Kathryn A. Martin Library has a new Social Sciences Librarian, but the new hire is someone very familiar to our campus community.
Mags David has worked at Martin Library since taking a position in Circulation Services in 1996, contributing to course reserves, interlibrary loan, and desk staffing while in that department. From 2008 until March of this year, she was the Special Collections and Archives Assistant. And prior to her employment at UMD, she was Library Assistant at the Music Library on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.
The Social Sciences Librarian position appealed to Mags because she was interested in the teaching and research taking place in the assigned departments. She now serves as liaison librarian for American Indian studies; geography, urban, environment & sustainability studies; political science; sociology & anthropology; and women, gender and sexuality studies.
"I enjoy meeting and working with the students and faculty. It's been so interesting to hear about the topics they are working on," Mags said.
Her qualifications for this position include two master's degrees, one in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and a Master of Arts in Music Composition from the University of Minnesota.
Her preparation includes work on a number of UMD commissions and advisory teams involved in equity and accessibility on campus. Recently she co-facilitated an effort to engage library staff in achieving greater cultural competency through a focus on the Association of College & Research Libraries diversity standards. In her new position, Mags plans to do outreach with the student organizations that are a part of the Multicultural Center.
Outside of work, Mags pursues her ongoing vocation in music by directing Sing! A Women's Chorus. She is a big reader of mysteries while also enjoying literary fiction and occasionally branching out into nonfiction. Her recent reading recommendations include Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson and Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond.