Happy New Year! The winter break has come to an end and the Young Research Library (YRL) is back in action. I have to say that I was actually really excited to get back to work and to dive into my new position with the library’s Collections, Research, and Instructional Services Department. I started the position just before the break and 2012 will bring new opportunities to work on some exciting projects in our new library space.

The first floor of YRL, which reopened in September after a year-long renovation and upgrade, now has a cafe, study rooms, and a research commons area complete with futuristic-looking group research “pods.” Most importantly, our reference desk and reference collection are out of their temporary home in the basement and back on the first floor in a new sleek, glass-enclosed Reference and Reading Room. The Reading Room is a modern space with WiFi, plenty of laptop docks and plugs, and new tables, sofas, and Star Trek-like captains chairs. Students can relax, read, research, or get reference help from the librarians at the new Reference Desk.

As a Research Support Librarian, about 50% of my time will be working at the public desk where I will provide reference and research support services for undergraduates, graduates, faculty, as well as the general public. The other 50% of my time will be collaborating with subject specialist librarians on various projects, including some area-specific collection development, digitizing historic California and Los Angeles maps, and building online research guides.

I will post some pictures of our new library space in a future article, but in the meantime, be sure to look for more articles in my From the Reference Desk series, where I highlight the interesting and the odd.