Meet Tiwanna Nevels: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions

by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama

Meet Tiwanna Nevels: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor and Acquisitions, Collections & Assessment Manager at the Levi Watkins Learning Center at Alabama State University

Searching for jobs is an adventure. Searching for jobs in the state of Alabamtiwannaa sounds like a daunting task, but, to my surprise, there are a lot of awesome jobs out there. The secret is creativity. You also have to keep an open mind. We are librarians. Think of all of the skills we have and think of the amazing things we can do! During the first week, INALJ Alabama had 457 views! We also made to the the University of Alabama SLIS list-serv. I hope to hear of some success stories in the near future. Keep spreading the good word. Let me know if you have any questions of comments about the INALJ Alabama page. Keep your head up. Today is a new day. Happy hunting. Thanks for reading. –Rachael

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rachael: Favorite Library you have been to?
Tiwanna: The Black Diamond in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is aran extension of the Royal Danish Library. It is an amazing library made of black glass! It is also considered a cultural learning place. It has a huge auditorium used for concerts, conferences and literary events. There are exhibition spaces and a bookshop. Most of all it has two museums and an amazing view of the harbor. It’s a must see!

Rachael: Favorite book?
Tiwanna: The bible…Keeps me honest and thankful.

Rachael: Favorite website/blog?
Tiwanna: I love the blog spots “Curly Nikki” and “The Good Hair Blog.” I am a natural [hair] diva and this is where I get tips on how to keep my skin and hair healthy.

Rachael: Favorite thing about libraries/library technologies?
Tiwanna: I totally love libraries that bridge the gaps with its patrons through the latest technologies or help them study and research by using innovative and unconventional methods. Libraries with with funky and comfortable furniture are always fun. Libraries, like North Carolina State, totally involve their students in the implementation of services in the library, which gives students a sense of belonging and attachment to the people and space.

Rachael: If you could take any of your hobbies and create a job of it or integrate it into your job, what would it be? And how?
Tiwanna: I would have a shoe boutique in the library. There you could use the iPods and iPads to do research catered to podiatry or kinesiology all while buying shoes! We could also collaborate with the occupational therapy and physical therapy departments to host small programs in the boutique.

Rachael: You have been working in libraries for a number of years–what positions have you held? How did you get these jobs?
Tiwanna: I have been a Reference Librarian, Cataloging Manager, Acquisitions, Collections & Assessment Manager, Cataloging Associate and Literacy Associate. Getting these positions took lots of branding through job shadowing and low cost or free educational opportunities. For example, while working in reference, I asked for opportunities to do literacy classes. These opportunities were recorded on my resume, which helped me to become marketable as a librarian for my next position.

Rachael: Best piece of job hunting/career advice?
Tiwanna: Always have a career path and goals. Once you have reached a goal, start reaching for the next one.

Naomi House

Naomi House, MLIS, is the founder and publisher of the popular webzine and jobs list INALJ.com (formerly I Need a Library Job) and former CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of T160K.org, a crowdfunding platform focused on African patrimony, heritage and cultural projects. INALJ was founded in October 2010 with the assistance of her fellow Rutgers classmate, Elizabeth Leonard. Its social media presence has grown to include Facebook (retired in 2016), Twitter and a LinkedIn group, in addition to the interviews, articles and jobs found on INALJ. INALJ has had over 21 Million page hits and helped many, many thousands of librarians find employment! Through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and a real focus on exploring unconventional resources for job leads, INALJ grew from a subscription base of 20 friends to a website with over 500,000 visits in one month. Naomi believes that well-sourced quantity is quality in this narrow job market and INALJ reflects this with many new jobs published daily. She has also written for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LexisNexis Government Info Pro and many other publications in the past decade. She presents whenever she can, including serving on three panels at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Las Vegas; as breakout presenter at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa; as a keynote speaker at the Virginia Library Association annual meeting; at the National Press Club in Washington DC; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the University of the Emirates, Dubai, MLIS program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Naomi was a Reference, Marketing and Acquisitions Librarian for a contractor at a federal library outside Washington, DC, and has been living and working in Budapest, Hungary and Western New York State. She spent years running her husband’s moving labor website, fixed and sold old houses and assisted her husband cooking delicious Pakistani food. She is preparing to re-enter the workforce and is job hunting. Her husband is now the co-editor of INALJ, a true support!  She has heard of spare time but hasn’t encountered it lately. She pronounces INALJ as eye-na-elle-jay. 

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