Government Information Librarian Deborah Hollens began her career
at the University Library in 1971 as the library's archivist and
part-time reference librarian, after graduating from the University
of Southern California with a Master's in Library Science. Deb remembers
being so young that she was mistaken for a student when she reported
for work.
Deb held many different positions in the library over the next
ten years, including Head of Circulation and Head of Reference,
and she also earned a Master of Arts degree at Southern Oregon University
and pursued post-graduate study in English literature at the University
of Oregon. However, it wasn't until 1979 when Deb reluctantly accepted
an assignment as the library's Government Documents Librarian, that
she discovered that her true calling was in government documents.
Deb was joined in 1981 by Library Technician Anne Richards, and
the two became the "Mighty Duo" of the library's Documents Department.
Deb's mission over the years has been to advocate for the value
of government documents, and to build a documents collection tailored
to the specific needs of the university community and the Southern
Oregon region. The library's government documents collection serves
as the federal documents depository for the entire Second Congressional
District of Oregon. Deb is "thrilled that the library's upcoming
digitizing project will provide an opportunity to make important
documents about the Southern Oregon region available to a wider
audience via the Internet." Deb also enjoys working one-on-one with
students, and teaching government documents research in a variety
of subject areas.
In addition to serving as Government Information Librarian, Deb
also serves as the library's liaison to three programs: English,
Shakespeare Studies, and Political Science. She enjoys providing
library instruction and collection development in these subject
areas, including her work developing the library's special Margery
Bailey Renaissance Collection. Deb also serves as the library's
Department Chair.
Deb feels that she has been fortunate to spend her entire career
in a library she loves and in a profession that she is passionate
about. She commented that, "although the library might have hired
someone else who could have done her job better, they couldn't have
found anyone who would have loved it more!"
