UW Libraries Blog

November 5, 2021

Catching Up with a Few McKinstry Fellows

SHELBY WILLIFORD, Associate Director of Libraries Advancement

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Jill and Joseph McKinstry Libraries Endowed Fellowship, Taylor Healey Brooks, the outgoing McKinstry Fellow (2019-21), hosted a virtual gathering to celebrate the occasion. The endowed fellowship is awarded to an underrepresented MLIS student and includes a scholarship and a paid graduate student position at the UW Libraries. During the virtual gathering, McKinstry Fellows shared professional and personal updates—and it is abundantly clear that McKinstry Fellows are making an impact on the communities they serve.

An Image of some McKinstry Fellows on a Zoom Call

Memo Cordova, the inaugural (2001) McKinstry Fellow, is now an Associate Professor and Librarian at Boise State University’s Albertsons Library. In his role, he works closely with Boise State’s McNair Scholars program, a federal program supporting undergraduate students who show academic promise, are interested in pursuing their PhD, and are a first-generation college student and/or a student underrepresented in doctoral programs. Memo teaches the Library Lab to each cohort, which usually ranges from 10-15 third-year undergrads, to guide and offer research support and one-on-one research consultations. “Working with the McNair Scholars is what I love most about my work. Not only am I fortunate enough to work with inspiring students, but the research the students conduct oftentimes address concerns facing marginalized populations.” In recognition of his outstanding work with students, Memo received the Boise State McNair Scholars Distinguished Service Award in 2009.

Khue Duong, 2008 McKinstry Fellow, is a Science Librarian at the California State University, Long Beach, a competitive position he secured at the height of the financial crisis. He supports all of the physical sciences departments in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Chemistry & Biochemistry, Environmental Science & Policy, Geology, Mathematics & Statistics, and Physics, as well as Asian and Asian American Studies.

Khue Duong at a library in Lyon, France

Khue Duong at a library in Lyon, France

Khue has taken his love of libraries to a whole new level, cycling in Europe (Montpelier to Lyon, France in 2014 and Oslo, Norway to Aarhus, Denmark in 2015) with the Cycling for Libraries program. The group visited libraries, museums, cultural centers, and city halls along their journey, ending the tour at the renowned DOKK1 in Aarhus, a brand new, state-of-the-art public library and community-cultural center.

Khue enjoys following and experimenting with new trends in the field. He helped organize a 4-day CSU Library Carpentry Workshop last year to teach foundational computational software and data science skills to his peers. Khue is also active within Special Libraries Association (SLA) Physics Astronomy and Math Division, and recently served as co-chair of the mentoring committee.

A leader in the field, Twanna Hodge, 2013-15 McKinstry Fellow, is the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Librarian at the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries. Google her name, and you will find a treasure trove of information on her research interests: diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility issues and efforts in the LIS curriculum and workplace; library residencies and fellowships; cultural humility in librarianship; and the retention of minority library staff in librarianship. (Seriously, check out her work—it is time well spent. Links are below.)

In fact, Taylor, the most recent McKinstry Fellow alum, became interested in pursuing her MLIS at UW after coming across Twanna’s research online and connecting with her. While Twanna is now a mentor to her, Taylor’s work stands on its own.

As a student, Taylor split her time at UW Libraries between Research and Learning Services, as well as working on the Assessment and Planning team. She co-authored an assessment report synthesizing data on the undergraduate student experience during the initial COVID-19 shutdowns and summer 2020 Black Lives Matter movement. This work helped inform her capstone, Celebrating Black Faculty and Student Scholarship: A Framework for UW Libraries Programming and Outreach. One of Taylor’s capstone recommendations was to showcase research by Black faculty and students, which inspired this UW Libraries Blog post featuring Associate Professor Maya Smith’s research.

Taylor also co-founded and co-chaired the Students of Color in Library and Information Science Student Organization (SoCLIS), where she co-hosted an intimate conversation with UW iSchool alumna Tracie Hall, Executive Director of the American Library Association.

Taylor is currently participating in a residency at the Library of Congress, in the Latin America, Caribbean and European Division.

Mei’lani Eyre, is the latest McKinstry Fellow and is honored to be in the company of the others. “It was a pivotal moment for me, when I found out I was named a McKinstry Fellow. Until that point, I had been at a crossroads in my life, not sure if I could fully pursue grad school and my dream of librarianship. Once I received that email headlined ‘congratulations’, I saw my dreams begin to manifest before my eyes.” Mei just started their internship at Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

Underscoring the importance of opportunities like the McKinstry Fellowship, Twanna explains, “paid internships and fellowships focused on combatting structural inequities in the profession are more than financial investments; they instill the belief that people are committed to seeing your dream a reality and helping you do so. To me, that is one of the best feelings to experience.”

Worth the time—a selection of work from Twanna Hodge:

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If you are interested in creating opportunities for students through philanthropy, please feel free to reach out to me, Shelby Williford with UW Libraries Advancement at shelbyuw@uw.edu or 206-616-6521.