The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI), Research Library, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, MHC1737, Tampa, FL 33612, (813)974-5750
http://www.library.fmhi.usf.edu/
Tomaro I. Taylor, M.A., C.A., is an Associate University Librarian at the Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI). She holds two Bachelor's degrees, one in Psychology and one in American Studies. Her MLIS was earned in 2002 from USF, where she was a resident librarian at the Main Campus library. From 2003 to 2004, she worked in reference and special collections. She began working with the archives at FMHI when they became short staffed about a year ago. There are over 30 years worth of department information in boxes that have been sitting around and need to be archived. There is so much that the boxes even fill up a spare bathroom and line walls of the library proper. It is now Ms. Taylor's job to identify materials that deal with the history and progression of the Institute that need to be kept and to also identify those that need to be thrown away. Ms. Taylor is a certified archivist with two years of continuous, full-time professional experience. She is not certified in records management, though. After getting her B.A., she didn't know what else to do. She thought about getting her Master's in American Studies, but it wasn't viable for anything. There was talk with a friend and she considered a foray into museum work, but she felt this, too, was not a viable option. She'd had a graduate assistantship in reference. So she figured she'd use that experience. The dean appointed her to a residency of a 2 year program for students from underrepresented groups. Ms. Taylor became the first resident librarian at USF. She began in reference with the special collections. It was as close as she figured she'd get to working in museums!
Organizations she belongs to include the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA), of which she is on the exam development committee, the Society of American Archivists (SAA), in which she was a former news editor, the AAC Roundtable, and the Society of Florida Archivists (SFA), where she is Vice President and newsletter editor. She was a previous member of FLA and ALA, but did not feel there was any support for archivists in these organizations. So she discontinued membership. Ms. Taylor is not participating in any community service, but has been involved in the Ybor Museum Society and the Tampa Historical Society. When I told her of the special collection at the HCC Ybor campus, she was not aware of it, but was interested in its contents.
FMHI serves as a research institute with its scope on managed behavioral health and healthcare reform. It has about 50,000 items available to students, staff, teachers, and the public. The public can come in and use the resources, and can checkout with community users' cards, although journals do not circulate. Journals are currently being shifted to electronic availability and soon will no longer be in print format at the library. Particular attention is given here to child and family studies, mental health law and policy, and aging and mental health disparities. Circulation works like the main library on the Tampa USF campus. Checkout and ILL is allowed with a student i.d. They are part of the USF UBorrow program, the state of Florida's ILL program. The governing body for the Institute is the USF Library System under Bill Garrison, Dean of USF Libraries. The two librarians on staff, Ms. Taylor and Ms. Dodd, are non-teaching faculty. They follow a similar rubric for promotion, though they are non-tenured. They must do research, stay current, and engage in the profession and USF community to progress and not become stale in their jobs. There are also two student assistants. Everyone was very kind and helpful. One special program and project that is in the works is a series of readers for outreach being developed by Ms. Dodd. It is located on FMHI's main website and is a mind and body series in mental health counseling.
Ms. Taylor attends conferences and archival workshops to continue her education. There are not too many near and there is not a travel budget, so if she goes, she must pay for herself. She uses professional development leave to attend workshops. There are not as many on-demand, online workshops, either, that she can use. However, she does read a lot of journals and publications.
The library structure is rather small and dated, having been built in the 70s. The library used to be a care unit with individual rooms. When arriving in the foyer at the circulation desk, one can either go to the left wing or the right wing. It is similar to the shape of the letter 'L'. This kind of reminded me of the HCC-Ybor library in the way it was divided. Alphabetized on the right side are the journals, and books are held in the left wing. There is a small shelf with cassette tapes and a broom closet with VHS tapes, and no more than a handful of DVDs, if that. These two areas seemed to need some updating. There was also a small room to the side with a copier and fax machine. There are six computers serving as a lab, with two more computers as separate stations in the opposite wing's study area. Part of their current plan is to add more computers. LibGuides is the web platform used to create a web presence. Archon is a program used to develop encoded archival descriptions. Camtasia is used to create videos and video productions. Aleph is their cataloging and circulation system. MANGO is the platform used for the patron side of the catalog. Bookmarking and sharing (over 343 ways, including Facebook and Twitter) is available from their website, and they do participate in the nationwide Ask-a-Librarian. Specialized services include assisting and conducting literature reviews, grant support, course development support for professors, and in-class trainings or one-to-one consultations with students and researchers. Special collections are available in areas of AIDS research, autism, and Aspberger's, as well as a multicultural collection.
Once again I found myself meeting an interesting librarian. I'd had no hands-on prior knowledge of archiving, so it was interesting to hear more of what this job entails. Ms. Taylor is also one of the several librarians I talked with that I discovered lives within my neighborhood! Although I enjoyed my time talking with Ms. Taylor, I did not find a research library as interesting to me as working with my young school children. While everyone was quite pleasant, the entire library was not very populated. The building and facilities seemed drab and outdated as a work environment goes, though this might not be the case in every research library. The most positive aspect seems to be working with folks who clearly enjoy their jobs and are supportive of one another, a theme I seem to see in every library that I've visited. This is the most encouraging bright spot that I enjoy about being a librarian!
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