Robin Harper
Pronouns
She / HerTo acknowledge that assumptions about someone’s gender identity could be incorrect, many organizations, including NC State, have begun to encourage community members to include a brief statement of their gender pronouns as they introduce themselves within a group.
University Library Technician
Department:
Special Collections Research CenterPhone: (919) 513-7166
Email: rwharper@ncsu.edu
Shout-outs From My Colleagues
Shout-outs are kind words from Libraries staff to other Libraries staff for going out of their way to be extra awesome at their job.
This summer, Darrien Bailey led the LSS Instruction Team in the decision to solve a few recurring problems with the books for our ever-popular scavenger hunt by making our own fake books. This idea led to the creation of amazing book titles like: Runway Royalty: Miss Piggy's Fashion Design Masterclass, Dumpster Diving 101 with Oscar the Grouch, and Under My Wing: Psychological Safety and Emotional Expression with Big Bird for students to find. These books were made with use of the creative minds and tools we have at the library and a multi-department collaboration -- and they are a delight to share with students! Thank you to: Darrien Bailey and Aasta Thomas for pursuing this idea, coming up with clever book titles, designing cover art and for Aasta's attention to detail which involved digging into the Library of Congress to create accurate call numbers! To Lynn Whittenberger for (without skepticism!) being willing to add these books to the catalog - and thinking of the extra steps to make sure we don't accidentally confuse patrons! Just one example of the care and attention that Lynn puts into her work. To Justin Haynes for working with Darrien to laser cut the designs into the book covers and making the vinyl stickers inside book covers! He's even working on making a 3D print to mount inside each book. Justin takes this approach with every project and we always come up with something more interesting or better than we first imagined. To Emily Schmidt and Robin Harper for making sense of a fuzzy idea to help students return the books to the correct spot on the shelves - and then making (by hand!) custom boxes for each of the twelve books! The willingness and swiftness of their work was truly amazing. I am grateful to work with colleagues who are so willing to work on creative and fun projects outside of the realm of typical duties and to make a fun experience for our students!
— Alison Edwards
While on vacation earlier this week, Emily noticed there were no Libraries activities listed among the campus events for the Wellness Day. She and Robin quickly drew up the plans for a bookbinding stress-buster. They communicated the idea to the relevant organizers, prepped, and delivered a successful journal making session for a few dozen students (and staff!) in less than four days. Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness, your cheerful approach, and the care you demonstrate for students and staff!
— Jamie Bradway
Robin Harper deserves a shout-out for the vision she had for Preservation to get involved outside of the ground floor. She saw the opportunity to take our skills more into the public realm, starting with our Preservation Week demos in the lobby and workshops with the MakerSpace. As we have done more of these, more opportunities have arisen such as offering content for FOL, guest hosting the Twitch stream, and working with more classes on campus. As a group that tends to stay behind the scenes, we needed someone who could see beyond our traditional role and push us to do more. Thanks, Robin, for getting Preservation out of its shell and making new partnerships in the Libraries!
— Emily Schmidt