Every month, we are spotlighting an amazing member of our library staff. This month meet Amanda Woodward, Web Services Librarian.
Meet Your Lane Library Staff: Amanda Woodward
What do you do at the library?
I’m the Web Services Librarian, which means that I work to maintain our website content and improve the website functionality so all our resources and services are more accessible. If you have any feedback about the library website, I’m always eager to hear it! In addition to managing the website, I lead our marketing and communication efforts at the library. I work with our marketing team to create awareness for our library resources through blog posts, emails, and other outreach activities.
I am also part of the Research and Instruction (R&I) team at the library. Along with the other R&I librarians, I teach classes, consult with students, researchers, and faculty on literature searching, and support my liaison areas.
What do you like best about the people who use Lane Library?
I admire how motivated and engaged everyone is at Stanford. The library users I consult with always have insightful questions and are willing to spend time discussing the nuancies of literature searching and research methodologies. They are also very appreciative of the guidance and effort of everyone on our library staff.
What is the most rewarding (or favorite) part of your job?
I enjoy learning about all the incredible research at Stanford! I always learn something new when I work with researchers on their systematic reviews and literature searches. I find it most rewarding to help people move their research projects forward and fullfil their research goals. I also love to build relationships with frequent librarian users and see their skills research skills progress!
How long have you worked at Lane?
I’ve been at Lane Library for almost 2 years. I started in February 2020, so I actually have spent very little time on campus.
What do you do in your spare time?
In typical librarian fashion, I love to read! In 2021, I read over 52 books. Fiction is my favorite because I value being able to inhabit someone else’s perspective. I also enjoy reading memoirs for the same reason. You can see all the books I read in 2021 on my GoodReads. Here are some of my favorites:
- Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
- Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters
- Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action by Ray Dorsey, Todd Sherer, Michael Okun, Bastiaan Bloem
I also enjoy practicing yoga, playing pickleball, taking care of my extensive house plant collection (I have over 60 plants!), and traveling (which I hope to do more of in 2022!).
Do you prefer . . .
Coffee or tea? Coffee, but I recently switched to having black tea in the mornings to reduce my caffine intake!
Cats or dogs? Dogs, especially my beagle, Jackson
Candy or cake? Cake, particularly this Alison Roman birthday cake recipe that I always make for my family and friends
Salty or sweet? Sweet, I have a huge sweet tooth and I’ll never say no to chocolate
Print or digital books? Digital, I love reading ebooks from the public library on my Kindle
Nonfiction or fiction? Fiction
Summer or winter? Summer, my birthday is August, so I always love late summer vacations
