‘Check Out’ the New Librarian: Angela Fisher Ready to Lend a Hand
Ryan Daine
Within the main floor of the Funderburg Library, students may wander in to find the usually open door to the office of Angela Fisher, MU’s new librarian. Though one may be wary to approach an official-looking office space such as hers, students can rest assured that Fisher is a kind individual who spends her working hours doing typical library duties, as well as acting as a resource to those in need of advice concerning a variety of academic topics.
Fisher joined Manchester’s library staff at the beginning of August 2019, working as an instruction and access services librarian. However, being a librarian was not her first career path in life; it was actually her third. Fisher graduated with a major in both English and psychology, and continued onto law school, following her undergrad. Fisher practiced law for some time, as well as worked for a branch bank under J. P. Morgan. Fisher said she continued with this career path for “quite a while,” until she got burnt out with corporate work, and decided to head back to school to obtain her master’s degree in library science.
From that time forward, Fisher worked in a public library for several years, a job which she said that she “really enjoyed,” but the academic opportunities offered at Manchester led her to pursue the job listing here. Fisher said that working at a university has been a long-time dream for her. “Working in an academic library has always been my goal,” she said. “I had been looking for a good opportunity, so I was very excited when this one came up.”
Fisher seems quite happy and content with her current path here at MU, voicing how much of a pleasure it is to be able to work with and assist a wide spectrum of both students and faculty on campus. “I like that I get to work with young people and that it’s very intellectually stimulating here,” Fisher said. In addition, Fisher also teaches research skills to students in first-year seminars, a service that she is more than happy to offer to anyone, no matter what year, who may need an extra hand.
Fisher also serves as the liaison librarian for the schools of pharmacy, business, and natural health and sciences, all topics in which she has a wide breadth of knowledge, and can offer assistance to any students from those disciplines who may need help selecting texts. Anyone who may need the services of the library or Fisher can drop by Funderburg Library during office hours, and feel free to ask any questions they may have.
Fisher offers assistance to any students who may need her help, or to anyone who just wants to drop by and have a chat about the library and how it works, or something more specific concerning finding exact texts needed for academic reports.