Brief Bio

I am an energetic, innovative, and outgoing professional ready to affect change and bring in original ideas to whatever setting in which I am placed. My specific research interests are:

• The library's role in promoting/advocating for diversity, inclusion, and services for all
• Assessing and meeting needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community
• Naming (and resisting) subtle and overt classification and subject heading biases
• Open Educational Resources and the library's role in making textbooks more affordable
• Building, promoting, and maintaining LGBTQIA+ collections
• Cultural and linguistic influences on search behaviors

Post-Graduation

Since graduating from UNC-CH in May 2015, I have retained and built upon my level of energy and passion for providing the highest-quality service and information to users through professional development, presentations, pursuing publication, and new work experiences. Here are some examples of what I have been doing to stay informed and well-practiced:

Work & Committees
​*updating

• Started own Freelance Computer and Research Consultant business by connecting with local community members who need additional research or computer assistance in a one-on-one environment
• Joined the LGBTQ Center of Durham's Library Steering Committee in 2016 -- wrote draft policy documents, created user surveys, contributed to workflow documentation. Continuing to lead all current and future library developments with the Steering Committee for
• Worked at the Chatham Community Library in Pittsboro, NC building my skills by engaging in a variety of library activities (see chart in the gallery at the bottom of the page for more information; please click for full size)
  
• Working at the R.B. House Undergraduate Library at UNC-CH (March 2017 - Present) managing library operations, facilities, reference, and circulation services during the evening hours; processing and website development in the Reserves department; and aiding with Textbook Pilot Program research, survey assessment, and survey design
  • Served as Alumni Representative on 2017-2018 SILS Diversity Committee; focused on trans & POC inclusion and representation
  • Serving on 2018-2019 Library Diversity and Education Committee; focus on accessibility and trans & POC inclusion/representation
• Founded and lead the Cataloging Subcommittee at the LGBTQ Center of Durham since 2017. Currently in cataloging process using an in-house classification system built by the Cataloging Subcommittee. Read more about the system and how it was designed in my upcoming publication, Beyond Dewey: Creating an LGBTQ+ Classification System at the LGBTQ Center of Durham (Ewing, 2019)

 Presentations, Teaching & Publications *updating

Presentations:

• Supporting and Advocating for Transgender and Gender-Variant People in Your Library, 1-hour session at the 2018 Joyner Paraprofessional Conference in Greenville, NC
  • Conference website: lib.ecu.edu/joyner/paraprofessional/2018.aspx

Teaching Opportunities:

• Information literacy courses and one-on-one instructional sessions at Chatham Community Library on a variety of topics, including:
  • NC LIVE databases
  • Basic internet skills
  • Online security
  • Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
  • Tablet devices, laptops, and smartphones
• Invited as guest lecturer to speak on the topic of gender identity for INLS 690: Information Services in a Diverse Society at UNC-CH with Dr. Sandra Hughes-Hassell

Publications:

• Ewing, K. & LGBTQ Center of Durham. (2019). Beyond Dewey: Creating an LGBTQ+ Classification System at the LGBTQ Center of Durham. In B. Mehra (Ed.), LGBTQ Librarianship in the 21st Century: Emerging Directions of Advocacy and Community Engagement in Diverse Information Environments (Advances in Librarianship Series) (pp. 225-242). Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing.

Professional Development *updating

• Part of Technology & Trends Roundtable (TNTRT) and Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns (REMCo) as a North Carolina Library Association (NCLA) member
  
• Subscribed to listservs that will help build my skills, such as SERIALST (Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum) and OCLC-CAT (OCLC cataloging services)
• Attending webinars, online courses, and local library events/conferences for continuing education, networking, and self-betterment

Most Recently-Attended Webinars and Online Courses:

• Easy Patron Surveys - Library Juice Academy, registration sponsored by the State Library of NC, 7/2018
  
• IRB training (Group 2), completed 6/20/2018
  
• Goals: Personal and Professional, UNC HR training, 4/5/2018
  
• Managing Microaggressions in the Workplace, Indiana State Library, 2/15/2018
  

Continuing Education Classes, Conferences & Events (in-person):

• Racial Equity Institute’s Phase 1 training in Graham, NC, 11/9/2018-11/10/2018
• Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, 7/2018
• ECU Joyner Paraprofessional Conference, 5/11/2018
• 2017 North Carolina Library Association (NCLA) Conference, received $655 State Library of NC scholarship to attend
• Recruiting Underrepresented Populations to the Library Profession, presented by the Roundtable for Ethnic Minority Concerns (REMCo) at Elon University, 10/14/2016

Life @ SILS

During my time at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), I excelled in the following areas:

Leadership

• Served as the Community Liaison and temporary Facilitator for CheckedOUT (the diversity organization at SILS)
• After running alone and unopposed across all CheckedOUT positions in elections, recruited co-chairs and worked together to bring CheckedOUT back from obscurity upon taking office
  
• Co-founded the Diversity through Language series with the Student Chapter of the American Library Association (SCALA) by hosting our "Spanish for Librarians" event (SCALA followed up with their "Arabic for Librarians" event soon after)
• Co-founded the Fall 2014 Diversity Speaker Series with the Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists (SCOSAA) by hosting "LGBTQ Issues in Archives" and "Quintessential: An Open Discussion on the Relevance of Community Archives"
• Active contributor and co-founder of the LGBTIQA Solidarity Committee, created at UNC-CH's first Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF) Diversity Summit and Workshop 
• Planned and started a long-term visibility project for the UNC-CH LGBTQ Center's Resource Library by:

1. Inventorying and cataloging their collection using Microsoft Access, OCLC Connexion, and Innovative Interfaces Inc.'s Millennium
2. Building and maintaining an Access database for library inventory and checkouts 
3. Writing policies, procedures, and detailed workflow documents
4. Compiling collection development resources for future purchases
5. Writing a job advertisement for my position (upon graduation)

• Wrote master's paper detailing exact steps taken in the Resource Library project so that other LGBTQIA centers, organizations, and offices can have guidelines to follow when setting up their own resource libraries
• Gave well-attended presentation on transgender needs in academic libraries to library staff and SILS students on behalf of UNC-CH's Library Diversity Education and Programming Committee in 2015
  
• **NEW** Based on my presentation given on transgender needs in academic libraries to UNC-CH library staff and SILS students, a collection development project has been created to develop (and deselect) resources more heavily in the following areas: transgender issues, intersex issues, asexuality, bisexuality, and pansexuality
  

Academics

SILS, along with many other graduate programs at UNC-CH, used a Pass/Fail system for their grading.  H=High Pass (generally 96-100), P=Pass (typically 80-95), L=Low Pass (usually 70-79), and F=fail (anything below 70).

The school's rigorous academics earned them a seat as one of the top-ranked Library Science programs in the country. According to US News & World Report's findings, the school as a whole ranks #2 in the country and #1 in Archives and Digital Libraries. Therefore during my two years at SILS, I worked extremely hard to receive the following grades:

*Completed one undergraduate-level course

Library Involvement

While going to school full-time, I worked at the following libraries:

• Chapel Hill Public Library, scored highest in NC on the HAPLR Index for over 11 years (as of 2010): Began as a volunteer, then worked in the Information Services department
• LGBTQ Center Resource Library: Created the visibility project and Library Coordinator position; ensured that the Center's unique collection was represented in the UNC-CH online catalog
  
• UNC-CH Music Library, one of the top academic music libraries in the U.S.: Cataloged the UNC Sheet Music Collection and assembled metadata for digitization of 940 Italian opera libretti from 1600-1840 in the Internet Archive (see one of the finished products here)

I also volunteered at the Carrboro Cybrary branch of the Orange County Public Library system.

Community Involvement

• Volunteered to teach computer skills and information literacy to Carrboro and Chapel Hill community members through the Community Workshop Series (CWS)
• Worked as a volunteer to ship Chapel Hill Public Library's Banned Books Trading Cards to buyers all around the country
• Participated in and supported the #KickOutTheKKK/Hurston Hall movement at UNC-CH 
  
• Worked with several librarians, many from UNC-CH and one from Duke University, to bring discussions about diversity in practice to SILS through CheckedOUT