This is a photo of the writer and professor in its favorite habitat: The Library. Specifically the MRU Library where I spend a lot of time reading and researching and also have an officer where I help students and profs come together on community projects that help make the world a better place. The library is for many of us, myself included, a sacred place. I was raised by a single and very hard working parent and am a first generation university attendee from a village on the East Coast. We experienced food and housing insecurity, and the past to university was not always certain for me. I worked, saved up for school, and dreamed about the future. But what we always did have… is the bookmobile that came to our village. The library in our town. Library cards are free and books opened my eyes to all the world and the rich diversity in it. Public libraries are, as our own Dean of the Library, Meagan Bowler has put it “houses of truth.” And the fact that they are and remain free and open access… is the most punk rock thing I know. I knew I wanted to be a part of that… and so now I am happiest when reading, writing, learning and being a mentor and a mentee to others in that journey.

This is a photo of the writer and professor in its favorite habitat: The Library. Specifically the MRU Library where I spend a lot of time reading and researching and also have an officer where I help students and profs come together on community projects that help make the world a better place. The library is for many of us, myself included, a sacred place. I was raised by a single and very hard working parent and am a first generation university attendee from a village on the East Coast. We experienced food and housing insecurity, and the past to university was not always certain for me. I worked, saved up for school, and dreamed about the future. But what we always did have… is the bookmobile that came to our village. The library in our town. Library cards are free and books opened my eyes to all the world and the rich diversity in it. Public libraries are, as our own Dean of the Library, Meagan Bowler has put it “houses of truth.” And the fact that they are and remain free and open access… is the most punk rock thing I know. I knew I wanted to be a part of that… and so now I am happiest when reading, writing, learning and being a mentor and a mentee to others in that journey.

This is a photo of the writer and professor in its favorite habitat: The Library. Specifically the MRU Library where I spend a lot of time reading and researching and also have an officer where I help students and profs come together on community projects that help make the world a better place. The library is for many of us, myself included, a sacred place. I was raised by a single and very hard working parent and am a first generation university attendee from a village on the East Coast. We experienced food and housing insecurity, and the past to university was not always certain for me. I worked, saved up for school, and dreamed about the future. But what we always did have… is the bookmobile that came to our village. The library in our town. Library cards are free and books opened my eyes to all the world and the rich diversity in it. Public libraries are, as our own Dean of the Library, Meagan Bowler has put it “houses of truth.” And the fact that they are and remain free and open access… is the most punk rock thing I know. I knew I wanted to be a part of that… and so now I am happiest when reading, writing, learning and being a mentor and a mentee to others in that journey.