The UW Tacoma Library is delighted to welcome Alyssa Hall to our team! Alyssa, our new Operations & Strategic Programs Assistant, joined the Library November 2020, and has already been a tremendous addition!

Prior to starting her position, she worked for Housing & Food Services in Residential Life at the UW Seattle campus. She started working at a community center located in one of the residential halls as a student employee in 2016 and eventually progressed into a full time professional staff role, Residence Education Specialist, in 2019 that oversaw the operations of both that facility and a fitness center. As the Res. Ed. Specialist, her main responsibilities included student staff supervision, facilities management, budget tracking, among other duties. While working for HFS, she also was able to complete my Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Informatics. Academically, shewas focused on judicial politics and legal activism and spent my free time volunteering as a legal assistant for the King County Bar Association’s Housing Justice Project which provides free legal services to low income tenants facing eviction in King County.

We’ve asked her the same Meet Our Staff questions you might recognize from previous posts: enjoy getting to know her!

• How do you work with faculty and students in your current role at the UW Tacoma Library? Currently, I work to support the library staff administratively so that they can provide the best experience for faculty and students. I just began in this role while the buildings are closed so I am looking forward to seeing the building full of students soon!
• What drew you to working in libraries? I previously worked in Residential Life at UW in Seattle and wanted to continue working in higher education and this position seemed like an exciting way to do that. As a student at UW, I spent a lot of time in the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries and had a huge appreciation for the research help the librarians provided as well.
• What parts of your job are you most excited about? I’m really just looking forward to learning more about the library operations and getting to know everybody working here!
• How has your job shifted because of COVID-19? Since I just began in this position recently I can’t really say what it looked like prior to COVID-19. That said, the biggest difference so far is that I’m only in the building one day a week and spend the rest of my time working from home and in Zoom meetings.
• Have you read or watched anything good lately? Queen’s Gambit on Netflix was a good binge watch and The Crown season 4! I’ve also just started reading The River That Made Seattle which is a great read for anybody interested in environmental conservation or history.
• Any advice for UWT students?  Don’t be too hard on yourself! Online school during a global pandemic isn’t easy and taking time to recognize that your productivity doesn’t define your self worth is especially important right now.