Member Spotlight - Mary Krieger

Mary Krieger, our SLML president elect, is a reference librarian at the Saint Louis University Health Science Library. Her road to librarianship was not as direct as some of us. Mary came into the field as a second career, although she was interested in becoming a librarian at a young age. In grade school, she saw the movie Desk Set with Katherine Hepburn and thought she would someday become a librarian. But, when she graduated from college and was ready to choose a career, the job market was much more promising for R.N.s. Instead of earning her graduate degree in Library Science, she earned a diploma degree in Nursing.

Mary worked as a professional nurse for the next 15 years. Her interest in librarianship never left her, though, and in December of 1999 she graduated from Dominican University in Chicago with an MLIS Degree. While earning her degree, she worked as a library assistant at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. There she gained experience in everything from shelving to Medline searching.

Mary learned about her current position soon after graduating from Library School. The communication came from her cousin who learned about the opening through the Saint Louis Medical Librarians listserv. She interviewed for the position and started in June of 2000. She joined SLML as soon as she learned about it from her fellow reference librarians. Becoming a member seemed to be a great way to meet and interact with other librarians in the health science field. Last year, she was asked by two separate SLML colleagues to run for president of SLML. Her previous experience working on the Strategic Planning and Governance Committees had been positive, so she thought "why not?"

Outside of work, Mary spends much of her free time working out at the Y (I can attest to this as I see her at the South City Y often). She is also an avid reader and heavy user of the St. Louis Public Library. When she has the opportunity, she visits Chicago to see friends and family, and enjoy museums and cultural activities.

Serving as president next year is quite an undertaking, since there will be quite a bit of work relating to the 2006 St. Louis MCMLA Conference. Given Mary's breadth of experience and positive attitude, one can be sure that she will do a fantastic job!