Your name, pronouns, current or most recent workplace and position (for students, please tell us what school you’re attending and if you have chosen a specialization):
My name is Patricia (Tricia) Greenstein (she/her/siya). I am a library coordinator in Access Services at the Gelman Library, part of George Washington Libraries and Academic Innovation (GWLAI) in Washington, DC. I’ve been at GWLAI for almost 23 years, nearly 15 of which have been with an MLS.
How long have you been an APALA member? What drew you to join? (If you are currently volunteering on an APALA committee or are an EB officer, please include that here!)
Please check this one for me, membership colleagues. I’ve been a member of APALA since 2012 and Media and Publicity since 2019. I was a long-time lurker; I joined a committee seven years ago and have actively participated ever since.
I’ve been helping with APALA Social Media for as long as I’ve been on the committee, sometimes as a lead and others on an as-needed basis. While I’ve learned layout on Canva reasonably quickly, some of my social media colleagues are better than I am at doing it *waves at K.*
We’re very interested in the diversity of ethnic/cultural heritage within APALA. Please share your ethnic/cultural heritage with us and any other background information, as desired.
I’m a mixed-race Filipina-American. Although I was born in the Philippines, I moved to the US only two months later when my father signed on at a new duty station. I would love to learn the complete genealogy of both sides of my family of origin at some point.
What aspects of library work do you find most compelling? Please share some of your professional goals and interests.
Various libraries were my refuge growing up. When I graduated from Furman University (undergrad), I was certified to teach German at the secondary level. However, there were few positions in that language. I enjoyed my student assistant positions in the music library and Interlibrary loan, so I pivoted and started applying to libraries, landing at the George Washington University (GWU). I haven’t looked back.
I obtained my MLS from the University of Maryland in 2010 and would eventually like to become an academic reference librarian. I have a lot of interests, though, including in no particular order: library instruction (outside of point-of-need instruction), scholarly communication, social media, open access, open educational resources, information policy, justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion, mental health and organizational culture among them, so at this point, who knows where I’ll ultimately end up. One of the joys of my position is seeing folks I work with graduate, successfully defend dissertations, get awards, achieve tenure, and so on—especially women and fellows of color. Even for the relative bit part I play in those processes.
If you’ve got a big move, publication, webinar, conference presentation, or social media presence that you’d like APALA members to know about, let us know here!
My term as a representative for my division with GWU’s Staff Council ended in December 2024, and I’ve accepted an invitation to continue as an Executive Officer. I currently chair the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.
What’s an APALA social media person without their own social media presence? You can find me on BlueSky at infoandhalohalo@bsky.social, Discord under the same handle, and LinkedIn under my name. I am also on Facebook and Instagram at @infoandhalohalo (both private accounts) and Spoutible at @halohalomls (public) but not nearly as often as I used to be on any of the three.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I thank the APALA community, especially current and past members of M&P and the EB. You have encouraged and supported me without hesitation, even through hairy situations. Maraming salamat. Truly.