Brittany Richardson - The Stars at KLIC: Journey Story of our Staff

By Brittany Richardson

I graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Public History from Georgia College.  My first post-college job was actually as a Youth Ministry Assistant at a church in north Georgia.  My plan had always been to get my Master of Arts in Teaching and teach high school.  I realized, however, that my favorite part of getting my history degree was actually the research.  While in college, I had an amazing internship at the Central State Hospital archives where I combed through and organized original documents. I also spent many hours enthralled with research in the microfilm of civil war newspapers in my university library. I enjoyed the “hunt” for all types of sources.

I began exploring options for getting my Masters in Library and Information Science.  I was accepted to the MLIS program at Valdosta State and received a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grant that fully funded my education.  While working on my MLIS, I was hired as a Library Coordinator for Georgia Northwestern Technical College.  The college was opening a new campus in the town where I lived.  As Library Coordinator, I was tasked with developing and cataloging a collection for the new library, managing the budget, supervising a small staff, teaching, providing reference, and a multitude of other tasks.  Obviously, I learned a lot very quickly in this position!  After finishing my MLIS, I began to look for library positions that were more specific to my professional interests, specifically, instruction.
 
I applied at Chattanooga State for the Coordinator of Library Instruction position and have happily been here for two and a half years!  I really enjoy my work with students and faculty as I teach classes on the information literacy skills required to do research.  I also love creating resources (videos, tutorials, infographics, etc.) to further student learning.  I still enjoy the “hunt” for resources, and hope through my teaching I can help students learn to enjoy research as well.

Brittany's awards, presentations, and community service:
Awards:
Accepted to and completed ACRL Immersion training, "Assessment: Demonstrating the Educational Value of the Academic Library," November 2015

Presentations:
Richardson, B. and S. Page.  "The Internet Conundrum: Teaching Web Research through Collaborative, Creative Library Instruction.”  Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy, October 2014.
Jennings, S. and B. Richardson.  "Flip it Up: A Library’s “Pull the Staple and Teach It” Approach to the Flipped Classroom Model.”  Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy, October 2014.
Jennings, S. and B. Richardson.  "Flip it Up: Engaging Students in Library Instruction.”  League for Innovation in the Community College, Innovations Conference, March 2014.
Page, S. and B. Richardson.  "The Internet Conundrum: Helping Teachers and Students Find and Use Reliable Sources in a Digital Age."  Two-Year College English Association of Tennessee, October 2013.

ChSCC Board and Committee Participation:
ADA Compliance Committee, 2015-current
College Success Course Curriculum Committee, 2015
Information Literacy AIM Assessment Committee, co-Team Lead, 2014-current
Global and Cultural Awareness AIM Assessment Committee, 2014
Faculty Center for Excellence Advisory Board Member, 2013-current