Name: Julia Frankosky
Job Title: Government Information Librarian/ Video Game Cataloger
Institution: Michigan State University
NMRT Board Position/Title: Member Services Director
What role does your Board Position serve in NMRT? I oversee four NMRT committees: Endnotes (the peer-reviewed journal), Mentoring, Resume Review Service, and Communications.
How long have you been an NMRT member? About 6 years.
What’s your favorite thing about NMRT? I love how easy it was to get involved. The people in NMRT are just fantastic and not intimidating at all so when I was a new professional and needed to get involved NMRT made the whole thing so easy for me. Since NMRT is open to any new professional/library school student, I’m able to interact with those in completely different library settings than myself, which is something that I rarely would get to do otherwise.
What advice would you give to someone just joining NMRT this year? Don’t be afraid to ask any of us (NMRT Board members, committee chairs, committee members) for advice. We’ve all been where you are now and are happy to share our wisdom (or tell you about some of our missteps that you can learn from). We can help you figure out the best way for you to get involved in NMRT and the profession as a whole. Additionally, NMRT offers so many fantastic resources to help its members and I’d advise any new person to take a look at everything NMRT has to offer. From professional development grants to help you get to conference to writing opportunities in Endnotes and the NMRT Blog, there are tons of ways to get involved without necessarily joining a committee. And if you need additional assistance with your resume or if you need a mentor, fear not because we have committees just for those aspects, too.
Meet Your NMRT Board Member is a 2016-2017 series to help NMRT members get to know their board. If you have any questions about this series, please contact the NMRT Communications Committee Chair, Melanie Kowalski (melanie.t.kowalski@gmail.com).