What Our Members Are Saying: Loretta Esparza

Your Name: Loretta Esparza

Title and Affiliation: Public Services Librarian, SRJC Libraries

Year(s) of ARLIS/NA Membership: Member since 2022

About Yourself and Your Workplace

What do you love about your work?

I enjoy that I have many teaching and creative opportunities while working with people, either in a physical or a virtual capacity.  Art in the SRJC Libraries is an important aspect at both campuses and includes permanent art collections and other exhibits. While teaching Introduction to Information Literacy, I have students interact with Art Talk, featuring artist interviews from the Doyle Collection, to learn about the importance of using primary sources for research projects. The rotating art exhibits support curriculum and foster partnerships with other college departments. Exhibit receptions bring everyone in the community together to mingle and enjoy visual arts.

What are you working on now that you’re proud of?

In addition to campus collaborations, I have been expanding art exhibits at the Mahoney Library Gallery to include more involved partnerships with Sonoma County entities and artists. Upcoming exhibits are planned through collaborations with Recology Sonoma Marin (to be an allied exhibit with the Petaluma Arts Center); the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum and Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of North Bay (AAPIC/North Bay); and with local artists who teach at other institutions. I expect these collaborations to enhance the community aspect of SRJC by involving community members, modeling partnerships for students, and raising awareness of academic and community resources for all.

Tell us about the kind of library you work in. What do you wish other librarians understood about the kind of library you are in? What makes it great? What makes it challenging?

SRJC Libraries supports the students and faculty at Santa Rosa Junior College. Academic libraries at community colleges strive for inclusion of all levels of abilities and diversity of representation. Librarians understand the wide range of life and academic experiences of our student, college community, and neighborhood visitors. Everyone is welcome and both library and campus programming strive to create learning opportunities for all in a supportive and inspiring environment. It is challenging to work within workload and institutional monetary limitations. For example, I am constantly assessing our book collections to support the Art Department—and this is just one of the departments that I support. I would love to create even more instructional and engaging activities for art exhibits, but my time is limited and I must plan within budgets.

About Your Experience with ARLIS/NA

Who or what inspired you to join ARLIS/NA? What’s kept you renewing your membership after that? 

While working at the Sonoma State University Library, I co-founded the Library Art Committee to curate exhibits for the SSU Library Art Gallery, as nobody was doing this work at the time. The Committee became an efficient and creative team and we organized tremendous exhibits. I was quite inspired by the intelligence and abilities of my colleagues. I learned about ARLIS/NA,  and some of us collaborated to write an article for Art Documentation and to create a poster presentation for an ARLIS/NA conference. After shifting to SRJC Libraries and taking responsibility for the Mahoney Library Gallery, I began personally utilizing more ARLIS/NA resources, such as the Best Practices for Library Exhibitions. As a member, I find the conversation topics, shared resources, and presentations quite intriguing and useful. All of these aspects keep me involved with ARLIS/NA.

What was the first ARLIS/NA conference you went to, and what memories have stuck with you from that event?

The first ARLIS/NA conference I was involved with was the 48th Annual 2020 conference, which pivoted to virtual proceedings at a later date because of the COVID-19 pandemic. My colleagues and I had a poster presentation, and for a time, posters were available to view online. I was able to attend some of the virtual sessions focused on the conference theme “Preserve, Enhance, Reimagine.” I loved hearing the experiences and work of art librarians at other institutions. While it was disappointing to not be able to meet in person, I was delighted by and valued the professional connections made possible through the conference. It also emphasized to me the importance of maintaining a digital presence and spaces for conversations.

If you’re open to being contacted by members with questions, what kinds of topics would you be a good person to ask about? Please share your email address.

I would be happy to discuss my experiences in navigating an institutional environment to maintain Art in the SRJC Libraries. Members may also ask me about integrating art into curriculum and other academic learning spaces, including library workshops and library guides. I would also be a good person to talk about supporting Art faculty and students with library services and resources.