On Sept. 3, MCLS staff welcomed Sarah Beaubien and Michael Troup. While our staff has enjoyed getting to know them over the past month, we wanted to help you get to know them, too. Both were excellent sports about answering questions about what makes them tick.  

Q & A with eLicensing and Collection Resources Manager, Sarah Beaubien 

As eLicensing and Collection Resources Manager, Sarah leads and manages eLicensing, renewals, and product purchases. She also provides leadership for collection needs and areas such as Open Access and shared print initiatives. She was happy to share more about herself:  

Q: Tell us a little about your background. How did you get started in libraries? 

I was fortunate to be hired as a library student assistant in technical services at my undergraduate institution, Northern Michigan University. Shout-out to my NMU supervisors and mentors who helped me realize this could be a career path. This led me to Indiana University Bloomington for graduate school where I benefitted from more great mentors and leaders! I’ve worked in university libraries for around 25 years in areas spanning interlibrary loan, user services, instruction, liaison librarian positions, collection development, scholarly communications, and senior management. All these experiences inform my understanding of libraries and how I approach this new role.  

Q: What motivated you to take on this new role?
Having worked closely with MCLS in some of my past librarian roles, I knew there was thoughtful, innovative, values-aligned work happening here and I appreciate the opportunity to have a positive impact on many libraries through this work. I’m looking forward to member and vendor interactions and am also eager to delve into ongoing and emerging issues in collection development and scholarly communications. 

Q: What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
My son accuses me of “not liking fun” and I do tend to prefer simple things like spending time with family, reading, bingeing good (and sometimes bad) streaming shows, and taking leisurely walks. I also enjoy thrifting and antiquing and follow quite a few thrift upcyclers and furniture restorers on social media.  

Q: Do you have a favorite author, book, or genre?
Short answer: no. I tend to have wide-ranging interests, although the top genres I read are usually literary fiction, suspense/mystery, and nonfiction. I sometimes choose a theme or category in fiction and read that for a while, like Native American and Indigenous authors, or books about books, libraries, and booksellers. But I’ll also read nonfiction titles on leadership, neurodiversity, art & design, cooking, nature, or the odd biography. If a book is well written and pulls me in, I’ll read it.  

Q: Do you volunteer?
I’ve mentioned how much I have learned from mentors throughout my career. Mentoring is important to me, and I volunteer through professional organizations and less formal connections as a mentor to newer or prospective librarians.  

Q & A with Systems Analyst, Michael Troup 

Michael comes to MCLS with a background in IT and tech work for a parochial school. We asked him to share a little more about himself:  

Q: What are you most excited to start working on?
I am most excited to start working on IT projects. The part that excites me the most is finding areas that can be improved and make processes easier on others.    

Q: Who inspires you?  

Myself at my best inspires me to strive to be a better co-worker, to have a strong work ethic, and to never give up on a problem.     

Q: What are you passionate about?  

I am passionate about making a positive difference. I like to make strong relationships in the workplace and help people through their technical needs.  

Q: What is one thing that instantly makes your day better?  

Lunch (but not limited to) is what makes my day instantly better. It provides the opportunity to refresh and to take a step back from the day.      

Q: Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?  

I look forward to understanding our current systems and providing IT solutions for the benefit of MCLS and libraries throughout Michigan, Indiana, and beyond!