About

How did I get here?

Hiya! My official title these days is Product + Community Specialist, painstakingly documenting eight sprawling library software products and connecting the dots between client pain points and future improvements. Breaking from libraries to supporting software development feels like a left-field plot twist, but through it all is my commitment to user experience.

School, work, and life have put me all over the map. After growing up in North Dakota, I lived in Minneapolis for seven years during and after my undergrad English degree at the University of Minnesota. Inspired by stints in document delivery, online course reserves, and a library internship with Utne magazine, I decided to pursue a masters in library studies, which I was pleasantly surprised to learn is a thing. In May 2009 I graduated from the iSchool at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

However much I loved BC, Minneapolis called me back for another four years and a couple of entry-level librarian roles. In April 2013 I moved to Texas for a reference position at the Austin Public Library, later advancing to a tech liaison and supervisory role at the award-winning downtown Central Library. It was a wild time and place to be on the public library front lines.

I stand by my passion and am proud of my contributions, but not too proud to admit oh-you-guys it burned me out. In late 2019 I had a baby, and then the whole world had a pandemic. I needed a change.

Professional pivot

With a bit of luck — and yeah, let’s DO this, why NOT me? pluck — I got that longed-for change. In the summer of 2021, I moved to a remote position with the library software company Springshare — the giants of LibGuides, LibCal, and more. I started out helping clients troubleshoot and optimize their LibStuff, challenging and rewarding that weirdo part of my brain that thrives on problem-solving, connection making, and the rando recall of the ittiest bittiest things buried in GitHub.

My current role as a Product + Community Specialist focuses on product documentation, wrangling feature requests, facilitating engagement in our online customer community, and unfailingly upping the ante of delight for each Spooky Stories at Springshare’s annual virtual conference, SpringyCamp. Below is from the Springshare blog post, A Rundown of SpringyCamp 2024. Note that a LibApps/Springshare login is required to view the videos. They are that good. 😉

With this move to supporting-libraries-but-not-actually-working-in-a-library-or-in-a-librarian-role, I sometimes wonder, can I still call myself a librarian? It’s in the domain and title of this site, after all. But I don’t stress about it too much. My mission and values remain the same: to elevate the user experience and enrich lives.

What else am I about?

When I’m not wrestling with software and firing off enthusiastic emojis, I snuggle old lady dogs and diligently raise a young reader with my husband in San Marcos, the mermaid capital of Texas. Personal interests include audiobooks with dark secrets and/or murder, podcasts about gurus and cults, and writing the occasional narrative nonfiction.

Concerns about privacy and maintaining mental hygiene have led to mindfully minimal time spent on social media, but yeah, I’m still sort of on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Feel free to friend or follow me, but email is the best way to get in touch.

Questions? Comments? Big ideas?

Contact me at megholle (at) gmail.com