Chelsea Young, library assistant at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Ottenheimer Library, recently began a two-year term as the secretary for the Arkansas Library Paraprofessionals Division. 

The nonprofit organization is a professional division of the Arkansas Library Association that promotes library support staff by providing networking, educational, and professional growth opportunities.

Young joined Ottenheimer Library in 2014. She has been working full time at UA Little Rock while pursuing a master’s degree in library and information studies online for the past three years. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma at Norman in December 2016.

Being able to take what she learned in the classroom and apply it to her job at Ottenheimer really helped her earn her degree, Young said.

“My job and my education really supported each other,” she said. “I could understand the things we had gone over in class better. Plus, I had access to all the books and databases in Ottenheimer Library. I also asked the other librarians in Ottenheimer if I needed any help. They were great about supporting my education.”

Young earned a bachelor’s degree in English and history from Lyon College in 2013. In the future, she hopes to become a young adult librarian.