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San Diego State University
Library and Information Access |
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Wil Weston, Engineering Librarian
The last few years of Wil Weston's life have been particularly chaotic. A native of New Orleans,
Louisiana, Weston saw his world wash away in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit. At that time, Weston
was working as a librarian at the University of New Orleans (UNO). He recalls, "After the hurricane,
we worked tirelessly to keep the facility open. However, there was a problem with wild dogs being
cleared out of the first floor of the library before we could return." The remarkable resilience
of the UNO library after the devastation is a true testament to its staff and to Weston,
who helped to keep resources available and helped to recreate the UNO Library Web pages.
"Evacuees were staying in the library, looking for higher ground. What was most amazing was the fact
that there was no looting of library resources while the evacuees occupied the building," he said.
After losing his home and irreplaceable belongings, such as paintings, photos and letters, Weston
moved to California in August 2006 to work at the SDSU Library.
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Weston has a bachelor's degree in English and creative writing, a bachelor's degree in physical
geography and a master of library and information science from Louisiana State University (LSU).
Currently, he is working on his doctorate in higher education administration from UNO, which he
hopes to finish by the end of this year. Although he has worked in a library since his junior
year in high school, Weston has had other jobs, such as waiting tables, short order cook, and
frying beignets at a coffee shop, but he has always found himself back in the library.
Weston considers his challenge as engineering librarian to be similar to that of other subject
librarians: to connect with students and faculty during a time when information is increasingly
available online. "Students and faculty feel that they are compelled to 'go it alone' in their information
search; the obstacle is simply, the challenge to let our community of users know that there is
someone in the library to help them navigate this potpourri of information," Weston said. "However,
the real contact is made on an individual basis; as time consuming and old-fashioned as that
may sound, your impact as a librarian is most felt at the time of the 'information need' for the individual."
Once he gets his doctorate, Weston would like to teach a regular course on the campus as well
as follow up on his dissertation with a quantitative study. Besides working in the library,
Weston has many hobbies and activities. He harbors a passion for art, which was nurtured by
his grandfather and father who taught him how to paint. Along with painting, he enjoys
block printing and digital art and has contributed to LSU's theatre as a student in theatre tech,
art, and acting. Weston also is a book reviewer for Choice magazine. There is no doubt that
Weston fits right in with the rest of the talented and deeply involved library staff at the
SDSU Library and will enjoy being apart of its multifaceted team.
Wil Weston can be reached by e-mail at wweston@rohan.sdsu.edu.
Samantha Spilka is a senior majoring in psychology, with an emphasis in industrial/organizational. She is also the president of the Mortar Board Honor Society and a violinist in the SDSU Symphony Orchestra.
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