This summer, our remote program for creative digital publication has brought us 67 students and graduates. Over one-quarter of those students are returning from a previous internship with the Law Library. Eight of these students are in pursuit of their J.D. and three are working towards their Ph.D. Over half of the students are pursuing a master’s in library and information science (M.L.I.S.) and one-quarter of the students have or are in pursuit of a master’s degree outside of library science.
This is a global cohort! Twenty-two states are represented, along with Washington, D.C. and two countries: Sweden and Japan. California is our most represented state with 12 students. Texas (six students) and New York (four students) are next. 45 schools are represented this summer as well. San José State University (in California) leading with seven students, followed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of North Texas with three students each.
This summer we also brought back four previous interns to help mentor our students on their journey and to provide feedback to get the best final products. Special thanks to these excellent advisors listed first below!
Murphy (Yanbing) Chen is a multi-disciplined person. She is a professional oil painter, an undergraduate art historian, and a juris doctor student with a passion for art law. She is also the first generation of her family in the diaspora. Caught in a cultural limbo, she is interested in working with refugees, immigrants, and ethnic and cultural minorities. Her expertise this summer is mentoring the students working on story maps.
Alyssa Key (she/her) is a lifelong California resident who graduated from San José State University’s M.L.I.S. program in May 2021, with an emphasis on public and academic librarianship. This is her fourth remote internship with the Law Library, after serving as a remote intern in the spring and summer of 2021 and as a team lead earlier this year with the American State Papers project. Alyssa also holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from California State University, Northridge. In addition to her work with the Law Library, Alyssa is also currently contributing to the American Library Association Subject Analysis Committee’s Working Group on External Review of LC Vocabularies, which expects to complete its work by January 2023.
Annie Ross is a recent graduate of Northwestern University and upcoming graduate student at Simmons University for library and information science. This is her second year involved in this program, moving from being an intern herself to now mentoring interns. Along with her remote engagement with the Law Library of Congress, she is also working this summer within Northwestern University’s library system and traveling across Central Europe.
Nikki Werner is a recent M.L.I.S. graduate from the University of Maryland, College Park iSchool. She thrives on the research and writing process which makes her well suited for her role as a mentor to this year’s summer cohort. Nikki’s personal research interests are in fan studies where she recently completed a limited ethnographic study of a niche film fandom and its use of Twitter.
Now to the current cohort:
Hannah Albor is a proud member of the Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 2023. At Texas A&M, she is double majoring in political science and English, and minoring in women’s and gender studies. After graduation, she hopes to attend law school and later pursue a degree in library sciences.
Gerardo (Jay) Arellano (he/him) is a graduate student at San José State University’s M.L.I.S. program. This is his third internship at a library with the first being at the Los Angeles Central Library, followed by the Glendale Central Library. He holds a B.A. in English from San Francisco State University with a focus on creative writing, and he still enjoys writing in his free time. He is passionate about information access for the BIPOC population and people experiencing homelessness in public library settings.
Regan Avery is completing a M.L.I.S. degree at Southern Connecticut State University and works at her local public library. Her professional interests include digital humanities, technology, and information access. She holds a B.A. in communications from Boston College. Her background includes working in photography, television, film, and fine art. Regan enjoys contemporary art, reading music memoirs, growing native plants, and volunteering with the local community garden.
Fatima Basharet is a Chicago native, currently studying communications and public policy at the University of Illinois Chicago. At the Law Library, she researches the laws regulating insulin prices in the U.S. She is also spending the summer interning at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, watching sunsets on the beach, reading up on Islamic history, and drinking a suspicious amount of coffee.
Adrianne Beer received her B.F.A. in creative writing and B.A. in communications from Bowling Green State University. Originally from Yellow Springs, Ohio, Adrianne lives in Tucson, Arizona while pursuing a master’s in library and Information sciences from the University of Arizona with a focus in digital information management. Her fiction and poetry writing can be found in Chicago Reader, Southwestern American Literature, Moon City Review, and elsewhere.
Amy Binning is originally from Toronto but has lived in more than half a dozen cities in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. She holds a Ph.D. and research master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. in anthropology from McGill University. Currently residing in Chicago, Amy is working towards her MS/LIS at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in the hopes of finding a career that will allow her to combine her background in anthropology and ethnography with archivism and library science.
Matt Burke is a New York native who holds an A.A. from Suffolk Community College, a B.A. in history from Stony Brook University, and am currently in pursuit of an M.L.I.S. at the University at Buffalo. Matt has always had a passion for learning history, as well as for politics and hopes to pursue a career handling collections and archives at the Library of Congress or National Archives. His interests include reading, watching sports, and spending time with family.
Margaret Daab was born and raised in Northeast Illinois but has recently moved to Washington state. In 2014, she received her bachelor’s degree in television writing from Columbia College Chicago. After an unexpected move into the public library field, she enrolled in the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s online master’s degree in library and information science program. When she’s not studying, Margaret loves hiking, drawing, and binge-watching her favorite shows. She is excited to continue her work in library programming and to gain new skills as she completes her education.
Elizabeth Duncan is a J.D. candidate at The George Washington University Law School and holds a B.S. in foreign service and international political economy from Georgetown University. Though she enjoys living in D.C., Elizabeth is originally from Kentucky and she still feels strongly about southern food and traditions. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys cooking, reading, and listening to history podcasts. She is passionate about international law and development, and the role of strong institutions in creating opportunities and improving lives.
Stephanie Duran resides in Los Angeles County, California. She holds an M.L.I.S. from San José State University and a B.A. in criminal justice from California State University, Fullerton. This is Stephanie’s third semester serving as a remote intern. She is currently a reference assistant at Whittier Public Library, a library technician at Mt. San Antonio College, and the membership coordinator for the REFORMA SJSU iSchool Student and Alumni Group. When she is not working, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her family and featheary friends. In the near future, Stephanie would like to obtain a job as an information professional in an organization that is committed to diversity and equity of access.
Alexis Faller is currently a graduate student at Brandeis University pursuing an M.A. in conflict resolution and coexistence and an M.A. in sustainable international development. She has previously earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of South Carolina. As a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, AmeriCorps VISTA Alumna, and former federal employee, Alexis intends to continue her career of public service in the realm of peacebuilding.
Diana Ferguson is currently working towards a master of science in information at Florida State University. She holds an M.B.A. from Texas A&M International University and a B.A. in psychology from the University of Central Florida. Diana is also certified as a ballet barre fitness instructor. “Solar powered,” she loves living in Florida with her amazing husband and son, and cheering on her favorite hockey team. She loves learning the ways technology can be implemented to solve problems by radically improving processes and making the impossible possible. Diana has helped FEMA to have access to the most up-to-date information on cultural heritage institutions in the event of a disaster, as an intern with the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. She loves working with metadata, and in that context, has contributed work to some of our nation’s oldest documents in the Statutes at Large and the American State Papers for the Library of Congress.
Rosalia Garcia is currently pursuing an M.S. in library science, with a concentration in archival studies and imaging technology, from the University of North Texas. She has an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University. Rosalia enjoys promoting information literacy and accessibility in libraries and archives.
Madeleine Grace (she/her) lives in the Hudson Valley of New York. She is an M.L.I.S graduate student at Drexel University and has a B.A. in sociology and theater from Northeastern University. She is passionate about providing members of the public with equitable access to information and thoughtful programming. When she is not studying, you can find her on a hike, playing board games, or taking her toddler to a local farm.
Phoebe Greene (she/her) is finishing her M.L.I.S at UNC: Greensboro where she conducted research on diversity policies for art collections, patron empowerment through zines, and strategies to create more accessible information spaces. She currently serves as evening manager for the Learning Resource Center at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. She is passionate about community service, both in her work and in her free time where she volunteers with her local animal shelter and environmental conservancy. She enjoys reading poetry and horror novels while waiting for whatever is in the oven to finish baking.
Tanuj Guha is currently a senior at Luther College, Iowa, and previously studied at Deep Springs College, California. He is majoring in data science and philosophy. He likes getting hiking, camping, and discovering places around the American West and the Driftless area of the Midwest. He enjoys reading about phenomenology, political history, and contemporary advancements in technology.
Emma Brodfuehrer Hastings (she/her) is a native of the Washington, D.C. area and grew up loving its history and cultural heritage. She holds a B.A. in history from Yale University, and is currently pursuing her M.S.L.I.S. with a concentration in cultural heritage information management at the Catholic University of America. In addition to her internship at the Law Library, Emma also serves as an intern and graduate research assistant at the Library of Congress Kluge Center, which has cemented her ambition for a career as a research or reference librarian. When not reading or researching, Emma enjoys painting while her cat tries to chew on the paintbrush.
Danielle Herring (she/her) is from Florida. In 2016, she graduated with a master’s degree in information science from Florida State University, after earning B.A. in history from the same university. She has worked in college and university libraries providing in person and virtual reference services and volunteered as an indexer for Family Search. Currently, she is learning about cataloging and is interested in the use of metadata and digital asset management to make history more accessible to the public. She also enjoys graphic design and creative writing.
Born and raised in Houston, Erika Mei Chua Holum currently lives and works in Chicago. Before starting her M.L.I.S. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she completed an M.A. in museum and exhibition studies with a graduate concentration in Black Studies from the University of Illinois Chicago. Erika enjoys listening to k-pop, reading cookbooks, and spending summer afternoons by Lake Michigan.
Celine Huang is an incoming student at the California Institute of the Arts where she is pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing from the School of Critical Studies. Previously, she graduated from New York University where she studied abroad for two years at the Shanghai campus and earned a BA in Social Science with a focus in political science. She currently resides outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she is spending her summer traveling, painting, teaching herself how to sew, and writing short stories.
Check back in tomorrow for the conclusion of this year’s cohort!
Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law.
Comments (2)
No dark brown peoples. How inappropriate and unprofessional. We ALL know talent is equally distributed across the universe however opportunity is not. How uninspired.
The Library of Congress is committed to diversity in internships and the profession. The intern/volunteer listing is available to all on our website and all higher education students are welcome to apply, particularly those from underrepresented communities. We would greatly appreciate your forwarding the listing to all communities you believe may be interested in next year’s program or providing us with additional suggestions for outreach.