made. I think that global change is going to stem from research.”
He feels most passionate about research that focuses on children and adolescents. “It’s such rapid growth period, and by the time we learn new things about these people, the people we’re studying grow up and grow out of our findings. A lot of things become out of date really quickly. There can’t be too much research with younger people.”
Between classes and working at both the library and the psychology lab, Labinger has little spare time for other hobbies. “I haven’t been able to do all the things I like to do, like read for pleasure.”
After graduation, Labinger will be moving to Portland, Oregon, to complete his PhD at Portland State University’s applied developmental psychology program. As a graduate student, he will be assisting Dr. Andrew Mashburn in his research, which includes assessing the effectiveness of early interventions for improving school readiness in preschoolers moving to kindergarten.
“I am especially interested in understanding the types of children and families for whom such interventions work best, and in using this information to find programs that work for all students and that have lasting positive effects,” Labinger said.
Giving to UCR Library Collections
The UCR Library encourages donations of gifts to supplement and complement the library's overall
Associate University Librarian for the Digital Library
The UCR Library is pleased to welcome Kevin Comerford as our Associate University Librarian for the Digital Library, effective June 3, 2019.
Comerford comes to UC Riverside from the University of New Mexico, where he served as the University Libraries Director of Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communication and Director of IT Services.
“The fact that Kevin Comerford is joining the staff of the UCR Library promises to be a game-changer for the UCR community,” said University Librarian Steven Mandeville-Gamble. “Mr. Comerford comes to UCR with great accolades from the University Librarian at the University of New Mexico, who has shared with me that he provided transformational leadership in digital librarianship and digital scholarship for not only that campus but the entire State of New Mexico.”
At UNM, Comerford's work included planning and implementation of the DISC digital initiatives department and a program to provide graduate students with opportunities to work on digital scholarship projects.
Two major initiatives that he managed were the Tony Hillerman Portal and the Rudolfo Anaya Digital Archive. These online resources honor two of New Mexico’s most significant authors and provide access to digitized copies of their manuscripts and papers.
Comerford also taught in the UNM Organizational, Information and Learning Sciences (OI&LS) Program and was the Primary Investigator on numerous grant-funded projects.
Prior to UNM, Comerford was the Group Manager for Media Content Management at Microsoft Corporation, and the Visual Resources Librarian and IT Manager at the Dallas Museum of Art.
His office will be located in the Administration Suite (room 141) of the Tomás Rivera Library.
Please join us in welcoming Kevin to the UCR Library!
Learn About Research Fundamentals
Your introduction to research at the UCR Library.
African American Collections Advisory Board Holds Inaugural Meeting
National leaders convene to support and advise UCR Library
On Saturday, September 19, 2015, the UCR Library hosted the inaugural meeting of the newly-established African American Collections Advisory Board. Thought-leaders from across the nation met with library and university leaders to discuss and establish best practices in collecting and preserving the history of the African American experience, and methods of documenting local, regional, national, and international issues.
The day-long series of round-table conversations were energized by national leaders such as Dr. Meredith Evans, Director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum, who spearheaded the Documenting Ferguson project and Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, Professor Emeritus of African American Studies and library and information science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prominent community members also joined the discussion series, including Rose M. Mayes, Executive Director of the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County and president of the Riverside African American Historical Society, and Hardy Brown, Jr., Executive Director of the Black Voice Foundation.
University Librarian Steven Mandeville-Gamble encouraged the board to broaden the scope of their work on behalf of the UCR Library by not limiting their focus to black Americans. Scholars and leaders from across UCR disciplines — including Vice Provost for International Affairs Kelechi Kalu, and faulty from the departments of Ethnic Studies and History — engaged the group in discussion about how the university can best support the library, and the international scholarly community, in collecting and preserving history from underserved and underrepresented communities at large. Bergis Jules and Dr. Alison M. Scott, both from the library's Special Collections and University Archives department, described their past and current work in this arena and shared their successes and challenges.
Further discussion evolved around fundraising as a necessary aspect of collecting historical documentation, building relationships in communities that have historically been distrustful of higher education as a reliable keeper of their family history, as well as the importance of educating the general public about the "history of everyday life" and the valuable historical snapshot that a seemingly-unexceptional object may hold for others in the future.
This first meeting of the American Collections Advisory Board formally launches the UCR Library's nationwide collaborative efforts to share, create, and sustain knowledge among ethnic groups whose history and experiences are woven into the fabric of the country. While library initiatives such as the founding of the Tuskegee Airmen Archive in 2005 and the newly-established Inland Empire Memories project have exemplified the library's and university's continued commitment to diversity on campus, this Board elevates UCR to a significantly larger stage, and establishes the university as driving these vital considerations on a national and international level.
Librarian featured as public speaking expert in national magazine
The UCR Library's Head of Metadata & Technical Services, Manuel Urrizola was recently highlighted as an expert on public speaking in American Libraries.
American Libraries is the flagship magazine of the American Library Association. Urrizola was quoted in an article called, "Boost Your Public Speaking Skills," written by Anne Ford.
The feature includes tips on how to speak confidently and effectively in front of an audience, conquering stage-fright, connecting with crowds, and how valuable strong presentation skills can be for professional development.
“Communication and leadership go hand in hand,” Urrizola said.
An 18-year member and eight-time Toastmasters District Contest First Place Champion, Urrizola currently serves as the Area Director for several clubs in Riverside. He has also won many public speaking awards throughout his career, including Toastmasters International Speech Contest First Place Champion for District 12, and the Toastmasters International Speech Contest Third Place Semifinal Champion 2013.
Each quarter, Urrizola leads public speaking workshops at UC Riverside for various on-campus groups, including the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS), the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), UCR Dining, Hospitality & Retail Services, the Associated Students Program Board, Inspiring R’Leaders, and the Mentoring Summer Research Internship Program (MSRIP). He also teaches “Elements of Communication” for undergraduate and graduate students in the department of Environmental Sciences (ENSC401 and ENSC191).
In upcoming quarters, Urrizola will also lead public speaking workshops in the Creat’R Lab in Orbach Library.