Kara Huggard Email & Phone Number

Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area

Logan, Utah, United States

The Logan Library was the ideal place for me to begin my professional library career. Working at a midsize library allowed me to assume a significant amount of responsibility while working in many different roles including: collection development, budgeting, program planning and implementation, customer service, reference, and readers advisory. Accomplishments I am most proud of:✔️Leading a successful project to redesign and reorganize the library’s dated website thereby improving usability and providing easier access to information.✔️Pioneering library’s social media presence.✔️Launching library’s first teen advisory board.✔️Implementing and expanding programming targeting young adults, a previously underserved patron group.✔️Researching and implementing solutions that made it easier for patrons to access online databases and access the library’s technology resources. Skills I developed and honed:✔️Project planning✔️Program planning and implementation✔️Managing budgets✔️Customer service and managing challenging patrons✔️Working with internal and external stakeholders✔️Content creation✔️Collection development✔️Reference and researchWhat I loved about working here:✔️Being engaged with my local community✔️Performing work that made a difference✔️Working in an environment that was intellectually stimulating✔️Being challenged by a variety of job duties, making every day different✔️Meeting so many interesting people, both coworkers and patrons✔️Being surrounded by books every single day

Austin, Texas, United States

This was such a fun job managing a drop-in youth computer center at a branch library. I got to plan and conduct programs, teach computer and information literacy skills, and encourage reading and literacy through activities, bulletin boards and displays. Accomplishments I am most proud of:✔️Getting reluctant readers to try books I promoted✔️Planning programs that youth wanted to attend✔️Creating a welcoming environmentSkills I developed and honed:✔️Readers Advisory✔️Working with diverse populations✔️Teaching computer skills✔️Program planningWhat I loved about working here:✔️Got to build relationships with frequent patrons✔️Energized by working with youth✔️I was getting paid to do meaningful work that I believed in

I assisted with administrative duties related to the American Library Association (ALA) sponsored Spectrum Initiative Longitudinal Study. This was a retrospective study of the first recipients of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship which provides graduate funding to racially and ethnically diverse students. Accomplishments I am most proud of:✔️Taught myself Dreamweaver so I could build a website for the study✔️Learned how to code and input survey data for statistical analysisSkills I developed and honed:✔️Web development✔️Primary researchWhat I loved about working here:✔️I had the opportunity to attend the American Library Association annual conference and co-present about the study at a poster session.✔️It was fascinating to transcribe the oral history interviews and learn about the scholarship recipients

I researched information for an article to be published in a legal review. Research sources included printed materials, electronic databases, and government documents.

Austin, Texas, United States

As a full-time technical writer from June 2000-June 2002 and a contract technical writer from October 2002-January 2003, I wrote and updated software documentation. Accomplishments I am most proud of: ✔️Wrote the first software manual for a new component of a technology product✔️Improved and simplified department quality process as a member of department practices team✔️Being appointed department trainer for internal software productSkills I developed and honed:✔️Writing and updating software documentation✔️Indexing ✔️Using markup languages such as HTML and SGML✔️Developing project plans and schedulesWhat I loved about working here:✔️Ability to develop my skills by completing on-site training courses offered by IBM✔️Exposure to the culture of a large company✔️The mentorship I received from more experienced employees

Ms, Information Studies

MLS equivalent

Bs, English

Technical writing emphasis