Bridget Richardson recently began working as a library tech assistant at Eastern New Mexico University. She helps with InterLibrary Loans, processing incoming and outgoing borrowing and lending requests.
"I help students and faculty access research material that our library does not directly own, and I help people from other libraries access material their library doesn't own, but our library does," she explained.
Bridget was drawn to the position because she is "fond of the general library environment" and has wanted to become a librarian since she was seven years old.
"My goal is to eventually go on to get a master's degree in library science," she said. "In the meantime, this position allows me to practice my researching skills and will provide great experience for when I eventually move on to a full-time research librarian position somewhere, which will likely be a ways down the road."
Her favorite part of being a library tech assistant is "finding materials for people and sending them on. I have been in situations before where I was working on a project and wasn't able to obtain material that would have been very helpful to me, and I love being able to help our students and faculty out of those situations."
She also enjoys ENMU's "small campus and sense of community."
Bridget, who has a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in agriculture from ENMU, is pursuing a master's degree in English. "I have always enjoyed reading and writing. When I discovered I enjoyed doing it on an academic level as well, it just felt natural to go this direction."
She considers Dr. Linda Sumption, associate professor of English, her biggest influence at ENMU. "She is a wonderful professor and truly inspires students to think creatively about things they are passionate about. It wasn't until after taking her courses that I fully decided to pursue a degree in English."
Bridget works at the Roosevelt Brewing Company and as a janitor for her church. She previously held a graduate assistant position where she served as an editor for El Portal, was a tutor and taught entry-level English courses.
She worked as an assistant supervisor helping with the Golden Library when it changed locations. She also had a student hire position for the IRC department in the Golden Library.
She was born in Riverside, California, and spend her childhood bouncing between Phoenix, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her mother is the manager of a teacher's supply store, and her father is a custodial supervisor at the Museum of Natural History in Albuquerque. She has two older brothers, Josh and Mark, and a younger sister, Katie.
Bridget does volunteer work for Trinity Church and local animal rescues. She has four rescued "fur-babies:" Spaghettio, Thunderflash, Zaboomafoo and Bojo.
Her favorite hobbies when she has free time are volunteering at her church, rescuing animals and writing short stories. "Does sleep count?" she added. The graduate student recently took up cross-stitching ("I succeeded in creating the ugly outline of a crooked tractor," she said.) and is "taking a stab at writing poetry."
Bridget enjoys beaches and "anywhere that has water that I can jump into." She doesn't have any vacations planned, but she hopes to attend an Apostolic women's conference in April. "That is better than a vacation in my opinion," she said.
Some interesting facts about the ENMU student are that she was "accidentally engaged once" and a lot of what she likes to write "centers on Russian kidnappings."
