Please help the UW Tacoma Library welcome Keely Titus!

A UWT alum who has worked previously in Housing & Residence Life, Keely has returned to the UW Tacoma Library as our Operations & Strategic Programs Assistant. Keely provides support to the Library in a range of ways, facilitating activities around staffing, purchasing, budget review and reporting, strategic planning, and so much more. We’re excited to share our interview with her!

How do you work with faculty and students in your current role at the UW Tacoma Library?
I’m definitely jumping in and kind of still starting to learn a bit. But I find it can be a lot of the background stuff that ultimately then supports the department as a whole, making sure that all ducks are in a row. So with the budget, making sure we’ve got proper staffing, all the materials we need so that everybody can access them. I’ll be doing a lot of the communication-based work, too. Like today, I’m sending out a notice for our hours for winter quarter. It’s making sure that everybody stays up to date and in the know. I feel like that’s going to play a large part in how I’ll be connecting and making sure that everything is going smoothly. I hope that, as I grow into the role, that I can be that person that somebody can come up to and even if I don’t have that answer I’m going to be able to know who to go to. So being a bit of a resource, where I hope to be here and just really make those connections with staff and faculty across the board, supporting them in their work, and supporting them in accessing services that the library has. I really hope to grow into that role.

What drew you to UWT?
I am an alum and I graduated in 2017. What drew me as a student was it was close to home, it was something I was able to take the train for, but it was also small. I transferred after my AA. What really drew me was I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to graduate with or really focus on. I ended up doing Arts, Media, and Culture. I loved how small the classes were, and so, for those two years, I really saw a lot of the same students. I worked on a lot of group projects with the same students and with the same faculty. They knew who I was. My professor knew me by name, which was great. And I really grew to love Taccoma and I think that’s what then led into my professional role. Having worked in Housing & Residence Life as a student I just was like, “I want to come back.” After a couple of years, I’ve been away for a year, I saw the opening here at the Library. And there’s a lot of people who have come back to the University after leaving. It just draws you in. The people here are the best people I know and are great collaborators. 

What drew you to working in libraries?
So from the actual job description standpoint, there are these areas that I love. There’s a little bit of HR work, working with facilities which I had extensively done with Housing, and the opportunity to dive into the budget supporting the financial aspect. When this position for the library specifically came up, it really drew me in because of how the library supported me as a student. All of the papers that I ever wrote I pulled resources from the library. When I was a senior working as a Resident Assistant in Housing & Residence Life, I connected with the library for programming and I always continued to push the RA’s. I said, “Work with the library, because they are awesome. If you need help, they’re going to be there for you.” When I was a student I used to like programs with the library, too, because I really needed help. So, I wanted to show students that they can also get help from the library if they’re writing a 15-page paper. It’s a great place to go for resources. I’m getting to know staff members that I didn’t know before during my time previously at UW Tacoma. It’s been really exciting to connect and meet with new team members. But the library holds a bit of a special place for me and I know so many other students, too. I was so excited to dive into the support of students. Ultimately I was just like, “Oh yes, I would love to be here.”

What parts of your job are you most excited about?
I think a big piece is growth with the finance and budget side because I know there’s a financial transformation coming up, so there’s a lot of changes happening across the board. I worked in HR for a little while and I love the fact that I’ll get to connect with every single person that comes in. I’m going to be the I9 coordinator now to support onboarding. I have a soft spot for getting to meet people and being somebody that they interact with right off the bat in hopes of creating a great first experience and first impression. Meeting with the students because, again, the students always are just fabulous on campus. I feel fortunate that I get to work with them right off the bat and get them squared away. And then I am a bit of a sucker for general admin work. I like being that person who tries to strive to become a content expert in all areas of my role. So I love being, I kind of hate using the word cheerleader, but being a cheerleader for a department. That’s what drew me; all the different aspects and being a support person across the board. That’s where I thrive. Wherever I am, to be that person that will help get people where they need to go.

Have you read or watched anything good lately?
Just last night, actually, I watched Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Con Man on Netflix. I am a little bit of a sucker for true crime and limited series, and it just came out a week ago, and it is so good. It’s this guy, he goes by several different names and I think the first incident started in the early ‘90s, but he convinces these college students that he is an MI5 agent. And because things were going on with the IRA, he’s just like, “You guys are targeted by the IRA, so you need to come with me on the run.” This goes on for years. There’s two different stories going on. There’s something in the ‘90s and then in the current day where it’s happened again. These young adults, maybe in their 20s or so, their mom, and it doesn’t give anything away, their mom is essentially on the run with this guy right now. It’s just spanned so many years and it’s so interesting to see how convincing he is. The stories of the people who have come out of this that are speaking about their experiences with him. It just blew my mind. And I try to get everybody on board with me, for I am a very big Outlander fan. The TV show, the books…I love those. I always push it out there; the books are amazing. I love the TV show, too.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I’m a bit of a homebody. I pick up a lot of random things here and there. I am an avid…How do I say that? I love puzzles. I want to say I’m an avid puzzle do-er. That’s what I love to do in my free time. I like to even glue them up. And more recently, I’ve been, in the past year, fostering dogs with the Tacoma-Pierce County Humane Society. So that’s been awesome. I love, love, love animals, especially dogs, and so we’ve been trying to foster here as often as we can, and so that’s really been a big love of mine. Fostering dogs and then doing a lot of puzzles, especially with the pandemic, that’s been my life when I’ve been at home. Puzzles galore!

Any advice for UWT students?
That is a great one because, especially in these times. Never hesitate to ask questions and reach out to your campus resources. I think my first year when I was on campus I just came to campus, did my classes, and I went home. I know that’s a lot of the story for a lot of commuters. But in my second year, when I started working in Housing and integrating more into campus and finding the different departments, it’s crazy the amount of resources I did not know about in my first year or that I didn’t even think to reach out to. So I think, especially during these times when  students aren’t on campus, it’s so important to continue to keep in touch with people. Never hesitate, if you have a question or concern, to voice it. That, for me, was eye opening. The people behind the campus resources want to talk to you. I think it’s super important to access those resources if they can and to ask for help on how to access them if there’s questions about it. There’s great resources out there. Also take care of yourself. I think, especially in the pandemic, protecting your physical health and your mental health is so important right now. Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re struggling in an online class or if there’s that fear of coming back to campus. Take care of yourself, that is huge. Don’t be afraid to reach out.