Kristen Hallows …Success Story

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Naomi House’s interview with success story Kristen.

kristenhNaomi:  How did you find your current job?
Kristen:  I found this position through a combination of two-thirds prayer and one-third unintentional networking.  As a graduate intern, I was involved in a planning committee comprised of research librarians from various area law firms.  Months after the event, one of the law librarians mentioned my name when a former supervisor asked her to recommend someone for an open position.

Naomi:  Favorite library you have been to?
Kristen:  My favorite has to be Boston Public Library.  Different parts offer the venerability of a museum, the academic ambience of a major university, and the public service orientation of a public library.

Naomi:  Favorite book?
Kristen:  Among my favorites are One Drop by Bliss Broyard, Mad in America by Robert Whitaker, and The State Boys Rebellion by Michael D’Antonio.  Each book tells the true stories of individuals whose lives were profoundly impacted by changing societal attitudes and major events in American history.

Naomi:  Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Kristen:  Libraries are such bastions of learning and exploration.  I cannot imagine life without them.  I especially appreciate the ability to access library databases remotely.

Naomi:  Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following?
Kristen:  I really enjoy my subscription to beSpacific.com.  It focuses on law and technology news, but you’ll also find many other topics such as government, education, and health.

Naomi:  Best piece of job hunting advice?
Kristen:  Treat everyone you meet as a potential member of your network.  Never try to be anything more or less than yourself, but I think it’s important to remember that you never know whose help you will need one day (solicited or unsolicited).  Librarianship is such a small field, and law librarianship is even smaller; law librarians tend to know each other.  Admittedly, the word “networking” usually makes me cringe; however, as you can see, my story does not involve networking events or any effort that felt forced or unnatural.

Kristen Hallows is Research Librarian with Bricker & Eckler LLP in Columbus, Ohio.  She received her MLIS from Kent State University in December 2012.  She holds a BS magna cum laude in Business Administration from Franklin University.  Kristen is an accomplished genealogist who also enjoys following the work of urban explorers who capture the secrets still held by abandoned state hospitals.  Follow her on Twitter @kristenhallows and look for her article, “Health Information Literacy and the Elderly: Has the Internet Had an Impact?” in an upcoming issue of The Serials Librarian.