Goodbye, Melissa!

If you come into the library frequently, you'll be familiar with Melissa, our Reference Assistant.  She has been working as many as 16 hours a week at the Information Desk, so you'll recognize her if you're a regular weekend patron (or even an intermittent-week-day patron).  It is with ambivalence that we announce that Thursday, July 12th, will be Melissa's last day.  

Our ambivalence stems from the fact that we are truly thrilled for Melissa's upcoming opportunities, but sad for our loss of such a fantastic Reference Assistant.  From her calm and professional manner at the Information Desk, you may be surprised to learn that Melissa is not a professional librarian.  She is actually pursuing her doctoral degree in anthropology through WSU.  Melissa has been chosen-- as one out of only 10 in the country-- as a recipient of a grant from the National Science Foundation to attend a cultural ethnographic field methods course with one of the most influential ethnographers in cultural anthropology.  Directly after completing this course, Melissa will be starting her fieldwork, one of the final stages of her program; she'll be observing and working in the Las Vegas, NV, area for a full year on this project.  

Melissa's amazing success is bittersweet for us here at NPL; working with her closely, we know what she is capable of, so her success is hardly surprising for us.   

Melissa's duties as a Reference Assistant have included helping patrons in person, over the phone, and via email, with questions about computers, printing, copying, eReaders, finding materials in the library, and more.   For over a year, she has been an active participant in the Information Team and as a staff member during our Strategic Planning Process.  

We'll all miss you, Melissa!