SLIS Student Profile
By Gloriane Peck
17 November 2003
Tahirah Akbar-Williams spent a lot of time in the library as an undergraduate.
"The discovery process was awesome," says Akbar-Williams, who has bachelor's degrees in women's studies and administration of justice, with minors in pre-law and ethnic studies, from Arizona State University. She especially likes working with databases to uncover the information she's seeking.
The winner of a Spectrum Scholarship from the American Library Association, Akbar-Williams is in the MLS program in the School of Library and Information Science. The Spectrum Initiative strives to increase diversity in libraries.
Akbar-Williams describes her educational background as "eclectic."
"What do you do with all this information?" she asks. "That's where the library came in. Librarians tend to know a little bit about everything."
Before coming to Indiana University, Akbar-Williams earned an advanced library technician certificate from Mesa Community College because she wanted to see if she liked librarianship. She also spent two years as a supervisor in a public library circulation department.
She's currently enrolled in L401: Computer-Based Information Tools, L524: Information Sources and Services, L527: Management of Libraries and Information Centers, and L608: Seminar in Intellectual Freedom. The community college classes gave Akbar-Williams a foundation to build on at SLIS, but she says there's still more to learn.
"There's so much information in libraries, and you don't stop and say I know everything," she observes.
Working at the reference and circulation desks in the Information Commons is helping Akbar-Williams become familiar with reference sources and the inner-workings of libraries.
"I learn something every day," she says of the reference desk. "I learn to find my way through it."
Akbar-Williams wants to work in an academic library after she finishes at SLIS.
"I like the structure, the wealth of information, how you work with faculty, staff, and students," she says.
And there are fewer restrictions on sources than, for example, in some public libraries where librarians may encounter limits regarding the type of material they can order depending on the community they serve, Akbar-Williams says.
"Academic libraries generally have a wealth of resources from just about every field. I love that."
For the Spectrum Scholarship, Akbar-Williams had to write an essay describing her ideas for the library of the future and the importance of building facilities with the mission of serving all members of society. She described how this should be done through hiring and retention of members of diverse populations, with people of every group instrumental to the organization's goals and operation.
Libraries need to seek out a more multiethnic staff, Akbar-Williams says, and ensure that people are valued at work, no matter their race, ability, or sexual orientation: "To get people who are different to come together to build a collection that reflects what this great society has to offer."
Posted November 17, 2003