by Linda Mork
Quick Summary
Hello! I am the new Reference Outreach and Instruction Librarian at Minitex. I come from a long career in K-12 education, most of it spent in the Anoka-Hennepin school district teaching high school English, including AP, IB, and the University of Minnesota’s College in the Schools literature and composition courses.
Hello! I am the new Reference Outreach and Instruction Librarian at Minitex. I come from a long career in K-12 education, most of it spent in the Anoka-Hennepin school district teaching high school English, including AP, IB, and the University of Minnesota’s College in the Schools literature and composition courses. What I enjoyed most as a classroom teacher was guiding students through the inquiry process: encouraging them to ask questions, equipping them with skills and tools to access quality information, and helping them critically analyze and synthesize multiple perspectives so they could add their own, informed voices to conversations about meaningful issues. This passion for teaching research and information literacy eventually sparked my desire for a second career in librarianship.
While earning my master’s degree in Library and Information Science at St. Kate's, I sought opportunities in a wide variety of libraries throughout Minnesota. I volunteered at a Hennepin County public library, interned with the Minnesota Historical Society library, and worked at two academic libraries and several K-12 library media centers in both private and public schools. Most recently, I was the media specialist at Hastings High School. I learned so much about the profession from these experiences, and I came to truly understand and appreciate our common mission as librarians, as well as our unique needs as we serve our specific populations. I also became increasingly aware of the invaluable role Minitex plays in providing access to resources and supporting librarians, educators, and information seekers of all types.
I am excited and proud to now be joining the Minitex ROI team with Beth Staats and Carla Pfahl and providing outreach and instruction for ELM databases, AskMN, Ebooks Minnesota, and other projects. A life-long Minnesotan, I currently live in Minneapolis with my husband and our four college-aged sons. Outside of work, you can find me playing online Scrabble, dreaming of warm travel destinations, and keeping my deceivingly sweet-looking Goldendoodle out of trouble. I look forward to getting to know you and working together. Please reach out and let me know how I can support you!
