Meet the Librarian: An Interview with Rebekah Leidenfrost
If you've been around the library, chances are you've met our librarian. Recently, I had the chance to ask Miss Leidenfrost the tough questions about what it takes to be head librarian at the world's premiere university.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your interests?
Most recently I'm from Southern California, specifically the Santa Clarita Area. I also claim Papua New Guinea as I spent most of my childhood there as an MK (missionary kid).
Outside of work, I’m currently enjoying learning new crochet skills, baking, playing board games, reading (when I get a chance, most recently audiobooks have been my friend), watching anime (especially Miyazaki films), and spending time with friends, family, and my cat San. Bonus points if you know who she’s named after.
What is your background, and how did you get involved in library work?
I received my Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Washington Seattle and my Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from The Masters University. I also have two Associates of Arts Degrees - one in Liberal Arts and another in Music - from Cosumnes River College.
Initially, my love of reading combined with juvenile dreams of writing books or going into publishing someday. As a teen, I was at my public library so often the librarians knew me by name. Eventually, this morphed into wanting to learn more archival and preservation skills. In the end the desire to organize and help connect people with the information they are searching for won.
I landed my first official librarian position in September 2019 as a Teen Services Librarian at the Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Library, but I have been working in libraries in various capacities since 2011/2012. As such, if my previous roles in libraries are included, I’ve been in libraries for over a decade.
What libraries have you worked in?
I started out as a volunteer in the Crocker Art Museum’s library to see if the profession was something I truly wanted to pursue or if I just liked the idea of working with books. That morphed into a work-study position in the library at TMU (The Master’s University) as well as working there full time over the summers before I finished my degree. After that, I decided to take a break from school for at least a year to recoup and found a library assistant position with the circulation department at one of the public library locations in Santa Clarita. That position enabled me to continue gaining library work experience without having a master’s degree yet, it was also my open door to two other positions in that library system before I landed my first librarian position about 9 months before finishing my Master’s degree.
Let’s focus in on your work at Tyndale. How did you connect with NSA, and what do you enjoy about working here?
I heard about NSA from extended family that live in the area, some of whom are affiliated with the college, but never attended as a student myself.
I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to best categorize and arrange items so they are easily accessible. This has led me to make the following decisions: lessening the number of specialty sections in the library and interfiling all of our DVDs and fiction into the main stacks.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about the Tyndale Library that they should know?
That we do in fact have digital resources, which ones, and how to access and best utilize them. For example, the library has multiple new databases, two of which are Oxford Reference Online and Access World News Research Collection. Oxford Reference Online can be super helpful in the beginning stages of research when you begin to gather background information on your topic, especially if the topic is unfamiliar to you. It will also help point you in the direction of other resources since the Oxford Reference collection houses copious amounts of bibliographic information. Access World News on the other hand is great for both local and world news since it contains over 10,000 different news sources from around the world. This is where you would go if you want to keep up with current events. Both can be accessed from the library website at tyndale.nsa.edu via the “Databases” button on the left-hand side of the page.
What’s the most common misconception about the library?
That re-shelving books you’ve decided not to check out is helpful and saves library staff time. This is only true if you understand Dewey and the organizational system within the library, for those that think they do but in reality don’t, it actually creates more work for library staff 9 times out of 10. If a book isn’t put in the right spot on the shelf it is as good as lost.
What is your favorite thing in the library?
The Garaway Collection, which is a special collection of first edition books by a few of the Inklings on loan to us from the Garaway family. It mainly contains works by C.S. Lewis, but also has a few volumes by J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. They are available for library use only and can all be found on the sloping display shelves in the Reading Room.
What is the most frequently asked question you get in the library?
Can I renew this? Or more recently my printing account says it's too low, how do I add money to it?
What are you currently reading?
(Changed from "What is your favorite book” because asking a librarian and a bibliophile what their favorite book is is like asking a parent who their favorite child is.)
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick.
Side note, in regards to what I’m reading: I’m attempting to get back into the Sword and Shovel book club and their next read is Northanger Abbey, plus I’ve wanted to read more Jane Austen for years. I watched a lot of BBC Austen adaptations with my mom growing up, but haven’t actually read many of the novels themselves. The other work is newer, but very fascinating and was recommended to me by another librarian during a conference I attended over the summer. If you’re at all interested in or intrigued by Generative AI, I would give it a read, Tyndale has both a physical copy and an audiobook via our digital library collection in Libby (overdrive).
And finally…
C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien, and why?
If I were to base answering this question on who I had read more of then I would have to say C.S. Lewis. However, I have more recently been into stories with deeper world-building and exploring more science fiction and fantasy, including but not limited to Dune by Frank Herbert, and loved every minute of The Hobbit when I read it. Unfortunately, I have to admit to never having fully read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I’m going to reserve my judgment on who is my favorite until that happens.
Thank you for helping us get to know you better, Miss Leidenfrost! It is a tremendous blessing to have a well-ordered and accessible library. And to all you students and patrons, make sure to greet your librarian and thank her for her work next time you come by!
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