Thanks to Michael Brewer, Librarian/Senior Information Resources Officer at The University of Arizona Libraries and member of IOP Publishing’s Library Advisory Board, for agreeing to take part in our Librarian Spotlight interview series.

“Academic librarians, you are most powerful and effective as collaborators and peers. You belong.”

• Why did you become a librarian?

I had just successfully finished my Ph.D. comps and was beginning work on a dissertation on Soviet Cinema. Concurrently, my wife was pregnant with our second child, and, with the recent collapse of the Soviet Union, I was seeing many of the same contemporary Russian scholars I was reading and citing in my work beginning to fill a diminishing number of US tenure-track positions. The paltry prospects for landing a tenure-track job, the daunting task of finishing and defending a dissertation, and the pressure to provide for my family all steered me toward a career in librarianship. 25+ years later, I am so happy that it did.

• What’s the best thing about being a librarian?

There are too many “bests” to count, but a big one for me would be Purpose. It gives me the opportunity to solve problems and learn new things in support of something I care about deeply.

• Tell us about your favourite book

Oddly (and somewhat sadly), after spending so long in graduate school doing little other than studying and reading Russian literature, now I almost exclusively read non-fiction or essays, as reading literature somehow feels like work. Still, for literature, I’d have to go with the subject of my MA Thesis, Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales. For fun I always enjoy reading David Sedaris essays, especially when traveling.

• After a hard day, how do you relax?

I love to cook, tinker, and fix things. I grow cacti and succulents and enjoy collecting and carving mesquite stumps that I scavenge from Tucson streets in my ’73 VW Thing.

• In your opinion, what are the most important skills to have when working as a librarian?

Curiosity, problem solving, perseverance, and humility.

• What’s your favourite place in your library?

I just love being in the stacks. When studying Russian in the ‘80s and 90’s, I swear I could have found my way to the PG call numbers blindfolded. Books published in the USSR had a certain, but not unpleasant smell, probably from the off gassing of the glue they used or ingredients in the mass produced (and probably acidic) paper. Sadly (?), they don’t give off that smell anymore.

• In your opinion, what is the importance of the library?

The library is chimeric. It is, on the one hand, one of our most stable and beloved social institutions, while on the other it is always under fire and continually reinventing itself to meet changing social needs.

• Tell us about your chill out area/library nook in your library (if you have one)?

We have large, North-facing windows in our library that bring in a lot of light but no direct sun. That provides great places to settle down to read in a comfy chair.

• Tell us what a typical day looks like for you as a librarian.

I think my young daughter probably summed it up best many years ago when she told her 1st grade class that “My dad goes to meetings and does email.”

• Is there anything you would like to share with other librarians?

Being in service does not mean being a servant. Academic librarians, you are most powerful and effective as collaborators and peers. You belong.

• Could you give us one book recommendation that everyone should read?

Poetry. Just give yourself some time and space now and then to read poetry (and don’t even concern yourself with understanding it or even knowing all the words!). It always helps remind me that I am alive.