Billi D. Heater works in the Health Sciences Library as an Administrative Assistant. She was born in Neosho, Missouri. She has worked at MU for 12 years and MU Libraries for 7 years.

Billi graduated from Hickman High School in 1992 and received a legal secretary degree in 2006. She currently is working toward her BS in Business Administration with a minor in Criminal Justice at Columbia College.

She has two cats and lists her hobbies and leisure pursuits as reading,  getting her nails done, as well as learning to play golf.

The coolest place she’s ever visited is Yellowstone National Park.

In a movie of her life, she’d like Katie Hudson to portray her.

Jackie Blonigen hails originally from Paynesville, Minnesota (she said it’s OK if you’ve never heard of it–it’s a very small place). She works in the Catalog Department as a Digital Resources Cataloger and started working here in January 2011. She earned her B.A. in Religious Studies from the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota and her M.A. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She currently has one cat named Eli and plans on adopting a small dog this summer. Her hobbies and interests include reading, pottery, spending time with family and friends, watching movies, haunting bookstores and coffee shops, and making pots at the Craft Studio.

The coolest place she’s ever visited was Machu Picchu in Peru, which she describes as “absolutely beautiful”.

When asked who she would pick to portray her in a movie, she said “my favorite actress is Helena Bonham Carter, but, as she looks absolutely nothing like me, I guess I’d have to settle for…well, I don’t know who. I guess I’ll figure that out when the time comes.”

Welcome to MU Libraries Jackie!

Kelli Bruce Hansen works in Special Collections and Rare Books as a Print Collections Librarian. She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.

Many will remember that Kelli worked at MU Libraries from 2001 to 2006. She has been back for 3 months now after having obtained a M.S. in Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, she earned three degrees from MU: a B.A. in Art history and Spanish as well as a M.A. in Art History.

Outside of work she loves to spend time with her three year-old daughter Maggie and her husband Andy. She doesn’t have a lot of free time, but she likes to knit and read (fiction and history) as well as garden and cook.

Some of the coolest places she’s visited includes Taos, Pueblo, and Cimayo in New Mexico, where she fell in love with the culture and history. She’s seen beautiful scenery in the North Cascades in Washington. She’s traveled a lot within the United States and would someday like to travel abroad.

When asked who she would like to portray her in a movie of her life, she only said, “Well, I hardly think my life so far is movie-worthy.  Maybe puppet-show-worthy, but not movie-worthy.”

She also added “I’m so glad to be back in Columbia.  It’s a beautiful town, and I really enjoy living here.”

Welcome back Kelli!

Mary Beth Aycock was born in San Antonio Texas but mostly grew up in South Texas (the tip near the border) where it rarely reaches freezing but often exceeds 100 degrees for months in the summer.

Mary has worked for MU Libraries for four years as well as part of the UM System for five years as a cataloger at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. She earned a B.A. in English and a M.L.I.S. from the University of Texas at Austin.

She and her husband are owned by several cats as well as two dogs. Since all of her pets were once stray waifs, she’d like to plug the message to spay and neuter to reduce the overpopulation and ensure every animal has a happy home.

Her leisure pursuits includes writing (she is currently taking a creative writing class to expand her horizons), reading, and playing racquetball. (Shout out to Racquetball partners Goodie Bhullar, Amanda Sprochi, and her husband David). She inherited a geeky side that occasionally forays into learning a little programming, mostly when there is need in her job.

The coolest place she ever visited would probably be Pikes Peak in Colorado. She briefly visited Oregon and is dreaming of vacationing there in the next few years as well as in New Orleans, New Mexico and the Grand Canyon.

In early July, she accepted the position of Catalog Department Head at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Thus, July 2011 will be her last month working at MU Libraries. She is excited about the opportunities presented by this new position but will miss colleagues and friends at MU Libraries.