MCLS welcomed Brian Kudron on Jan. 6, 2025 as the MeLCat Support & Training Specialist. In this new role, Brian will be deeply involved in the MeLCat training process, including hosting webinars, providing in-person training, and maintaining accurate training materials. Additionally, he will staff the help desk to assist with issues and questions pertaining to MeLCat and RIDES. 

We asked Brian the following questions to help you get to know him better:

Tell us a little about your background. How did you get started in libraries?
Brian: I have been a library enthusiast for as long as I’ve been able to form a thought. I started out at the Mardigian Library at the University of Michigan-Dearborn when I was a student. After graduating, I moved onto the Romulus Public Library, where I worked for about 15 months. I then “came home” to the Dearborn Public Library, where I spent the last six and a half years working in the Processing department, along with helping to ensure Dearborn’s MeLCat operation always ran smoothly.
 

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
Brian: I’m very much a homebody. Whether it’s reading, or playing video games, or listening to music, I’m very comfortable with what a lot of people might consider “boring.” If you ever hear me talking about skydiving or rock climbing or anything like that, assume that I have been swapped out for some sort of alien impostor. 

Do you have a favorite author, book, or genre?
Brian: It always horrifies people to learn that I do not read fiction, basically at all. My bookshelves are loaded up with what previous coworkers have dubbed “doorstop books” — those enormous tomes that are hundreds and hundreds of pages, often eclipsing 1,000. I love to read about military history and 19th/20th century history from Europe and the Middle East. One of my favorite authors is Ian W. Toll, who wrote a magisterial trilogy about the Pacific Theater of World War II. 

Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies?
Brian: Hidden talents, definitely not. Hobbies, in addition to books, I love sports (Go Blue!), I enjoy video games, and I’m a hardcore Pokemon junkie. 

What is the best advice you have ever received?
Brian: “Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” — my senior thesis advisor and Middle Eastern history professor from U-M. 

The MeL project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library of Michigan.