For the record: I’m Margaret on all official bits of paper, some of which have my previous last name, Holle. My current last name Simon is pronounced SEA-moan, though, if you please, hack off half that “n” to appease the in-laws.
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 pursued a masters in library studies, which I was pleasantly surprised to learn was a thing. My adventures in information science brought me to Canada in 2006. In May 2009 I graduated from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (now the iSchool) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
However much I loved British Columbia, Minneapolis called me back, where I lived, worked and played another four years until April 2013, when I moved to Austin, Texas, for a reference librarian position at Austin Public Library. I ended my librarian-proper career (at least for now!) as a Librarian III at the award-winning downtown Central Library. In the summer of 2021 I started a work-from-home position with library software company Springshare, helping customers troubleshoot and optimize their LibProducts, challenging and rewarding that weirdo part of my brain that thrives on problem-solving, connection making and rando recall of the ittiest bittiest things buried in GitHub. When I’m not wrestling with software and firing off exhaustingly enthusiastic emojis, I wrestle with dogs and diligently raise a reader with my husband Arthur in San Marcos, the mermaid capital of Texas.
Personal interests include audiobooks with dark secrets and/or murder, podcasts about cults and gurus, avoiding excessive internet use, internal rhyme and creative writing. Concerns about privacy and maintaining mental hygiene have led to a significant reduction of time spent on social media, but yeah, I’m still sort of on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Feel free to find and friend me, though email is the best way to get in touch.
Questions or comments? Contact me at megholle (at) gmail.com