About

I have been working in libraries for over 10 years and my love for librarianship still grows. Librarianship gives me the opportunity to create positive change in the communities and individuals we serve. Service to my community is extremely important to me and drives by professional practice.

I have a Bachelor in Fine Arts and Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in River Forest, IL. I am knowledgeable about HTML, XHTML, CSS, Drupal, and WordPress. Examples of my work are available on this site.

I began my professional library career as an Adjunct Library faculty member at Wilbur Wright College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, where I assisted students with reference and performed bibliographic instruction. I began offering workshops to teach students how to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, MLA, and APA.

I continued to work part-time as an adjunct when I was hired to work full-time at Career Education Corporation as an Online Librarian. I provided virtual reference and instruction to students from all over the U.S. and London. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to hone my reference skills. I provided reference via chat, email, and phone.

Eventually, I left my position at Career Education Corporation for a full-time tenure-track position at Wilbur Wright College. I was hired in 2012 as the Head of Reference and Instruction. As of 2014 I am the Department Chairperson of the Library Department. I supervised all library operations including reference, instruction, outreach, inter-library loan, circulation, technical services, collections, archives, security, and the Library Technical Assistant program among other duties. I supervised the adjunct librarians, clerical staff, and student workers. I provided workshops and outreach to the Wright College community. I developed a Research Made Easy workshop series that teaches students the steps of research, information literacy, ethical research, how to avoid plagiarism, and find reliable sources on the web and in the library.

In 2014 I completed a post graduate Certificate in Digital Services and Emerging Technologies from San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.

In 2017, I joined the Library of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL as the Education Coordinator. I was responsible for developing information literacy curriculum to support the health science and medical curriculum in the hospital and university. In 2019, I was promoted to the Manager of Research and Instruction Services. I am responsible for hiring, supervising, and mentoring professional librarians. I support students, faculty and staff in the College of Health Sciences, College of Nursing, Graduate College, and the Rush Medical College. I provide reference assistance in-person and online. I teach online courses and information literacy sessions. I also support residents, physicians, nurses, and other staff in the medical center. I provide information literacy and technology training sessions to support biomedical research and evidence-based practice. Outreach is also a part of my work. I have collaborated with Student Life to provide information literacy sessions for students. I have developed instruction sessions on research and open access for faculty as well. Most recently I have worked with Community Engagement to provide information literacy instruction to high school and college students participating in health sciences internships at Rush University Medical Center. My work is challenging and ever changing!

In 2017, I was elected to the Executive Board of the Illinois Library Association, and I serve as a Director-at-Large. I am the board liaison to the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL) and the ILA Diversity Committee. I have been a member of the Alumni Council of the School of Information Science at Dominican University since 2015.

I enjoy attending professional conferences, presenting, and interacting with librarians from across the U.S.

Reina Williams, MLIS, AHIP

Contact:  rwilli6[at]artic.edu