When I told my friends and family I was getting my masters in library and information sciences, no one was surprised. It seemed like a natural fit for someone who was such an avid reader who loves to get others to read. Now, after my first semester at Pratt Institute, I have learned a lot, one of them being that a degree in library sciences leads to so much more than a chance to talk to people about books. It’s a way to engage in information on every level, from cataloging and archiving, to disseminating and researching. To me, libraries and librarians are both the classical holders of knowledge, and the future of how we will interact with information and learning.

 

Simultaneously, I’m also pursuing a master’s in Jewish-Christian Relations at Seton Hall University. It’s certainly a specific concentration, but one that is interesting, challenging, and exciting. Classes have included topics like studies of the First and Second Temples, Judeo-Christian prayer, and philosophical perspectives on the Holocaust. The professors are a mixture of priests and rabbis who have devoted their lives to reconciliation and understanding, and it has been a rewarding experience to study under them.

Therefore it is pretty exciting for me to join Brigette and the entire Burke Library faculty to work on the Missionary Research Library Archives and the William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives project. The work I will be doing in these collections combines my two degrees perfectly. I’ll be interacting with the works and letters of missionaries and organizations who lived religious relationships in a theologically meaningful way. I’ll also be taking the technical skills about interacting with information that I’m getting at Pratt and applying them, learning both in the classroom and on the job. It’s a perfect combination!