Meet Tim Bostelle, the heart and soul of the UW Tacoma Library IT Department. Tim keeps us connected with the tech we need, trains students, and works with classes on maker projects — to name just the tip of the iceberg. Read on!

How do you work with faculty and students in your current role at the UW Tacoma Library? I love to partner with faculty on various maker projects for their classes. For example, we do a 3D printing project in John Finke’s biomed class where students try to print an object related to their coursework. And I also work with faculty in the School of Engineering and Technology on IoT (internet of things) projects utilizing the Raspberry Pi kits that we have available for checkout.

With students I love to provide them with opportunities in the Library to increase their knowledge and skills around maker technology and other technologies. We offer 1 hour sessions in the Library on maker tech and get students interested in these types of exciting technology. And I love to help students overcome technology hurdles. If you ever have any question about technology I would love to talk to you about it!

What drew you to working in libraries? Librarians! When I was going to school at UWT I had a research question (this was before the internet!) and the Reference Librarian showed me a print index of all these news sources that I never knew existed. It was like she had a treasure map, led me to the treasure, and opened the chest.

What parts of your job are you most excited about? I think it’s pretty obvious that I like the maker stuff. But what really excites me about the library maker program is that we like to make it a peer-to-peer teaching experience. That means that students teach each other and it’s a lot of fun to watch students grow and teach each other.

How has your job shifted because of COVID-19? Everything is online now! It’s awful! LOL. I mean, I’ve been able to adjust the tech support aspect but everything takes 10x as long to do and communication takes so much more time because everything is done over email.

Have you read or watched anything good lately? Lovecraft Country. It’s on HBO and might not be for everyone because of some of the rated R content but it’s an incredible mix of the atmosphere and horror of H.P. Lovecraft with an incredibly poignant and important look at the USA’s system of oppression on black men and women. It’s a challenging show but being challenged is what I like. I also read “We Say No” by Eduardo Galeano which is a collection of his essays from 1963-1991. Galeano details both the systemic exploitation of the north on Latin America but also celebrates Latin American culture and life. There wasn’t a single boring essay in the group and by keeping chapters short it’s a very easy read.

Any advice for UWT students? “Sucking at something is the first step toward being sorta good at something.” – Jake the Dog.   Also: take as many math and science classes as you can stomach!