What Our Members Are Saying: Marsha Taichman
Your Name: Marsha Taichman
Title and Affiliation: Art + Design Librarian, OCAD University
Year(s) of ARLIS/NA Membership: 13
About Your Work
What do you love about your work?
I love the people that I work with at OCAD U! OCAD is one of the few art and design schools in Canada, and it attracts a wide range of students and faculty who are doing incredible creative and intellectual projects. Every day at work looks different than the last based on the kinds of questions that I get, the classes that I'm asked to facilitate, and the materials that I'm purchasing, which keeps my job fresh and interesting. I am always learning. And it's gratifying to feel like I am genuinely helping people with their research.
What are you working on now that you’re proud of?
We are improving our rare books room, and I'm proud of that. The books in our special collections are mostly ordered by call number. We are reorganizing them by size for better storage and preservation and rehousing books that need improved enclosures. This will allow us to assess the condition of the rare materials in our holdings and allow for the inclusion of more information about our local copies in the catalogue records. It's also an opportunity to collaborate with coworkers, which I welcome.
About Your Experience with ARLIS/NA
Who or what inspired you to join ARLIS/NA? What’s kept you renewing your membership after that?
As a new librarian, joining ARLIS was a way to meet people in the field doing similar work and grappling with the same types of challenges within their institutions. I have met incredible colleagues and lifelong friends through the organization. I am so grateful to be a part of the community, which keeps me renewing my membership.
What leadership and/or service roles have you held with ARLIS/NA?
Most recently, I was one of the co-chairs of the 2025 ARLIS/NA Conference along with Jessica Evans Brady, Jill Luedke and Beth Shoemaker. It was the first time that ARLIS intentionally planned an entirely online conference, and it was exciting to see how it looked compared to the in-person conferences that I was used to attending. Many members cannot afford to attend conferences each year, and the online conference was a way to allow more people to participate. Lowering the barriers for attendance is so important to me. I have also been on the ARLIS Upstate Board in numerous positions, co-coordinated Special Interest Groups, and served on Awards committees.
What advice might you have for others thinking about running or volunteering for a position?
I would recommend talking to other members in advance of taking on a position to get a sense of what to expect. Before I assumed the role of co-chair of Programming for the conference last year, I spoke to one of the people who had done it the previous year. She gave me invaluable advice about the timeline, commitment, and the kinds of responsibilities it would entail.