I had a wonderful time in my years in Romance Languages and Literatures at Skidmore before I went on to receive an MA in French at UCLA in 1974.
I am actively involved with French in my current position, so I am happy to send you a summary of that experience and grant permission for this information to appear in your website.
Before coming to Widener Library at Harvard University in 1977, I taught French for a couple of years at the Middle School level after receiving the MA degree. When my husband and I moved to Boston in 1976, I studied for the Masters in Science (Library Science) at Simmons College and by the time I graduated from that program in 1978, I had worked at Widener Library for a year. I have continued at Widener in various positions for the past 26 years.
I used my language background in my first two jobs, Serial Cataloging and Head of Serial Records, for the first 18 years of my tenure. Having French, Spanish and some Italian helped immeasurably in corresponding with our library vendors, meetings with their representatives, and handling the variety of "publication puzzles" that regularly occur in the world of academic serials and series.
Three years ago, I accepted the position of Research Librarian in the Widener Library, with liaison responsibilities to these academic departments: Romance Languages and Literatures, Comparative Literature and the Literature Program at Harvard. In this role, I teach faculty and students about research methods and using library resources, develop research guides and assist in answering our readers' reference and research questions. It has been a marvelous application of my background and the work presents continual challenges due to the changing research landscape. I enjoy this work very much and feel that my studies at Skidmore gave me a very solid foundation upon which to build.