2011-2013
2011 – 2013 Cohort Blog
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Danisha Baker-Whitaker I grew up in Detroit, MI and graduated from Cass Technical High School before coming to Greensboro to start my collegiate education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. There, I obtained my undergraduate degree in Physics. I have been employed in the retail, fitness, and insurance industries; nevertheless, my most treasured work experience continues to be raising my family. I have always enjoyed reading a good book, but my time as a stay-at-home mom and home educator enabled me to fully appreciate the public library. I am extremely grateful that I was selected to participate in the ACE Scholars Program, and I am excited about the enriching opportunities that are ahead. I look forward to developing a career as an academic librarian, learning book restoration, and becoming further involved in the non-profit sector. |
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Cortney Barnes My name is Cortney Barnes. I graduated from Elizabeth City State University in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. The English Department Chair informed me about the ACE Scholarship and encouraged me to apply; I’m so glad that I did. I am very thankful for being selected as a recipient of the ACE Scholarship and look forward to the opportunities and experiences it will provide for me. My outside interests include reading a good book, reading and writing poetry, watching classical movies, shopping, and spending quality time with my family and friends. After receiving my MLIS, my goals are to work as a Children’s Librarian. My long term goals are to continue my education and further my career to include School Media Coordinator and ultimately Reading Specialist. I believe that the ACE Scholarship and MLIS program will provide me with the tools I need to meet and exceed my goals. |
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Ronunda Claiborne Hi! I am a graduate of Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia, where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Communications. I have worked in retail, the Navy, and some public relations work. I knew however, once I got involved in doing some family genealogy, that I wanted to work in a library. I was lucky enough to have been awarded a great opportunity to pursue that goal, and am looking forward to all the experiences that are to come during my time here at UNCG! Professionally I am looking forward to combining library science and the health field in either academic or special libraries. My leisure activities include weekend traveling, genealogy, running, and being with family and friends. |
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Jewel Davis I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Women’s Studies. I then continued on at Chapel Hill to receive a Master’s in Teaching. I taught high school English near the beach for a couple of years and began to reconsider my career goals. Although teaching was absolutely rewarding, I realized that I wanted to be an educator and public servant in a different setting. Right now, I am most interested in working with young adults in a public library, but I hope to learn more about the different kinds of work that I could do in an academic library with literacy and education. I found out about the ACE program through a Google search, and I am so very thankful that I have been awarded this great opportunity. I think the support system and enrichment opportunities will help me to be successful in this field. I am so excited and ready to begin this journey with the second ACE cohort. |
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Anne Dawes I am originally from an island nation called Sri Lanka. My family left our native country due to a civil war that began during the 1980s. My family and I have resided in London, Montreal and Toronto. As a result of having resided in such multicultural cities, I greatly appreciate the rich benefits of being around diverse ethnic groups. My undergraduate majors were Chemistry and Human biology. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto. My career began as a high school math and science teacher in Canada. I later moved to North Carolina as a participant teacher in a cultural exchange program. As an ACE participant, I hope to gain working experience in an academic library. I am very thankful to have this opportunity and look forward to working with the LIS faculty and fellow ACE scholars. |
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Jenn Maggi I graduated from Hillsdale College May 2011 with a BA in Classical Studies. While at Hillsdale, I worked in the campus library as a circulation and reference student worker. Eventually, I became the student curator for the Alwin C. Carus Coin Collection. I did research on the coins to attribute their origin, denomination, any historical significance, and rarity. The purpose of the collection was education and I had a grand time learning about the different coins with their countries, cultures, and rulers. After graduation, I interned for a summer at the Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division, well establishing myself in book nerd-dom. There were some amazing incunabula from the 15th century and onwards, with illustrated pages and amazing book history and publishing importance. Absolutely beautiful. From these experiences, I want to pursue rare books within library science all the more. Through my coursework at UNCG, I hope to obtain greater expertise in knowing the book and book binding, practice and knowledge as an information scientist, and a foothold towards the future impact of the digital world on libraries. With my experience as an ACE scholar, I hope to increase my leadership experience and contribute to diversity within library science. My quirks and idiosyncrasies: I love Greek and Latin grammar, think that everyone should learn Latin, and eat peanuts dipped in yellow mustard. Its good! trust me – just try it. |
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Mari Noguchis Hi, my name is Mari Noguchi. I was born in Tokyo, Japan but moved to the US in 1987, and I’m a proud US citizen. I have BA in Linguistics from UNCG. After graduate from UNCG, I decided to commit myself to helping people in this area, so I stayed in Greensboro and served local immigrants and refugees through UNCG’s AmeriCorps ACCESS Project. The agency where I was placed was a public library branch, my very first library, and it became a place where I felt at home. After two years of service as an AmeriCorps Member, I obtained a position as a library associate at the same branch. In the 11 years since that time, I have learned tremendously about the public library. A refugee who had no English skills 11 years ago proudly presents his wife to us and tells her that it is ‘her’ library. I have found the public library to be one of the most democratic institutions and the public librarianship to be a noble occupation! Now I would like to explore and study other types of libraries. My life mission is to serve others. I would like to continue serving others by disseminating information, teaching information seeking skills, etc. |
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April Parker I am a Jersey girl born and raised, but Carolina is now my home. My second home, the library, has always acted as a safe space. I have always embraced free resources as a means of self-education and self-care. The South has opened several opportunities for me and my family. I am extremely proud and appreciative to be an ACE (Academic and Cultural Enrichment) scholar. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Kean University in 2010. Upon my relocation, with the assistance of my amazing twin and supportive village, I began community organizing. I plan to continue serving the community while I pursue a Masters degree in Library and Information Studies at UNCG and raise my incredible daughter. My personal and professional experiences have urged me to become more invested in the kind of information being disseminated, who gets educated, and how they are served. I have determined that it is best to do this work within a public library. In order to become a catalyst for distributive justice I would like to conduct research that will investigate the barriers sexual and gender minorities face in information access. Furthermore, I would like to investigate the current repetitive practices that contribute to further silencing of this community. I hope to engage in course work regarding library programming, archiving and how collections can reflect the community and its needs. I will be the loudest librarian ever and I’m pretty excited about it! |
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Jennifer Renee’ Patterson My name is Jennifer Renee’ Patterson and I have always been an avid reader. My mother taught me how to read at a very young age and ever since then I have had my nose in a book. I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After I graduated from high school, I decided to take a year off from school and that year turned into seven. At the age of twenty-five, I decided that education was the only way to better my life so I applied to Winston-Salem State University. I was accepted and I graduated from Winston-Salem State in May of 2010 with a BA in History and minors in Middle Grades Education and English. I spent the majority of my time in the library while I attended WSSU so naturally my interest in libraries grew. In the summer of 2010, I applied for a job at C.G. O’Kelly Library on the campus of WSSU. I got the job and have been working there ever since. I heard about the ACE Scholars Program through two of my coworkers who were in the program. I really wanted to apply to the program so I waited a year for the second cohort to come around and here I am! I am very excited about being an ACE Scholar and about getting my Masters in Library and Information Studies at UNC Greensboro. When I complete the MLIS degree, I plan to continue my career in academic libraries as a librarian while getting a second Masters in Museum Studies. I am truly fortunate to have been awarded the ACE Scholarship. I look forward to taking full advantage of the scholarship with the support of the MLIS faculty and of course, my fellow ACE Scholars. I am ready for an exciting, informative, and fast-paced journey! |
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Devon Stokes I am a 2011 graduate of High Point University, where I received my B.A. in Communications-Media and Popular Culture Studies, with a minor in Spanish. As an undergrad, I did a lot of research and analysis of media and pop culture texts like viral videos, advertisements, and films. I’m from Orange Park, Florida, but have lived in several places because my father was in the Marine Corps.My interests include reading, music, traveling, news, and word games. I can play the bassoon and clarinet, but I prefer the bassoon. I like to keep up with news and current events, and I enjoy listening to public radio. During the summer of my junior year, I interned at WJCT, Jacksonville’s NPR affiliate. This was one of my most exciting professional experiences. I scheduled guests, operated the sound board and took calls during the daily news call-in show, and put together a few audio packages that aired during the morning updates. I hope to bring my experience with news and media to my library career. I am so excited to be in the ACE program because I get to meet unique people and take advantage of exciting opportunities. I’ve volunteered in libraries since I was in elementary school. At HPU, I worked in the Media Services department. I really enjoy helping students acquire materials and complete projects. I look forward to continuing my development in the library field. |
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Rosalind Moore My name is Rosalind Moore and I am a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (December 2000), where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Public Administration with emphasis in Public and Non-Profit Management. I have a wide range of experience in human resources and hospitality sector, training and managing 75 plus employees as well as supervising up to 25 work-study students. My current position as Evening Library Supervisor at Johnson C. Smith University and my attendance to the Black Caucus American Librarian Association Conference has given me a great appreciation for the library field. I have been involved in library staff recruitment, training, and customer service to ensure that each patron has an enjoyable experience. I am currently responsible for the management of the circulation desk, which includes: scheduling student workers, resolving a variety of information technology issues and managing course reserves program. Throughout my career I have always tried to select new challenges to develop myself as a professional. I enjoy working in an academic library, and I know this ACE Scholars program will be a great fit for me. I am very thankful for being selected as a recipient of the ACE Scholarship and look forward to the opportunities and experiences it will provide for me. I have a passion for becoming a life-long learner in the field of librarianship. I know that seeking new initiatives for the library is necessary for the success of students. Assisting students with library research and broadening their understanding of information literacy is essential not just while in school, but for their future. Collaboration with faculty and student support departments is also important for retention and academic success. Beyond my work experience, I bring passion for exploring opportunities in information literacy instruction. My passion and interest for serving others and engagement with community outreach will definitely make me an asset to the field. |
| B. Reynolds Although I earned my BA in International Affairs, I worked as a librarian/archivist for about two years before finding the ACE Scholars program. I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to learn more about the wonderful field of Library Science. I’m honored to have been chosen (along with my other excellent ACE scholars) for this program, and I’ve been learning new things everyday here at UNCG. I’m especially intrigued with all I’ve learned about how librarianship actually does tie in with my undergraduate major, especially since libraries have founded many programs to assist immigration. It’s been a wonderful journey and one I’m excited to continue! |
