{"id":29157,"date":"2016-08-31T17:48:32","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T21:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2016\/08\/31\/chicago-natives-next-chapter-is-as-necc-librarian\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:00:29","slug":"chicago-natives-next-chapter-is-as-necc-librarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2016\/08\/31\/chicago-natives-next-chapter-is-as-necc-librarian\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Native\u2019s Next Chapter Begins at NECC \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_14329\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2016\/08\/Laura-Mondt-newsroom2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14329\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14329\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2016\/08\/Laura-Mondt-newsroom2-300x275.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago native Laura Mondt is NECC's new reference librarian. \" width=\"300\" height=\"275\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14329\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chicago native Laura Mondt is NECC&#8217;s new reference librarian.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Even as an undergrad studying history at the University of Illinois, Laura Mondt enjoyed the satisfaction that came with using her sleuthing skills to research a paper.<\/p>\n<p>Now the born and raised Midwesterner is sharing her honed researching abilities with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/\">Northern Essex Community College<\/a> students as the new reference librarian in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/library\/\">Harold Bentley Library<\/a> on the Haverhill campus. She replaces Gail Stuart who retired this summer after 35 years as an NECC librarian.<\/p>\n<p>Mondt worked in the NECC library on the Lawrence campus since February of this year. Prior to moving to New England, she was the reference and instructional librarian at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.richland.edu\/\">Richland Community College<\/a>\u00a0in Decatur, Illinois, for more than three years.<\/p>\n<p>While the location and accents may be more than 800 miles apart, the 30-year-old sees her role and involvement at Northern Essex similar to that at Richland; she is both a navigator and evaluator of information.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like the community college environment,\u201d the Andover resident says. \u201cThere is a nice mix of academics and research yet it offers aspects of a public library, like finding a book for the recreational reader or helping someone needing a little technology help or simply trying to navigate the website.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is a skill set, she says, that is a carryover from her days as a computer monitor at her public library, which leads to how and why she became a librarian. While history was her major in college, her experiences patronizing and volunteering at the local public library influenced her to pursue a minor in information technology studies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt certainly gave me a sense of what working in a library would be like,\u201d she says. \u201cThis work appealed to me because I work with the public and help them figure out what they need and want and help them research it. I\u2019ve always enjoyed the research. I learn so much researching topics with students, but then I don\u2019t have to write the paper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Mondt graduated from the University of Illinois with her master\u2019s in library science and a graduate certificate in archival studies, the recession had a stronghold on the economy. Mondt, didn\u2019t capitulate to the economy and instead continued her education earning a master\u2019s in history at Eastern Illinois University.<\/p>\n<p>All of which has led to her light strewn office on the first floor of the library where she works from a new \u201cstanding desk\u201d\u2026 a subtle indicator that libraries and their staff are changing.<\/p>\n<p>While libraries continue to evolve, the 21st Century librarian\u2019s role has not changed entirely, Mondt says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are still navigators of information,\u201d she says. \u201cBut now we find the information hidden behind a paywall or buried in a library database. We help (them) find alternative resources not just Google. We tell them \u2018Don\u2019t just do one search.\u2019 We also show them how to evaluate the information they find. They need to learn to vet the source.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As satisfying as the search in research is, Mondt says she is equally pleased when students return and thank her for helping them find just the right source to \u201ctie a paper together\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowing that what you are doing is helping them is nice,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>When Mondt isn\u2019t working, she is adjusting to life in the Merrimack Valley and is grateful for its location to the White Mountains and Atlantic Ocean. In fact, she will participate in her first \u201cReach the Beach,\u201d Road Race this fall. It helps take the sting out of the longing she has for \u201creal\u201d deep dish and thin crust pizza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even as an undergrad studying history at the University of Illinois, Laura Mondt enjoyed the satisfaction that came with using her sleuthing skills to research a paper. Now the born [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":29159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chicago Native\u2019s Next Chapter Begins at NECC \u00a0 - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2016\/08\/31\/chicago-natives-next-chapter-is-as-necc-librarian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chicago Native\u2019s Next Chapter Begins at NECC \u00a0 - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Even as an undergrad studying history at the University of Illinois, Laura Mondt enjoyed the satisfaction that came with using her sleuthing skills to research a paper. 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