The Unexpected Librarian: How a Recent Furman Grad Found Himself in Library School
Chase Ollis (’11) is one of the 2015 recipients of the Ethel Carlisle Southern Librarian Scholarship. The scholarship is given annually to a Senior or a Furman graduate who has been accepted into, or is enrolled in, an American Library Association accredited graduate program. There is a wide variety of ways to apply a master’s degree in library and information science. Here’s Chase’s story.
Chase Ollis (’11) came to Furman with plans of majoring in graphic communications, thinking he would like to use his skills with words and ideas to do marketing. He took on double majors in Communication Studies and English. Another part of college life became influential in his career path: his work study job in the James B. Duke Library. At first he wasn’t too impressed with just being behind a desk checking out books, but the job turned out to have a lot more to it. Chase found himself learning how to do research, honing his customer service skills and seeing how libraries run. Encouragement from the library staff made him feel part of the library. Chase’s career path took a bit of a turn, and still wanting to use words, ideas and people skills, he set his sights on working for ALA (the American Library Association). Chicago is the home of ALA, and he headed there after graduation, knowing his Furman degree and experience in the James B. Duke Library would serve him well. His first job was at Northwestern University’s Law Library where he was an assistant for two years. The campus is in the city and Chase collected more than a few stories of “interesting” patrons! One person berated him for not helping her build a social media persona to help her interact with others. The job also gave him the experience needed to snag a job at ALA. Chase is now a program coordinator at ACRL (the Association of College & Research Libraries), a division of ALA that works with college and research libraries. Chase takes care of member services, liaises with the state chapters and helps with programming throughout the year, particularly the ACRL conference. The work is filled with variety and he uses his skills every day. When we caught up with Chase several weeks ago, it was -18° in Chicago and the ALA Offices closed because of the frigid cold! Despite the winters, he finds Chicago a magical city that is friendly despite its size. He loves not having to own a car and takes advantage of all the city has to offer. Chase was one of the 2015 recipients of the Ethel Carlisle Southern Librarian Scholarship. So we expect to see Chase go far in the library world— no surprise to those of us who worked with him in his student days.
2016 scholarship application deadline: March 4, 2016