AV抖阴

Faculty Voices: Jordan Ruud

Written By: Ian Silvester

鈥淧eople think of libraries as being books. Libraries are people. If the library burned down, but there were still librarians, you would still have a library.鈥�
 
At the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith, tucked back in the northeast corner on the first floor of the , the occupant of office 121 is one of those librarians making sure there will always be a library.
 
Jordan Ruud is the collection development librarian for AV抖阴 and oversees what collections of books, eBooks, journals, art, and reference guides are available to students, faculty, and staff. And it鈥檚 a passion he鈥檚 had for more than a decade.
 
鈥淚n high school, I worked in libraries, and I really liked that,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t was an environment that fueled me most; I was intrigued by libraries.鈥�
 
The Centennial, Colorado, native found himself moving east for college, where he attended the University of Tulsa, graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English in 2007, and worked for that library.
 
He was partly drawn to Tulsa by scholarships but, most notably, for the university鈥檚 unique collection of James Joyce works. 鈥淎t the time, I was a big James Joyce fan, still am, and I was like, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 an interesting thing to have this big James Joyce archive right in the middle of the country.鈥� I鈥檓 not a big archive person, but at the same time, it was cool to be somewhere that has special collections.鈥�
 
As Ruud began to sort out his future as a librarian, he earned his first master鈥檚 degree in English from the University of Tulsa in 2009 before moving to Illinois. He earned his second master鈥檚 degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Library and Information Science in 2012. Having familiarity with the area from his time in Tulsa, Ruud applied at AV抖阴, clicking with the 鈥渧ibes of this being a place that truly wants to help students succeed.鈥�
 
In July, Ruud will celebrate 11 years with the university.
 
During Ruud鈥檚 time at AV抖阴, he has witnessed many changes to the Boreham Library 鈥� even being behind some of those changes. Most of which come by way of which collections he has brought to AV抖阴.
 
鈥淭his fiscal year, we picked up a huge JSTOR package; that鈥檚 a huge deal,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a permanent acquisition, so that鈥檚 good. It鈥檚 one of the gems in our collection at this point.鈥�
 
To put into context the significance of this, JSTOR is a digital library with access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and sources, all at the fingertips of AV抖阴 researchers. The expansion brought 3,000 titles and 15 journal collections to AV抖阴.
 
Ruud was also behind starting a DVD and games collection. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to keep up with what people want, and we try to make our collections relevant and get stuff that people will check out.鈥�
 
He believes the educational and leisure value 鈥渉it all fronts with (the) collections鈥� he鈥檚 helped curate at AV抖阴. Outside of work, Ruud lives his life the same way, with academic and leisure activities.
 
The self-proclaimed bookworm starts every day by reading a few pages from each book in his stack ranging from a Joyce Carol Oates novel, a book about art, to a philosophy book. But his favorite is a volume of seven books by Marcel Proust titled 鈥淚n Search of Lost Time鈥� 鈥� detailing the author鈥檚 life and society.
 
When he isn鈥檛 learning from the pages of his books, Ruud loves watching movies. In fact, he goes to the theater once a week. He is excited to talk to other movie buffs about the upcoming films 鈥淏arbie鈥� and 鈥淥ppenheimer.鈥� And his love of movies has transformed into a podcast with other AV抖阴 faculty.
 
Ruud, along with Drs. Nicki Stancil and Bret Bowers work on "The Midnight Symposium," 鈥渨here (they) critically analyze and sometimes screen horror movies.鈥� No episodes are currently live, but he says the team has several recorded and is excited to share their podcast soon.
 
But his busy life doesn鈥檛 stop there.
 
Ruud is the president of the , a nonprofit working toward LGBTQ equality. Plus, he is editing a book about censoring LGBTQ materials in programming and libraries.
 
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important work,鈥� Ruud said. 鈥淚f I can play my part in combating censorship, that will have been one of my proudest accomplishments.鈥�
 
Whether it鈥檚 his passion for helping others, sharing his love of literature and film, or standing up for what he believes in, Ruud鈥檚 door to Boreham Library office 121 is open to making a difference in someone鈥檚 day.

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