Hello!
My name is Jen Fredrick. I am nearing the end of my MLIS experience and anticipate graduating in December 2026. I am looking forward to taking this class with everyone. It’s one of the courses that comes highly recommended as a “must take class” on the SJSU Course Recommendations page on Facebook.
I live in Bolingbrook, IL (a suburb of Chicago), with my husband of 26 years. We have two kids. My oldest is completing their junior year at DePaul University. My youngest just graduated from high school and will be attending Illinois State University in the fall.
I have been working at a public library for the last 6 years. I started in the children’s department before switching to outreach. One thing I love about outreach is that every day is different. I get to bring the library out into the community, whether it be through Bookmobile stops throughout the community or bringing carts of books into senior living communities. We are a mobile branch of our library, so we get to experience everything: circulation, public services, collection development and management, and more. It’s a great foundation for wherever I end up after I get my MLIS. I would love to stay with my current library, and go back and forth as to whether I want to go back to children’s, stay in outreach, or try something new.
Before working in a library, I worked for 16 years as a certified occupational therapy assistant (COTA). I worked with all ages, with the youngest being 4 months old and the oldest being 104! I also worked in a variety of settings: acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient pediatric clinics, and schools. My job as a COTA was to help patients become as independent as possible with their activities of daily living, including self-care, school, jobs, and hobbies. It was an extremely challenging but rewarding career.
I always said if I wasn’t a COTA, I would want to be a librarian. That thought became more pervasive after my dad passed away in 2018. While I loved occupational therapy, my treatment philosophy was becoming more incompatible with the school environment, so I was losing my passion. On the absolute worst day of my career, I saw a job posting for a children’s services specialist at my local library. I applied, got the position, and never looked back.
There is actually a lot of overlap between the therapy world and the library world, so I found the transition from pediatric therapist to children’s services specialist fairly easy. My background in childhood development and neuroscience definitely helped in planning appropriate storytimes and programs. With occupational therapy, I had to meet the patient where they were, find out what was important to them, and give them skills and resources to continue to participate in those activities. That transitions well to libraries. We have to find out what interests our patrons so we can make appropriate suggestions for books or resources.
I am looking forward to this summer and really reflecting on what the library is and what it can become for our communities.