Garrett Trott is Reference Instruction Librarian at Corban University in Salem, Oregon. Garrett has been an ACL member since 2005 and is your ACL member of the month for September, 2014.
Describe yourself in three words: Learning, persistent, open.
What are you currently reading? I’m currently reading Michael Polanyi’s, Personal Knowledge and Cornelius Plantinga’s, Not the way it is Supposed to Be.
Describe ACL in three words: Community, Christ-centered, Integration
What do you value about ACL? I value the connections with brothers and sisters in Christ striving to serve God through librarianship. Participating in ACL helps me see problems in a new way and to find solutions I never would have thought of.
What do you as an academic librarian contribute to your campus? One of the areas where I contribute to our campus is assessment. Information literacy is a large part of what we do here at Corban University. It is a university-wide objective and because of that finding ways we can assess information literacy and show that progress is being made from year to year is a critical component of my responsibilities here at Corban University. This involves looking at ways in which other institutions have effectively taught information literacy and keeping up with the literature on means of assessment and their effectiveness. This involves working with faculty so that what they teach relates back to information literacy as well.
In your own words: I became a librarian as a back route into academia. As a student, I really enjoyed academia and was interested in pursuing it as a career. To do so, I began work on a master’s degree in theology. As I started that program a friend of mine commented that I should really look into librarianship. I did and it looked like something I would enjoy. After I finished my theology degree, I started an MLS program. I met my wife through that program. I finished my MLS and got married in 2004. I got my job at Corban University in 2005 and have enjoyed working in Christian higher education.