>> Cesar Reyes: Hi, everybody
my name is Cesar Reyes
and with me is Maria
Daniela Thurber.
I'm going to do a quick bio
and then we're going
to get to talking.
Thank you, again, Daniela
for being here with me.
So Maria Daniela
Thurber, she/her pronouns,
goes by Dani is a
reference librarian
in the Hispanic Reading
Room, where she assists users
in finding Library of
Congress treasures.
As a reference librarian,
Thurber recommends materials
for acquisition to build
the national collections,
reviews resources to be
included in the Handbook
of Latin American Studies,
and develops access tools
such as research guides.
She serves as the
recommending officer
and collection specialist
for the library's
Latina/Latino/Latinx holdings,
as well as the countries
and regions of Mexico,
Central America, and Ecuador.
Thurber holds a library
science master's degree
from the Catholic
University of America,
where she also completed
her undergraduate studies
in Spanish and theology.
Dani, thank you so
much for joining me
for this interview series.
I'm really excited to
have you here with me.
>> Dani Thurber: Thank
you, Cesar, and thank you
so much for the invitation.
>> Cesar Reyes: Of
course, of course.
And I'm going to start
you off really easy here.
I'm just going to
ask how you doing?
Are you excited for
ALA that's coming up?
>> Dani Thurber:
I am very excited.
It's always fun to
have it in Washington,
DC and for the library
to be involved.
Yeah, I'm excited to see our
colleagues and see, you know,
what's new in the profession.
>> Cesar Reyes: I know.
Me, too. I'm also
going to be there.
It's going to be a
good time, I think.
I'll also be at the pavilion
for Library of Congress,
so we'll definitely get a chance
to meet in person and say hi,
and meet other people and
people in the profession,
and it's going to
be really exciting.
All right, so for
our first question,
I'm going to ask how did
you come to be a librarian
at the Library of Congress?
What was your journey like?
>> Dani Thurber: Great ques
-- great first question.
>> Cesar Reyes: It's big.
>> Dani Thurber: It's a
big, long [inaudible].
>> Cesar Reyes: I know.
>> Dani Thurber: I joined
the library as an intern.
I started -- I went to college
locally in Washington, DC,
so I just looked for
opportunities to intern,
build my resume, and I
knew about librarianship.
I knew that was the career
path I was considering,
and when I got the
opportunity to be at the Library
of Congress, I just thought,
you know, it was a sign.
I thought, what better way to
start and get the experience.
And since then, I've
just been lucky
to grow professionally here
and get to where I am now,
which is my title is as
a reference librarian
in the Hispanic Reading Room.
>> Cesar Reyes: That's
phenomenal.
What was the internship
that you were working
in at the library at the time?
>> Dani Thurber:
It was a couple.
So I stayed --
>> Cesar Reyes: Oh, really?
>> Dani Thurber: -- as an
intern, I think over a year.
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow.
>> Dani Thurber: I began doing
records management, which is --
>> Cesar Reyes: Ohhh.
>> Dani Thurber: -- part
of Library Science --
>> Cesar Reyes: For sure.
>> Dani Thurber: -- and archival
science, so that's how I began
and then once you're in the
library, you kind of get this --
you get an insider
perspective, right?
You get to meet colleagues.
You get to meet the
people that work here.
And I saw the internationals
acquisitions collection
development, how we build the
library's foreign collections,
and I walked into those offices,
and I was like, I
need to be here.
I need to figure out
how to work here.
This is my dream.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yes.
>> Dani Thurber: So I
connected, you know?
I did the famous networking --
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: -- one
of your words, networking.
>> Cesar Reyes: That's great.
>> Dani Thurber: I talked
to the people there.
I -- when I started, I was
really into cataloging.
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow.
>> Dani Thurber: I thought I
was going to be a cataloger.
I -- you know, I
know not everyone
who joins the field
is like cataloging --
>> Cesar Reyes: Right.
>> Dani Thurber: -- but somehow
I was very excited about that
at the time, so that kind of got
me my start there to learn more,
and the library is a mecca
for cataloging standards,
and that that very nerdy
side of that profession.
>> Cesar Reyes: [inaudible]
profession, for sure, for sure.
And I'm kind of jealous, had
an intern for a whole year.
I'm a junior fellow,
as you know.
I'm only here for the summer,
but even just a little snippet
of being here, that
famous networking,
meeting people connecting with
individuals, being able to be
in the field for a
little [inaudible]
and get your feet wet
is just like so amazing,
and it's just been a
wonderful experience.
I'm glad you could had a similar
experience as I'm having now.
And speaking of like, special,
is there anything you've
been enjoyed the most
about your journey so far,
or anything that's been
like feelings of like
the most special,
that moment you're
talking about earlier,
being like, this is it for me?
>> Dani Thurber: I would
say that when I started,
you get very, you know, kind of
starstruck by a collection --
>> Cesar Reyes: Sure, sure.
>> Dani Thurber: -- the
treasures and the like.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: It's an
embarrassment of riches having
such a rich, you know,
the scope, the breadth.
We really do have quite a
bit of amazing resources.
So when I began,
it was, you know,
that was that was very
appealing and getting to work
with these items, and of course,
you love books, you love stuff,
you love materials, but I
think what I enjoy the most,
a few years later, you
know, as I'm now a few years
into my career, is
working with users.
>> Cesar Reyes: Ohhh.
>> Dani Thurber: That
is the most rewarding,
what really gets me going,
what really kind of inspires me
to keep doing projects, keep
collaborating with colleagues.
You never know what
questions you're going to get.
I am a reference librarian.
So reference services,
that's my main duties,
my main responsibilities, so
getting to answer questions,
making connections,
providing access.
It's always a wonderful
journey of discovery,
because the library is
such a large collection.
So yeah, that's kind of where
I draw my joy from the most.
>> Cesar Reyes: That's
beautiful.
I love that.
Yeah, and I definitely
feel the same.
As me, getting my MLIS
currently from San Jose State --
a little bit of a shout out -- I
found that the customer service
of it, the user, the bringing
of knowledge, the shepherding
of knowledge in some
ways, and for the user,
like there's something about
that experience and that joy
that really brings new
life as a librarian,
and that's just phenomenal.
And so I'm curious, in
this process, right?
-- you're have all these
special collections,
you're meeting users,
you're in the profession.
Has there been any surprises
that you weren't expecting
as you began working at
the Library of Congress?
>> Dani Thurber: It's -- I
wouldn't say so much a surprise
as another joy is working
with my colleagues,
experts in their fields --
>> Cesar Reyes: Oh, my god, yes.
>> Dani Thurber: -- just
incredibly impressive people --
>> Cesar Reyes: I know, yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: -- and I think
it's just true for any library.
The -- you know, the
colleagues are all there
because you share this love
of, you know, either working,
sharing knowledge,
books, you know,
any of the pillars
of our profession --
>> Cesar Reyes: Right.
>> Dani Thurber: -- and it's
just a wonderful collection
and getting to collaborate
I would say it's --
is a surprise and
a joy each time.
I feel so honored.
Like, want to work with me?
Okay, cool.
That's great.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah, as
my mentor likes to say,
iron sharpens iron, and I
think in the library profession
that happens so often where
you work with people who have
so many varying interests or
research that they're doing,
because as librarians, we're
constantly learning, right?
And like, that's -- I --
having access to materials
you're talking about to learn,
to collaborate, to build
on one another, like,
that must be just
like, every day.
That's your every day, huh?
>> Dani Thurber:
[inaudible], yeah.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
I love that.
And talking about kind
of like the everyday,
I'm sure it's different from
day to day for you, but like,
generally speaking, what is --
what does your day kind
of include when you step
into the building or
turn on your computer now
that we're sometimes in
this virtual environment?
>> Dani Thurber: It
-- yeah, every --
I would say every
day is different.
A constant is for me always
checking our reference
questions, so checking our
virtual reference transactions
that we get either through
Ask a Librarian or email
or sometimes, you know, Zoom.
We all --
>> Cesar Reyes: Really?
All the things?
Love it.
>> Dani Thurber: That
is always, I think,
a constant every day just
to see what our users need,
what new projects, research
questions are coming in,
and then from there, just
tackling any other collaboration
or project that we
have in the library.
We're big on publishing digital
resources, like research guides.
That's one of the big parts --
>> Cesar Reyes: Oh, very cool.
>> Dani Thurber: -- of my
job, something that I love
to do working with lib guides --
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: -- so a little
bit of that, a little are a bit
of working with users and then
working with our collections
and sharing the collections.
>> Cesar Reyes: That's so
awesome, and it's interesting
that now that we're kind of in
this virtual environment, right?
-- that you have
these three avenues
that people can reach
out via, right?
And I imagine also phone.
So it's like you have in-person,
you have Zoom, Ask a Librarian,
email and, and just
walking in, I guess.
I think I already said that one.
>> Dani Thurber: Okay, yeah.
>> Cesar Reyes: But
there's a lot.
But I'm curious.
So has there been a change?
Have you found there's
been a change from like,
pre-COVID to post-COVID
environment
at the Library of
Congress at all?
>> Dani Thurber: Absolutely.
I think we, we were
always pretty good
at meeting our users
where they were.
One of the things for us in
the Hispanic Reading Room,
and any of the other area
studies reading rooms,
because we deal with
international collections,
we get people from those
countries and regions reaching
out to us to access
our materials --
>> Cesar Reyes: Oh, wow!
That's cool!
>> Dani Thurber: -- and
not everyone can, you know,
not everyone can get
on a plane and travel
to DC, especially during --
>> Cesar Reyes: Right.
>> Dani Thurber:
-- the pandemic.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: So we had
to figure that out quickly
and okay, how are we
going to meet their needs?
How are we going to get
these items to them?
What are the best channels?
I think, you know,
now, at this point,
we have a pretty
good system going --
>> Cesar Reyes: For sure.
>> Dani Thurber: -- and
yeah, it has changed.
I would say we were
definitely able
to strengthen our
electronic resources.
We published research
guides like never before,
and we also delved
into other formats.
We worked on a podcast,
Season 2 of the La Palabra --
I'm sorry -- The
Biblioteca Podcast.
I'm thinking of another
resource that's also digital.
>> Cesar Reyes: Understandable.
>> Dani Thurber: Shout
out to La Palabra Archive,
also in the reading room.
>> Cesar Reyes: Love it.
>> Dani Thurber: So yeah, just
strengthening our offerings
that anyone anywhere in
the world can access.
>> Cesar Reyes: Well,
I'm curious.
What's it like having expanded
those resources for you all
in the Hispanic Reading Room,
the podcasts you're
talking about, some of more
of these online digital
resources?
Are you finding there's
an uptick of users?
Is there a difference in
users maybe from those
who have walked in previously.
I know you had mentioned
from across the pond,
maybe internationally that
this people are coming in?
But is it you're
finding, you know,
it's more accessible
in some ways?
>> Dani Thurber: Abso -- yeah.
We have to.
We have to.
We have to meet --
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: -- our
users where they are.
We have to be able to provide
the resources they need.
One of our biggest projects --
so I mentioned, I am
the recommending officer
of the US Latino collections,
and for me, during the pandemic,
it was very important to
explore our Latinx collections,
and see what that
means to the library.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: I was
incredibly lucky to be able
to work with amazing
fellows in [inaudible] Chavez
and Maria Guadalupe Partida,
Emmanuel Dita [phonetic].
They were able to work with
us for over a year as well --
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow!
>> Dani Thurber: --
and we developed a couple
of Latinx resources just --
>> Cesar Reyes: Beautiful.
>> Dani Thurber: -- mainly to
connect to those collections
and that knowledge, but also
to explore the use
of the term Latinx --
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah!
>> Dani Thurber: -- which,
you know, is controversial,
but we had plenty of
users who would come
in even before the
pandemic, and would ask me,
"What are your Latinx holdings?
What do you have
for US Latinos?"
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow!
>> Dani Thurber: And it was
for us, it was important
to create resources
that had that term,
that had that metadata
that people could find --
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow!
>> Dani Thurber: -- and locate,
and I would say, looking back,
it's been incredibly successful.
One of the guides, a Latinx
resource guide which focuses
on civil rights cases
and civil rights history
of Latino communities in the
United States, I think it's
in -- it's always in our top
10 most used guides, so --
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow!
>> Dani Thurber: --
that work, you know,
it's been incredibly fruitful
and just to see the impact
that it can have when you
take a moment and focus
on what you can offer digitally.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yes,
and I love that.
I'm getting chills right
now as you talk about it.
I love that you're able to like
provide that access and bring it
to a whole new user group and
being able to kind of expand
and share in like the
Latinx term for example,
and sharing what that means,
and you don't have to explain it
to me, so I completely
understand.
I had mentioned earlier
that I'm getting my MLIS,
and I was a little bit
curious about, you know,
if you have any thoughts
on what are
like the top three job skills
you think are essential
to being successful as a
librarian at the Library
of Congress, for example?
>> Dani Thurber: You
-- a little while ago,
you just mentioned how
it's a service profession,
and that is something I want to
emphasize, I think, you know,
you have to -- as a librarian,
it's a given people know,
but just the importance,
that it is service to others,
and there's just something so
wonderful about that, right?
-- and being someone who,
you know, you're not there
to give -- sometimes you're
not there to give an opinion.
You're not there to judge.
You're there to aid, to
guide, and I think having
that mentality is fundamental.
It has been -- it's something
that, you know, I'd learn
and I try to practice every
day, just going back to okay,
how do I better serve?
How is this more -- how will
these interactions be good
for the users?
You want to serve
the collections.
You want to serve what you have,
but at the end of the day, I --
the one on one, you know,
that communication, I think,
is so much more important,
and yeah, being present,
being listening, soft skills
that I think go a long way
and that in no way
have I mastered them.
I'm still getting better, and
I'm still learning, but yeah,
I think it's a wonderful
profession,
because you get to
work with people.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah, and
I think those are things
that I'm definitely
trying to work on myself.
I know that there
is sometimes a --
I don't know, an idea
that librarians are super
introverted, or they're --
or always introverted, I
should say, and just trying
to shush people all the
time, or whatever the case,
and I don't think
that's the case anymore.
I don't think that's always
the case, I should say,
and working those soft skills,
along with the, you know,
the theory of being in
the master's program,
and all that is important
to kind of keep
and evolve as we move on.
Right? So I'm curious
if there --
working at the Library of
Congress in your profession,
but outside of that, as well,
if there's a hobby or interest
that you have, that you bring
in to work with you sometimes
or if that's part of an interest
that you share with your work
and life in both sides.
>> Dani Thurber: I mean,
love anything artsy.
I love to paint.
I love printmaking.
I miss that kind of
studio art like --
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: -- where
you have to go and be part
of a process and you have
to dedicate time to it.
I love all -- those are
my kinds of hobbies.
I think more related to my
work, I just love to read.
I love a good YA/children's
works.
>> Cesar Reyes: Yeah!
Yeah! I love it!
Yeah.
>> Dani Thurber: And I do
I think I'm always looking
for the next Latine creator.
I'm always looking for up and
coming authors, illustrators,
artists, you know, not
just to get those stories,
get those perspectives, but
also potentially, you know,
bringing them into the
Library's collections,
bringing them to speak.
Hopefully we'll have
more in-person events --
>> Cesar Reyes: Very cool.
>> Dani Thurber: -- but
yeah, I think that for me,
I'm always in the
Latine side of creator.
I just love that.
>> Cesar Reyes: All right.
Well, speaking of
which, is there anything
in the collection currently
that you've been working on
or that you think is super
interesting like, oh,
people should definitely check
this stuff out more often
and need some love
kind of thing?
>> Dani Thurber: Oh, I have
an ongoing list all the time.
>> Cesar Reyes: Ho, ho!
I'm sure! I'm sure!
>> Dani Thurber: We have --
we really do have treasures
and I always want to bring --
I always need to figure
out what is the best way
to bring our users to
explore these resources?
Right now, I am really into
our Mission Grafica Collection,
which I can send you a link.
>> Cesar Reyes: Sure.
>> Dani Thurber: It is a
collection of graphic works
that has just been digitized --
>> Cesar Reyes: Wow!!
>> Dani Thurber: -- and it
is fully available online,
and it's many -- many of
them, many of the prints are
by Latinx creators and artists,
so I'm really into that, again,
talking about the art.
>> Cesar Reyes: Right.
>> Dani Thurber: I just
love visual culture.
>> Cesar Reyes: Beautiful.
>> Dani Thurber: So yeah.
That -- I'm really into that,
the Mission Grafica
Collection right now.
>> Cesar Reyes: So I have last
question here for you, Dani,
and just, you know, big shout
out again, and thank you so much
for joining me here today.
Where can people -- what's
the best way for people
to access the materials you
were just talking about,
the grafica you just mentioned?
Even reaching out to you,
where can they find you
in the library per se?
>> Dani Thurber: Come
to the Hispanic Reading
Room in-person, virtually.
You can call us, email us,
use our Ask a Librarian there.
You know, I will ans -- I
will personally answer those,
so any of our channels.
I can give you more information
about that, but also,
I think our research guides, any
of our published kind of guides,
resources, they're just
-- they're very rich.
They're put together
by library staff.
They're put together sometimes
in consultation with experts
of those fields, so I
always recommend, you know,
research guides, which you can
find them at guides.loc.gov
or our story maps, which are
just beautiful storytelling
platforms that interwind
the collection items,
and the staff's expertise,
and you can search
for the library story maps
and get to all the ones
that have been published so far.
I think those are the
best ways to start
because it's the collections
with context, right?
So you get a little bit
of a history of the item,
a little bit of connections
to other collection items.
And, yeah, a lot of
work is put into them,
so I always recommend
starting there first.
>> Cesar Reyes: Beautiful.
Well, I know where
I'm going to be right
after this interview is checking
out those collections online
and reach out to you for
some further recommendations
for sure.
So thank you again, Dani, and
I'll hopefully see you at ALA.
>> Dani Thurber: Yes,
very excited to see you.