Jen Stevens joined WSU Libraries in June 2000 when she became the Science Librarian and Information Services Coordinator at Owen Library. She spent many hours in her first months weeding and sorting through Owen's reference collection, selecting books for microbiology, entomology, genetics and cell biology, and the reference collection, and teaching her faculty and graduate students how to use new databases and full text journals.

However, an opportunity arose in mid-September that she couldn't pass up when Greg Matthews left his position in Holland/New Library to move to Walla Walla Community College. Although reluctant to leave her newly made colleagues in Owen, Jen knew that, with her background in English and her interests in literature and language, she would not find a better opportunity to use her talents and interests. After being selected, she moved up the hill to Holland/New Library, where she is now a Humanities Reference Librarian.

Her role in this position – providing reference for Holland users, selecting books and other materials for English, American, and General Literature, German Literature and Language, Philosophy, and Religion, and liaising with the English, German and Philosophy Departments – is both challenging and fun. She was asked recently by two departments to show candidates for a position around the library, which was considered an integral part of their orientation, and was well received. She also provides library instruction for her departments, and assists with general English classes and Freshman Seminar.

Jen and her husband, Forrest, moved to Pullman from Austin, TX. She pursued her MLIS degree at the University of Texas, while working half-time as classified staff in the Public Affairs and Latin America branch libraries. Prior to living in Austin, she had worked as an adjunct writing instructor in Salt Lake City and as a technical writer for a couple of engineering firms. "This experience drew me to librarianship," she explains, "I could see the need to provide assistance, a human interface between users and software." Previous to Salt Lake, she had completed an M.A. in English Literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Forrest has a PhD in Chemistry and is currently employed in research by the Department of Physics at WSU. Together, they have two cats, Akane and Ed. Akane is a well-traveled feline, having moved from Salt Lake City to Austin and then to Pullman with Jen and Forrest. Ed is a native of Moscow, a gift to Jen on her 30th birthday last year.

Jen enjoys bookbinding and paper making, writing and music. Her ambition is to write fiction and she plans to enroll in creative writing courses in the future. She also plays guitar and alto recorder with a small folk group in Moscow. Book recommendations include the science fiction of Octavia Butler and Lois McMaster Bujold, while favorite movies include Topsy-Turvy, a humorous account of Gilbert and Sullivan's original production of "The Mikado," and "Chicken Run," a clay-animation version of the film classic "The Great Escape."

Originally from the Tri-Cities, Jen is familiar with the region. Both her parents are WSU alums. She likes the Palouse, although "winter is seeming rather longer than I remember," she notes. She also has found that her conception of driving time has changed since moving here. At one time, she and her husband didn't think twice about driving 30 minutes, but now anything more than 15 minutes is a long trek!

Jen says she enjoys the people, students and faculty at WSU, and is impressed by the Libraries' dynamic organization. She likes being involved in decision making by participating in working groups and on committees. And she feels gratified by the trust and friendship she has found among her Library colleagues.

-Rosemary Streatfeild