As part of our effort to make sure you know who the staff here at the Texas State Library are, we would like to periodically highlight staff members that you may at some point come in contact with! For our next staff highlight, I interviewed Patrick Lloyd, Library Development and Networking (LDN)’s new Community Resilience Consultant and part of the Continuing Education and Consulting (CEC) team)!

What projects are you excited to get started with?
I hope to build a cohort of libraries interested in ongoing, regular training around issues of trauma, antiracism, and community partnerships. I envision this cohort working and learning together for a period of time—perhaps a year. I think this pilot could help us understand what is possible when an entire library staff invests deeply in this work and how such training can positively affect the community the library serves.

What was the last book you read/movie you watched/podcast or song you listened to that you enjoyed?
The last great book that I read was The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. It’s not exactly an enjoyable read but an extremely informative and important one. This book helped me understand the realities of immigrants who cross the southern border with a clarity I had not encountered before. It is a sad, beautiful, and nuanced book on the issue of immigration.

I also very much enjoyed Lawrence Wright’s God Save Texas. I’ve lived in Texas my entire life, but I still learned many things about our state from politics to nature (Rio Grande Cichlids mate for life!) to culture. I’ve read several of Wright’s books and I always appreciate his ability to insert humor and surreality into serious topics. It also helps that he himself is as Texan as Saturday morning brisket.

What is something about you that people don’t know?
I love bubble baths, massages, facials, and related spa services. When I’m not providing training, I tend to present as something of a tattooed grump; a former supervisor once asked if I was into motorcycles (I have never ridden a motorcycle). My love of bubble baths tends to surprise folks.

What drew you to this position?
Over the last several years, I’ve been privileged to have presented in front of many audiences. As an introvert, it’s been something of a surprise to find that I enjoy it! I’m excited to offer training to folks around the state and to help push the conversation within the library field towards whole-person services.

I also collaborated with TSLAC and my new coworkers several times in the past; I knew that I liked and respected them. The opportunity to work with the rest of the Continuing Education and Consulting team everyday was also a big draw.

As part of our effort to make sure you know the staff here at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, we periodically interview those with whom you may at some point come into contact! For this staff highlight, I interviewed Karen McElfesh, our new Resource Sharing Projects Coordinator.

What are your job responsibilities at TSLAC? 

I am the Resource Sharing Projects Coordinator, which is part of the Library Development and Networking division. My primary responsibilities are with the E-Read Texas project, which provides e-books to small and rural public libraries across the state. The program is fairly new, so I will be doing promotion and training to get more libraries involved with the program.  

What projects are you excited to get started with? 

I’m excited to get started working with libraries across the state and learn more about their needs when it comes to e-books and other electronic materials.  

What was the last book your read/movie you watched/podcast or song you listened to that you enjoyed? 

I just finished the book My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite for my book club. It’s a dark comedy about a woman whose sister keeps killing her boyfriends. It’s a really quick read and worth checking out. 

What is something about you that people don’t know? 

I used to work in a hospital blood bank before I was a librarian. I worked in the Texas Medical Center for about five years, doing compatibility testing and preparing blood for transfusion. I decided it wasn’t the career for me long-term and went back to school to become a librarian. 

What drew you to this position? 

I was interested in this position because it offers opportunities to collaborate with lots of different people, including libraries of all types, vendors and publishers, and my colleagues at TSLAC. I’m really enjoying getting to know everyone at TSLAC and learning more about all of the work we do across the state – it’s a great group of people!  

As part of our effort to make sure you know the staff here at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, we periodically feature those whom you may at some point come into contact! This month, I interviewed Tomas Mendez, Library Development and Networking (LDN)’s CE Support Specialist.

What are your job responsibilities at TSLAC?

I provide technical support and maintenance for the distance learning website. I maintain the LDN YouTube account and upload webinars and captioning files. I assist with the Continuing Education and Consulting (CEC) statistics gathering of online learning courses, webinars, workshops, and YouTube data. I create and help create CEC newsletters and blog posts and help maintain and update LDN webpages.

What projects are you excited to get started with?

Getting the FY 2020 statistics ready for reporting to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

What was the last book your read/movie you watched/podcast or song you listened to that you enjoyed?

The last book I read was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It’s a great story of magic, archives, and adventure.

What is something about you that people don’t know?

I am a second generation Austinite.

What drew you to this position?

Two things; one, the awesome CEC team; two, the opportunity to work on the new online learning website at the ground level.