Meet Deana, one of our new librarians!

Hello, I’m Deana Brown, the newest Librarian and Assistant Professor at Albertsons Library, and I'm super excited to be at Boise State! I’m from Oregon, but have also lived in New Mexico, and could have ended up in Kazakhstan. That’s a story for another time. I have been working in both public and academic libraries since 2004, and came to Boise State after serving as the Reference/ Instruction Librarian at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico.

You might know me from such blog posts as, “Yarn bomb the Library!” I believe, and research shows, you retain more of what you learn when you’re having fun, and what better place to learn than the library? I have a B.S. in Fine and Applied Arts (Photography and Visual Design) with a minor in Arts Administration from the University of Oregon, and a Masters of Library Science from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. This might seem like an odd combination, but I see them as a perfect fit. Art is all about problem solving and telling stories, and so are libraries!

I look forward to helping students navigate the library's resources while achieving their academic goals, and serving as the liaison to the Philosophy and Psychology Departments. I’m interested in breaking down physical and mental barriers to access, developing instruction tools that effectively incorporate technology, and discovering areas where art and design intersect with librarianship. I don't know everything, but will go to the ends of the earth to help you find it!

Another long story is my name. I’m going to guess about half of you pronounced it wrong in your head upon reading it above. So, since I have you here, I thought I'd clarify, in hopes of helping you avoid that awkward moment when you aren't sure how to spell/ pronounce it.

It is indeed spelled with one "N". Two N's would be De-anne-a.
It is pronounced - Dee-na. Alternately, Dean (like a man's name) and then "uh" (as in, "Uh, you have food stuck in your teeth.")

Don't worry if this doesn't stick, we'll just keep working on it.

I’m looking forward to seeing you around campus and at the reference desk!
- Deana

Meet Elizabeth, one of our new librarians!

In a crazy coincidence all three of the careers I’ve had have been involved with the organization and presentation of information: graphic artist, English as a second language instructor, and now, academic librarian. Although I loved my first career, I could see the huge impact technology was starting to have, and knew I would have to retrain whether or not I stayed in the field. I started taking Japanese language lessons, thinking a new language could be the key to new possibilities, and ta-daa, in less than a year I was living in Japan and teaching English to high schoolers.

I continued as an ESL teacher when I came back to the states, but eventually decided to go back to school to complete my graduate degree, finishing not long after the Great Recession – what great timing! I count myself lucky to have found a new job within a year, and even luckier to have eventually made my way to Idaho and Boise State. This area was never on my radar, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all there is to see and do.

I’m currently liaison to political science, public policy, community and regional planning as well as outreach coordinator for the library. My research interests tend toward issues of diversity, inclusion and cross cultural competence, so I’ve enjoyed working with International Student Services and various diversity initiatives across campus. From my career overview you can see that I’m dedicated to the proposition that I’ll be a lifelong learner. It’s led me to some great adventures, including this latest at Boise State. I look forward to all that it’s sure to teach me.