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Susan Rubenstein DeMasi
You can almost say that Keith Pardini, new librarian at the Grant Campus and new FA member, sailed into our midst. His path to librarianship wasn’t quite typical; he studied marine transportation as a midshipman at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. The program included rigorous academic studies as well as stints sailing around the world on merchant vessels, tankers, container ships and car carriers. Following graduation, Keith, a Long Island native, became a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve. “Every year I’d get students who would report to our base, and I’d be in charge of training them for six months.” Like the information literacy classes he teaches now, “We’d have classroom work, assignments and evaluations.” (Unlike library research classes, these groups took field trips around New York Harbor on large merchant vessels and tugboats.) “I really enjoyed the teaching aspect of it. Our coasties didn’t know the first thing about being on a boat because this was usually their first stop after boot camp. So I taught them the basics of ship handling, the safety and security of New York Harbor and the various industries working together in the harbor.” Although he enjoyed the job, after 15 years as a sailor, he was ready for a career change. On the way home from the city every night he passed Queens College and remembered his days as an undergraduate and how much he enjoyed being in libraries. “I loved the environment of having a nice place to study and a quiet place to focus. It always stuck with me.” He fell in love with libraries again while bringing his children to public library programs. “I went back to library school and wasn’t really sure what route I wanted to take as far as public or archives or academic. During library school, I focused on the archives route first because I was interested in history and met a professor there who turned me on to the archive collection from the Seaman’s Church Institute, an organization that took care of sailors when they came in to port and helped them acclimate themselves back to land life. It combined two of my main interests at the time.” After graduation, he changed his path to focus on academic libraries. As a librarian at Touro College, he worked closely with the occupational therapy department. In that capacity, he helped OT students design 3D-printed assistive devices for patients. He also taught information literacy classes to students in various programs. “I really enjoyed working with the students there and it brought me back to when I was a college student and how great the library was for me.” During his first semester here, Keith began teaching the credit bearing LIB 101: Introduction to Library Research within the first week of the semester as well as subject specific and college seminar research classes. “The students have been great. They’re really motivated and interested. They’re very much engaged.” Just as he helped navigate coasties around New York Harbor, he’s now helping SCCC students—many of them just out of high school—navigate through college research. He also appreciates his fellow faculty members and is impressed with the Faculty Association. He attended the new member bagel brunch and looks forward to other FA events. “I like how the union protects workers’ rights. I appreciate the benefits that the union fought for and knowing that I have people supporting me, people who have got my back. And the union’s been a great resource every time I have any questions.” In his spare time, Keith keeps busy time with his wife and three children, skiing and snowboarding in the winter, kayaking in the summer and going to his kids’ library programs and school events. His fellow librarians and FA members welcome him to his new port. |
