We hope you enjoy this series where we meet and get to know employees from across campus. Would you like to be featured? Contact us at campusnews@csufresno.edu.

Name: Ginny Barnes
Title: First Year Student Success Librarian
Department: Library
Academic Degree(s):

• B.A. English Literature, Georgia State University
• M.S. Information Studies, University of Texas at Austin

How long have you worked at Fresno State?
Four years in the Fresno State Library.

Are you a Valley native?
I am originally from Kentucky. I moved to Fresno after finishing graduate school for the position here.

Do you have a campus mentor or someone who has helped you in your career?
Yes. Venita Blackburn is an amazing writer and friend. She has strong boundaries and knows her worth. I watch and learn. She's taught me to be selective, value my time and protect my energy. Whenever we work together, I know it's going to be fun.

Tell us about your department and what people may not know about it.
Where to begin? The Library contains multitudes beyond books (and the books alone are wonderful). We're out here hosting elementary school art galleries, winning grants, wraggling data, getting civically engaged, making zines, spinning records, and curating exhibits. I could go on.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important?
I am proud of the work I am doing to encourage students to be deeply curious and find joy in learning. I've been working on this in teaching research through a set of modules for first year students I created with a team here at the library.

Research can be deeply engrossing, fulfilling, ever life-changing and it doesn't just happen in academia. I hope the students I work with get a small sense of that and feel intrigued to dig deeper into their personal inquiries.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why?
The work of demystifying the library. I want people to know the library is for everyone. Libraries provide a wide spectrum of valuable services. But also, we aren't perfect. It's important to take accountability for our faults and remain committed to creating an equitable environment both internally and externally.

What is your favorite quote or saying?
“Stop worrying about your identity and concern yourself with the people you care about, ideas that matter to you, beliefs you can stand by, tickets you can run on. Intelligent humans make those choices with their brain and hearts and they make them alone. The world does not deliver meaning to you. You have to make it meaningful...and decide what you want and need and must do. It’s a tough, unimaginably lonely and complicated way to be in the world. But that’s the deal: you have to live; you can’t live by slogans, dead ideas, clichés, or national flags. Finding an identity is easy. It’s the easy way out.” ― Zadie Smith, On Beauty

What is the most interesting or unusual job you've ever had?
I interned for an astrologer. I was just doing website editing but it was a fun gig and she gave me a natal chart reading for my birthday.

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
I've recently gotten back in touch with my love for jigsaw puzzles and word games. I started crosswords recently and they are really fun.