UCLA LISAAA Class Notes

Elizabeth Eisenbach began her distinguished library career with the first class of UCLA’s “new” School of Library Service in 1960.  She received her Master of Library Service in 1962, and was appointed as the Librarian of the Collection of the UCLA Library and Assistant Instructor in Charge.  Liz lectured in the areas of reference and bibliography, received tenure in 1980, and was named Associate Dean before retiring in 1990.  Additionally, Liz spent countless years in leadership roles with the Library and Information Science Alumni Association, or LISAA.  Prior to coming to UCLA, Liz earned the Bachelors Degree in Economics at Stanford, married and raised two daughters. 

Currently I am working as a Children’s Librarian at the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library. I recently began serving as a Board Member for the Children and Young People’s Division of the Indiana Library Federation. I am also excited to report that ALA has named me a 2007 Emerging Leader. I live in downtown Indianapolis and always welcome visitors… race fans, Colts fans, and especially cool librarians!

I grew up in the Boston area and received my BA in History and a teaching credential from the University of Massachusetts , Amherst . I moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and continued teaching for almost two years when I realized I had enough. A few years later, I decided to become a librarian and started at UCLA in 2001. After graduating in 2003, I was hired at Providence High School in Burbank and I have been here ever since. Last year I became the Library Chair and hired a library assistant. While I’ve instituted several ideas and changes, there is still a lot to do which makes the job rewarding and satisfying. Plus my summers off are a fabulous bonus!

Those were good years, with older faculty like Andy Horn and Robert Vosper still active, even though the name of the school had changed away from Library Service. I was particularly taken with John Comaromi, who inspired me to enter the doctoral program to study cataloging and then bailed out to run Dewey. Anyway, after some miscues here and there, I finished my Ph.D. in 1986. I started at KUSC-FM in 1981 as record librarian, but they moved me over to writer/editor and then (when I couldn’t get a job in librarianship) to computer geek. When I remarried and moved to Salt Lake City in 1995, I stayed in IT, running a three-office shop for a non-profit company until 2002. Then my wife’s career took us to Northern Kentucky, where I finally re-entered the field, as founding librarian for Gateway Community and Technical College. I was happy there, building cooperative services, including a virtual union catalog for the six libraries in the neighborhood, but my wife moved again, to Kansas City, Missouri, so I followed. And now, since July of 2006, I’m Director of the Charles F. Curry Library at William Jewell College — a remarkably rewarding capstone to a somewhat spotty career. Having a great time in Liberty, MO.

I got my MLS in 1977 under the sage tutelage of Robert Hayes (dean), Robert Vosper (advisor) and Betty Rosenberg (thesis advisor).  When I entered library school, I thought I’d become an archivist because, in those days, I thought I liked books, etc., much more than I liked people; but as everybody now knows, I ended up figuring out I liked people much more than I thought was possible!  I became a public librarian and worked in various public libraries throughout Southern California for 18 years.  In 1995, I returned to UCLA for a doctorate in library science, which I received in 2000.  Today I am Library Programs Consultant for the California State Library and teach part-time for the UCLA Department of Information Studies.  My main research area is after-school homework assistance in public libraries, about which I’ve written a book and several articles.  My main hobby is collecting Arthurian fiction–a passion that Betty Rosenberg cultivated in me 30 years ago!  I was president of the California Library Association in 2001 and had the proud honor of being named UCLA LISAA Distinguished Alumni in 2005.  I love being a librarian!