Member of the Month: Joe Williams
Name: Joe Williams
Institution: University Libraries, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Job Title: Director of Public Services
How long have you been a member of ULS?
I joined ULS in 2001.
What or who inspires your work?
I have stayed inspired by working with good leaders and mentors, and I’ve had the good fortune to work with many. I also get lots of energy and inspiration from working alongside creative and passionate coworkers. I work with a great team of colleagues that bring lots of insight and energy and perspectives to our daily work.
What most excites you about academic librarianship?
I’ve always loved the variety of work and projects in academic librarianship. I think I’m most excited today by the deep and growing partnerships between libraries and so many other campus divisions. It is satisfying to be aligned and working closely with other groups on campus – the teaching faculty, office of research, campus I.T., student affairs and student organizations – on programs that really advance research, teaching and learning.
What exciting or interesting project are you working on right now?
We’ll be developing a new training program for all our public services student workers this year, which I’m excited about. The Libraries is one of the largest employers of students on campus. We train and work with hundreds of student employees each year, and students often stay in touch with us long after graduation. This year, we’ll be looking at all the various training we provide students across our eleven campus libraries to make the very most of those opportunities.
What do you do for fun?
I try to keep a healthy work life balance. I spend of lot of my free time walking, hiking, and birding around NC. I just joined the NC Mountains to the Sea Trail organization, so hope to be doing some trail work with them this year. I also love to cook and have been exploring Northern Indian foods lately. I’m especially enjoying roasting and grinding and mixing all the endless spice combinations.
