Same program but different paths

Same program but different paths for iSchool sisters

Mariah and Fernanda Schaefer

For Mariah and Fernanda Schaefer (both MS ’20), having your twin as a study partner when going through graduate school was extremely helpful. Originally from Brazil, the Schaefer sisters received their bachelor’s degrees—Mariah in journalism and Fernanda in advertising—and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois.

“It was incredibly convenient when we got to work on group projects together,” said Fernanda. “As you can imagine, scheduling time to work was super easy!”

Her decision to pursue a master’s in library and information science (LIS) was sparked by her experience as a marketing and communications intern at the Office of Technology Management, where she used information from a knowledge management system to market professors’ inventions to potential licensees. This internship led to a passion for information organization, which she decided to follow by enrolling in the LIS program.

Fernanda worked as an institutional repository management graduate assistant in the Scholarly Communication and Publishing unit of the University Library, where she managed metadata for the IDEALS repository of scholarly works. She was a data analytics intern at Caterpillar’s Research Park office and a summer intern at the Academy Film Archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.

Now employed as a metadata and content acquisition analyst at NBCUniversal, Fernanda manages, analyzes, and enhances descriptive and administrative metadata used to enable anti-piracy initiatives. She works with the legal team to ensure NBCUniversal has enforcement rights set for their titles and liaises with NBCUniversal brands such as DreamWorks and Peacock to identify priority titles in need of content protection. She also sources and processes the audiovisual files that are fed into the company’s anti-piracy workflows.

Mariah’s decision to study LIS came after taking the history course, Publishing the Past. “I became fascinated with the intersection of publishing and librarianship and thought it would be cool to learn more about libraries, as I was interested in working in book publishing,” she said.

Like her sister, Mariah also secured a graduate assistantship prior to starting the MS program. As a pre-professional graduate assistant at the University’s International and Area Studies Library, she planned an author talk with Brazilian-American author Frances de Pontes Peebles. This successful event led to a summer internship at the Macmillan Speakers Bureau.

“I also completed a practicum in editorial management at the University of Illinois Press,” she said. “My practicum was one of the most rewarding experiences I had in graduate school, and it made me realize the Press would be a wonderful place to work.”

Mariah is now an assistant acquisitions editor at the University of Illinois Press, where she helps guide projects through the publication process and works with books in the subject areas of music, folklore, communication, film and media, sports, and Chicago. In addition to assisting with project management, she maintains records, coordinates peer review, and works with authors to finalize their submissions.

“I wanted to work in book publishing, and Fernanda wanted to work with entertainment metadata; neither of those paths fit a ‘traditional’ LIS route, but the program prepared us well for our positions,” said Mariah.

iSchool degree prepares Nettles for meaningful career

Saundra Nettles (MS ’68) credits the iSchool with teaching her skills, such as systems thinking and interdisciplinary teamwork, that she has been able to transfer across work settings in diverse organizations. Nettles, who also holds a PhD in psychology from Howard University, has served as a special recruit at the Library of Congress, librarian at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, principal research scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Social Organization of Schools, and faculty member at the University of Maryland, Georgia Southern University, and University of Illinois.

She decided to earn her MS/LIS degree because of her mentor, Annie McPheeters, a librarian and provider of resources for the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta, who was influential in Nettles’ learning and desire for social justice.

“GSLIS [the iSchool] was interdisciplinary, a strong point for me as I had varied interests from African American history to architecture,” she said.

Nettles was recently honored for her own mentorship, receiving the 2020 Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award for “inspiring a former student to create an

organization which has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large.” She was nominated for this honor, which includes a one-time cash award of $25,000, by her former student Christen Clougherty.

“Christen approached me to serve as her stateside mentor in her doctoral studies at the University of Birmingham, U.K.,” said Nettles. “Our conversations, often difficult ones, centered on her dissertation and her readings of my research on social change through place-based education. Other topics included social justice and racial/ ethnic/gender disparities in education. Clougherty’s organizations include the Nobis Project, of which Nettles served as the first president of the board, and the Susie King Taylor Community School, a K-8 public charter school in Savannah, Georgia. Nettles’ retirement from the University of Illinois, where she was a teaching professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, has allowed her more time for her book projects. One is with a photographer and a curator to create a book and exhibit on the photographs of Ellie Lee Weems, her great uncle. Another book is forthcoming; it is about her career and writings on positive social change. Her book, Crazy Visitation: A Chronicle of Illness and Recovery (University of Georgia Press, 2001), also held a personal connection for Nettles.

“In 1994, I was diagnosed with an orange-sized meningioma on my left frontal lobe. It had been growing for most of my life. I wrote the book, Crazy Visitation, with a foreword by my neurosurgeon because I found no other books on living with and without a brain tumor,” she said.

In addition to her book projects, Nettles is a member of the board of SwaTaleem, an organization founded by former student Ananya Tiwari, PhD candidate in educational psychology and recipient of the 2020 Illinois Innovation Prize. “The MS/LIS credential afforded me opportunities to work with exceptional librarians, archivists, and information scientists and to consult with organizations that specialize in community-based learning environments,” she said.

C H O OL LIBRARIAN L I CENSURE PRO G R A S M 20th Anniversary • iSchool at Illinois School librarianship program celebrates 20 years

In recognition of the 20th anniversary of the School Librarian Licensure program this year, the iSchool will be highlighting school librarians who have made a difference in the field. One of these alumni is Kim Anderson (MS ’07, CAS ’09), librarian at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. Anderson loves being a school librarian and mentoring future librarians. Through the years, she has mentored 25 practicum and student teachers in her role as a cooperating librarian. She also contributes her time and expertise as a member of the iSchool’s School Librarian Licensure program advisory board. Anderson shares her thoughts on being a school librarian in the Q&A below.

Why did you want to become a school librarian?

I like to think that I was part of an informal “grow your own” effort. I was encouraged to become a librarian by Maggie Stephens, the former librarian at Franklin Middle School (where I was a classroom teacher at the time). She has since retired, but I am forever in her debt. As a reading teacher I always relished chances to introduce students to new books. I was excited about the idea of being a school librarian, fully immersing myself in the books my students would be reading, and then getting to share them with my readers.

How did the iSchool prepare you for your position?

GSLIS, now the iSchool, was the greatest educational experience of my life. I was encouraged to think deeply about all aspects of school librarianship and how I could use what I learned to create a library and library program that would create lifelong readers. I was challenged to be flexible in my thinking and vision for the library so that it would continue to grow and meet the needs of our ever-changing population. My education has also prepared me to advocate for what I know is best for my library at the building and district level.

What do you like best about your job?

I love that there are so many different facets of my work that I never get bored. I’m a teacher, curator, programmer, manager, designer, mentor, and planner. And that’s just on Monday! But seriously, if I’m honest, one of my favorite things is having a student jump up and down when I give them a long-awaited book. That feels amazing.

What advice would you give to current students?

Don’t stop learning, stay flexible, and remember that you are the gateway to the library users of the future. Always remember you are your best cheerleader. It’s not bragging if you are advocating for your program and highlighting the work that you do as it improves student learning and engagement. And last, be kind, friendly, and helpful, and they will use the library for life.