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.

Our February 2011 Spotlight Co-Winner is originally from Mountain View, Missouri and is the Education/Psychology Librarian at Ellis Library: Everett Wayne Barnes!

Wayne has been with MU Libraries for 30 years, the very institution where he obtained his MLS. Prior to that, he obtained his BA in History from School of the Ozarks. Post-MLS, Wayne has taken courses in French, Portuguese, and has also obtained an additional Master’s degree in Public Administration. Très bonne!

When he’s not at the reference desk, Wayne enjoys learning more about business opportunities, design, logistics or relaxing with a good sudoku puzzle. In a movie about Wayne’s life, expect to see Patrick Stewart starring as this MU Librarian. Said movie will likely be set in Las Vegas–Wayne’s pick for the coolest place he’s ever been.

Our December 2010 Spotlight co-winner is the Executive Staff Assistant for MU Libraries Administration–Mark William Ellis.

Though he was born in St. Paul, MN, Mark grew up in Joplin, MO.  He obtained his BA in English from Mizzou and worked his way through MU Libraries as a student in various work-study positions before Administration hired him in 1998.  Since then, he has served as an OSIII and a Human Resources Assistant before assuming his current role as Executive Staff Assistant. Altogether, he has been with MU Libraries for 20 years.

During his free time, Mark likes to read, write, bike, or spend time with his family. Mark has two sons: Syd, 14 and Simon, 11. The Ellis household also has quite the collection of pets: 1 dog, 4 cats, and 1 bird.

If you’re ever out at Table Rock Lake, you might even spot Mark indulging on another of his interests: sailing his boat. This isn’t your ordinary boat though. His boat is named the Puddle Duck Racer, and was built by Mark using a free design he found online. That was two years ago, and the boat is still going strong!

Of course, when the wind stops blowing, it’s a different story. Mark’s nieces and nephews chide from shoreline that the Puddle Duck Racer becomes the Wind Killer. Then, the crowd waits patiently for a benevolent breeze to bring Mark back to shore.

 

Our November 2010 spotlight co-winner is Sharon Gaughan. Sharon works in Physical Processing in the Acquisitions department at Ellis as a Library Information Assistant. She has been with MU Libraries for just about 5 years.

Sharon programs in her free time. She also considers herself an art enthusiast. She also loves horses, especially her pet horse Gwen. She shares that love with her other pet: a rabbit named Cinnabar.

Sharon listed Hawaii as the coolest place she’s been to. If you’ve been to our 50th state, be sure to say “Aloha!” the next time you see her!

Mary Claire Amann was born in Wausau, Wisconsin. She works in the Catalog Department and has worked at MU for about 8 years (2 years at the University of Missouri–St. Louis). She has a B.A. in English in 1996 and is taking classes as time permits.

Mary has 2 cats. In her leisure time, she is trying to finish the stitching for her niece’s wedding present. Her hobbies and interests include planting/gardening, cooking, baking, some needlework, decluttering, reading.

She named 2, not just 1, coolest places she ever visited. The first was the beach at North Carolina and the other was a little cantina in Austin Texas which had the best food and wonderful atmosphere.

In a movie of her life, she said in regard to the actor/actress (living or dead) which she would like to be portrayed as: “I’ve been different sizes and appearances, so probably best left to CGI.”

Karla Lynn (Bobby) Kespohl Geerlings

We ask people for their full name and let them decide how to define “full;” well, for me, I guess it depends on the day, the occasion, and the individuals included.  I included the parenthetical Bobby because, although it began as a camp name, it followed me into college and beyond.  Most of my personal circle of friends call me Bobby in private, unless they met me originally through work or church.  My kids call me Mom.

I was born in Columbia, Missouri.  I’ve lived in several other places, but my family always returned to Columbia, which is my dad’s hometown, as well.  I attended 3 different elementary schools in Columbia ( and 3 in other cities/states) and Oakland Junior High, and graduated from David H. Hickman High School.  I attended MU for 6 years, under 3 different declared majors (computer science, music education, therapeutic education for special populations) and have found most of the skills and knowledge I gained to be useful in my work life, my private life, or both—though I can’t say that the proper tuba embouchure (mouth position and pressure on the mouthpiece) is something I’ve been called on to use lately,

I began working at MU Libraries in 1982, my first year in college, as a student assistant at HSL (before the current library facility was built). I went on to work at VET and here at Ellis, ending my student tenure in the Serials Retrospective Conversion Project.  In 1988 I began working full-time for MU Libraries, typing book cards on an IBM keypunch machine.  I have worked variously in Serials Cataloging, Book Repair, Bindery, Preservation and now head the Serials & Authorities Unit in the Catalog Department.

I live with my adorable postman husband Mike, 17-year-old son Sean (“leave me alone!”), 16-year-old daughter Krissy (“You don’t understand …”), and our silver tabby Ellie (“Meee-out!”).

In my leisure time I work with the local Girl Scout organization, my church (Wilkes Blvd. United Methodist) where I direct the coir and head the education team, and am involved with the Camp Hickory Hill camper/staff alumni organization (remember the camp name?)  I also love to play social games of all kinds—board games, card games, dice, trivia, whatever—and host a game night regularly for friends and friends-of-friends.

The coolest place I have ever been is the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China.  My husband, my mother and I travelled with a tour group to China in October of 2009 and we saw many, many wonderful things there and met some really great people.  What makes the Temple of Heaven special is that there are dozens of steps going straight up the hill to the actual temple, and I was using a wheelchair because I was recovering from abdominal hernia surgery.  The men in our tour group, determined that I should not be left out of the experience, placed my wheelchair in the car rails on the steps and hefted me all the way to the top!!!  It was a very special experience for me.

In a movie of my life, which will, of course, be coming out any year now, I’d like to be portrayed by Kathy Bates.

Matthew Thomas Miller was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He currently works in Serials Acquisitions, where he has worked for nearly 8 years.

Mat was born in St. Louis. He has a bachelor’s from MU in English. He has two five year old cats who are littermates: Molaise (male yellow tabby/stub-tailed manx) and Shalimar (a female black cat).

In his leisure times, he enjoys reading, listening and playing music (guitar and bass guitar). He is a sports fan and watches MU football and basketball, Cardinals, Blues, and even the Rams.

Asked what actor he would like to portray him, he said “Right now, Joaquin Phoenix could play me without having to shave, and as an added bonus my life would be believed to be a hoax.”

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Laura Christine (Ivy) Buck currently works in the Zalk Veterinary Medical Library. She has worked at MU Libraries  since September 1989 in various places, including circ at HSL, ILL in HSL, UMLD, and the Vet Library.

Laura was born in Boonville, Missouri. She went to school in Glasgow, Missouri and graduated from Central Methodist College in Feyette with a Bachelors in elementary education & a minor in psychology.

At the present, she has 2 very spoiled cats: Stitch, a 7 year old female calico and Reg (short for Regulus) a beautiful 2yr old male who loves to play fetch. She acquired Stitch when her son Aaron told a friend that was moving & couldn’t take the cat “Don’t take her to the Animal Shelter my Mom will take her.”  Laura came home on Thanksgiving & was greeted at the door by Stitch.  Reg was adopted from the Veterinary Ophthalmology Dept. after staring at his picture for about a month.  She just couldn’t stand the thought of someone not taking him.  It took awhile before Stitch accepted Reg, but they get along fine now.

In her leisure time, she loves to read, mostly fiction/fantasy & some sci-fi but will read other things if it catches her interest. She also enjoys watching cartoons anything from the classic Scooby Doo to Japanese anime.  Cooking and trying out new recipes is also something she likes to do, but she limits it to the weekends when there’s more time.  She also likes listening to the music on her iPod when cleaning house, rearranging the furniture or taking a walk around Glasgow.

Her hobbies include embroidery and sewing, although there’s little time to work on sewing projects.  She speculates that maybe after she retires she’ll make that quilt that she’s always wanted to make.

The coolest place she’s ever visited was sitting in a Blackhawk helicopter while visiting Fort Bragg was cool.  She even got to put on the helmet but, her brother-in-law at the time kept reminding her not to push any buttons!

When asked about what actress she’d like to portray her in a move of her life, she responded: “I would make it an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki.    If not animated I would have Dakota Fanning as the younger me & Sally Field or Jamie Lee Curtis as the older me.”

Other facts include that she grew up in Howard County on a farm close to what is now the Boonslick state park.  Of course, back then she said it was just a smelly salt lick & a place to ride bikes to.  She has 1 older brother & 3 younger brothers and 1 younger sister.  She said “you could say I’m the runt of the litter because everyone else in my family is tall.  There was never a dull moment growing up or a quiet one.”  She also had a penchant for taking things apart when she was younger just to see how they worked, which sometimes got her in trouble.

After graduating college, she taught Learning Disabilities and EMR for 2 years.  She also substituted in the local schools, taught preschool, worked as a clerk in a drug store, and held a few temp secretarial positions.   She has 2 children:  Aaron, an embryologist, currently lives & works in St. Charles, MO and Lydia is a freshman at Truman State University.

Karen Katherine Marshall was born in Melrose Park, Illinois. She currently works in the Journalism Library.

She was originally the student assistant to the Information Library Specialist in the Catalog Department in 2007-2008. She started her current position in the Journalism Library in August 2008.

She received a B.A. (interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in photography and women’s studies).

Her childhood cat lives at her parents’ house because, as she says “my dad wouldn’t give her up when I went to college.”  She really wants a cat but for now will settle for playing with friends’ cats.

Her leisure activities and interests include photography, travel, reading, going to concerts, and going to art events downtown.

The coolest place she ever visited was the Galapagos Islands, although she mentioned there were some pretty amazing places when she studied abroad in Australia.

Her response to the question of who she would pick to portray her in a movie was “maybe Natalie Portman as young me because she has done a lot of different kinds of roles and is around my age and Katherine Hepburn as older me because hopefully I will be as wise and confident as she was at that age.”

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PT (Lori) Martin was born in Red Cloud, Nebraska–the home of Willa Cather. She currently works in LTS. She has worked for MU Libraries for 6 years (“this round” she commented–she has worked at the Libraries previously in 1994).

PT has a Masters of Education degree.

Her leisure time pursuits include gardening, reading, and the Rachel Maddow Show. Her interests include “All things Xena.”

In a movie of her life, she would choose Jodie Foster to portray herself.