Kasia Gonnerman: Reference & Instruction Librarian

Kasia Gonnerman, a reference and instruction librarian at St. Olaf, is a library liaison to several departments on campus, including English, Russian Language and Area Studies, Norwegian, Theater, Linguistics, German, and Media Studies. Kasia spends much of her time preparing instructional sessions for classes. In addition, she works a reference desk shift daily, and assists students, faculty, and staff with questions from a wide range of topics. As the coordinator for Rolvaag Library's Interlibrary Loan and Circulation Department, Kasia helps handle requests for particularly difficult titles.

Kasia got her start in Rolvaag supervising students in the Circulation Department. With a background in teaching, she quickly grew interested in the work of reference librarians, and attained a Master's degree in library science to pursue her interest in reference work.

For Kasia, being a reference librarian is "the perfect job." She believes that librarians gain confidence from learning to use the tools necessary to assist with any type of question. Yet, she also feels that librarianship has taught her humility, as librarians must realize that they can never achieve a status of “knowing it all.” She enjoys the challenge of a career requiring a commitment to lifelong learning. Kasia also loves to work with the folks at St. Olaf; she finds the professors to be appreciative and knowledgeable, and the students to be friendly, open-minded, and grateful for library assistance. The library itself is a wonderful place to work as well, containing many special collections that set it apart from libraries at other small liberal arts colleges.