Student Stories

Stories from and about library student employees and interns.
A group of library student employees wearing U-M Library t-shirts, smiling, and standing around the Shapiro Library sign.

Posts in Student Stories

Showing 81 - 90 of 100 items
Picture of Student Ambassadors
  • Haemin Lee
Starting last October, I worked as the University of Michigan Library Student Engagement Ambassador. With six other wonderful ambassadors, we aimed to actively publicize library resources and services to the campus community through events and social media. We functioned in two different teams: the programming team focused on creating and planning events while the social media team concentrated on publicizing by making posts on Facebook and Twitter. The system was flexible enough to chime in and share ideas on both parts through our whole group meetings. I soon noticed that viewing the library from a student’s perspective could be effective.
  • Katie Benjamin
Insider view of the Shapiro Design Lab from the Library Student Engagement Ambassadors. The Ambassadors had the fantastic opportunity to tour the Shapiro Design Lab and find out all about what different facilities and capabilities they have there. We even got to try out some of the equipment, which was pretty cool!
  • Michele Kathleen Laarman
A student perspective and reflection from the exhibit “Striving to Stimulate Serious Thought: Jewish Scholarly and Cultural Life at Michigan Across Two Centuries”.
  • Stephanie Dooper
On Tuesday, November 13th from 3-5pm the Michigan Library Engagement Ambassadors held our first event of the semester in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. Employees from the Career Center came to take free professional head shots and provide advice on how to improve your LinkedIn profile and use it to network successfully. We had a great turnout of students who came dressed to impress and took advantage of this event.
Three women reading a book together in a library setting
I had only been a User Information Services Specialist for two weeks before a student employee approached me for professional guidance. I knew the position had been created for this very purpose—to provide added expertise on the reference desk and support for student staffers—but nonetheless, when this first happened, I found myself somewhat taken aback; baffled that I could be perceived as an authority by anybody else, when in fact I had only just made the transition from student employee to regular staff member myself. I was even more surprised when the answer I offered was met, not with wariness, but rather with an exuberant response of “Now it makes sense! That’s so helpful, thank you!” As I picked my jaw up off the floor it dawned on me that maybe I knew what I was doing, after all.
picture of wolverine podcast logo
  • Amanda R Peters
The Wolverine Podcast is a series of short audio narratives comprising interviews and stories about students' experiences during their first year at the University of Michigan and beyond. This series is produced by University of Michigan students who use storytelling and audio engineering to craft compelling narratives from all around campus. Each interview is an exciting peer-to-peer process in which both parties can guide the conversation.

Episode one is a student interview about living on campus at the University of Michigan. Each Monday we will bring you a new student story. For more information about The Wolverine Podcast, contact mlibengaged@umich.edu.
Photo of Faith with colorful Post-It notes stuck to a window
This blog post was written by Faith Weis, a second-year graduate student in the University of Michigan School of Information.

I work at the library both as a User Information Services Assistant, staffing the Ask a Librarian service, as well as the Shapiro Collections Intern in Shapiro Library Reference Services. These two roles allow me to put into practice much of what I learn in the classroom as a master’s student at the School of Information. I can happily say that working at U-M Libraries has been the best, most rewarding part of graduate school these past two years.
Image of a yellow compass painted on the floor of the Hatcher Library’s North Stacks, with arrows pointing outward to the four directions.
If I wasn’t so psyched to be an academic librarian I’d definitely try my hand at tour guide. I love showing friends around my favorite places or leading my family through a new city while on vacation. It combines my love for education and natural inclination towards both showmanship and gregariousness. I’ve also never been accused of being shy or soft-spoken.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to lead some of the hour-long parent tours of the Hatcher and Shapiro Libraries that are given during the summer to coincide with student orientation. Taking on the responsibility allowed me to combine my passions, and the experience has led me to rethink some of my career plans.
Photograph of seven comic books laid out on top of one another. From bottom to top, they are Faith, Rat Queens, Lumberjanes, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman, and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
  • Melissa Gomis
Liz Settoducato, a first-year graduate student in the University of Michigan School of Information, shares how her love of comics is connected to the library and her professional education.

Picture of Sarah Labadie
  • Maria Anne Buczkowski
People of the Library is an ongoing series brought to you by a group of students called the Michigan Library Engagement Collaborative. They will interview library staff as well as the students, faculty and community members who use our Library.