“I know a lot of people think librarians sit around all day and read books. While I promise this is not the case, my love of reading and digging up information is what led me to this career.

I earned undergraduate degrees in English and communication and a master’s degree in communication from the University of Colorado Boulder. I thought I would earn a Ph.D. but decided I would rather be a librarian. I had a really awesome opportunity to volunteer at the University of Colorado’s Norlin Library and that cemented my decision.

I earned a Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan and then came to work at the U’s library 12 years ago. In 2019, I earned my Master of Business Administration because I have always been intrigued by business and I wanted to work more closely with the David Eccles School of Business and its faculty, staff and students.

There are a lot of reasons I love being a librarian. I love being involved in information literacy. Part of this is helping people find the information that they need to do their own research and come up with the big ideas that change the world. And another part of it is helping people critically examine information. There is so much information competing for our time and energy. I like to help people think about the fastest and easiest ways to get reliable and trustworthy answers.

I identify as queer and as a person with disabilities. I want to make the library profession and the library itself a more welcoming place for people like me. I have been fortunate enough to develop a lot of long-term relationships with other faculty and students who are interested in those same topics.

I just finished creating a webinar with my colleagues on body shape and size stigma in libraries and I am very proud of it. I think it’s so important to make space for diverse body shapes and sizes and I hope to continue that work. I am also part of a team working on a project about why people leave library jobs and why they return. I hope we can use that information to make the library a place that fosters belonging for more people.

Above all, I hope to continue as an advocate and an ally to people who might be under-resourced on campus, or who might feel like they don’t belong at the U. I want them to feel like they belong.”

—Lorelei Rutledge, associate librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library