Member Spotlight - Joshua Newport
December 9, 2024
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This week's spotlight is on Joshua Newport. Joshua is the Math and Science Librarian at Illinois State University's Milner Library. He is the current president-elect of the Illinois Association of College & Research Libraries Forum (IACRL) and has served on the ILA Best Practices Committee and the 2023 ILA Conference Program Committee.
We asked Joshua to answer a few professional and amusing questions. Continue reading to find out more about
Joshua.
How did you get your start in libraries?
I’ve been a fan of libraries from an early age – Champaign Public Library was my first library with fantastic children’s librarians Rich McDonald and Janice Harrington!
My entry into working in the library field came in high school when I started working shelving books at my high school library, part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign library system. I continued in college with work study jobs that included working at the library and working for the theatre department – as a research assistant that had me spending a lot of time in the library.
After college, I went into the Air Force as a computer programmer largely because I didn’t know what career I wanted to pursue. After reflecting on those earlier jobs working in libraries, I realized that was the perfect fit.
Best advice you've received since starting your career in libraries?
I don’t know if it’s the best piece of advice I’ve received, but a director at a previous library said something that has stuck with me over the years, “We’re not doctors. Our mistakes will not kill anyone, so don’t be afraid to make them. Do your best, take chances, and learn from what happens.”
Any advice to newcomers working in libraries?
Enjoy exploring, experiencing, and telling all the stories that exist and *everything* is a story. Books, obviously, are stories. Theater, movies – stories. Games are stories. Science experiments and math problems are stories. All our lives are libraries of stories. The more stories we share and experience the more dimensions of reality we can appreciate. As Q says in the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.”
When and why did you become a member of ILA?
I initially became a member of ILA in 2011, when I was a student in library school at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I let the membership lapse in 2014 when I moved to North Carolina for a job. I was thrilled to rejoin when I moved back to take my current job at Illinois State University in 2019!
How has being a member of ILA helped you professionally?
Being a member of ILA has helped me begin and maintain relationships with library people across the state from whom I have learned so much! Whether at webinars, conferences, or doing ‘library tourism’ to see the libraries of my new friends engaging with all the library folks represented in ILA has made me a better librarian and more capable of serving our patrons.
I have fond memories of presenting a poster on October 10, 2012, in Peoria at the 2012 ILA Conference! It was one of my first steps into the wider world of the library profession and it felt so good being welcomed into the profession by the conference attendees.
What is your proudest professional achievement to date?
One of my proudest achievements is the article that I worked on with Sue Franzen, Caitlin Stewart, and Mallory Jallas that just got published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association, Consulting With an Embedded Librarian: Student Perceptions on the Value of Required Research Meetings.
Hardcover, paperback, e-reader, audiobook, or all?
All, but I do audiobooks largely because of the multitasking benefit. I can listen to audiobooks while dealing with dishes, vacuuming, cooking, on the elliptical, walking, playing video games (at least in the parts where I’m grinding, not doing story elements), and many other tasks. I just can’t do that with other kinds of books.
Favorite authors?
So many it’s hard to choose! One of my current favorites anyway is Sarina Bowen who writes contemporary romance novels, most of which involve hockey. I discovered romance novels initially when I had to read them in library school and now, they are the lion’s share of my free reading time.
Not being a fan of any sports at all I never expected to enjoy sports romance novels as much as I do, but I stumbled into them and I’m really enjoying them. They are usually written so that people who don’t know the sport have no issues because the core of the book is the relationship, the sports just provide the backdrop, additional complications, and drama necessary to create an engaging narrative.
If you were stuck on a deserted island, what five books would you want with you to pass the time until being rescued?
Tough question. If I knew about it ahead of time and could plan, I would pick something useful. For example, I would probably pick a book on wilderness survival appropriate to the climate and setting for my first book. I enjoyed reading and researching a lot about that when I was in high school, but I know I’ve forgotten a lot so I would want something to plug the gaps in my memory and help make sure I/we survived to be rescued.
The second book would be one of the longer books I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed, The Count of Monte Cristo, which will pass many an hour.
The last three depend on if I were to be stranded alone or with others. If I were stranded with others, I would choose the basic trio of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition rule books with which the group could create and tell our own stories together. If I were to be alone, I would probably pick other lengthy volumes I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying such as The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and Existence by David Brin.
Cat or Dog?
Dog, without a doubt. I love pets of all sorts but if I didn’t choose dog my Newfoundland, Lady Athena, would be justifiably not amused.
Favorite film, podcast, or television show?
Tough question! In films, I tend to prefer comedies because life is too dramatic on it’s own, I don’t need more. My favorite podcasts all fall in the science communication category – Skeptics Guide to the Universe, Skeptics With A K, and MonsterTalk are all good. My favorite TV shows tend to fall in the science fiction category – Star Treks, Babylon 5, Stargates, and so on. Sorry I can’t narrow it down further, there are just so many wonderful stories and I want to enjoy them all.
One person you would like to meet, dead or alive why?
I was fortunate enough to meet one of the people I’d want to meet, LeVar Burton, at a convention some years ago and it was amazing. It’s hard to think who else I might want to meet, but I think I’d have to choose Patrick Stewart. He’s such a fantastic actor and I’ve enjoyed reading and listening to interviews he’s given over the years.
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