Lorelei Rutledge, Faculty Services Librarian, University of Utah Marriott Library
By A. Faulkner
What is your role in the GLBTRT?
General member
What does the GLBTRT mean to you?
A place to discuss professional issues related to LGBTQ people
Are you involved in ALA in other ways?
Yes! I just wrapped up as an Emerging Leader, where I worked on a project to revitalize the Learning Round Table’s conference presentation review service. I am also a member of the University Libraries Section Committee and the LLAMA Mentoring Committee.
What professional work do you perform?
I manage our virtual reference services and our resident librarian program. I also liaise with several social sciences departments.
What would you like to share about your personal life?
I am going back to school for my MBA, which is both exciting and terrifying. I am obsessed with supernatural fiction and have recently discovered a love of audiobooks, so I am listening to all of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. The way to my heart is coffee and I love art and regular journaling. I am one of those nerdy queer people without enough pop culture knowledge to make me seem cool. J
What are you most proud of?
I am delighted to be the fiancée of a gorgeous, funny and smart lady, and the minion of a furry feline overlord.
Who inspires you?
I got a chance to present with Alanna Aiko Moore, Adriana Burgos-Ojeda, Whit Lopez and Jhani Miller at the ALA Annual Conference on “Intersections and the Experience of GLBTQ Library Folks,” a GLBTRT co-sponsored panel, and I was very inspired by their dedication and willingness to share their lives and experiences.
What are your goals? (Professional and/or personal.)
My goals are to continue to contribute to the profession, especially in ways that support equity for underserved groups. Personally, I hope to become a gentler, kinder person.
What do you think (or predict) is the future of libraries?
I think our future is to continue providing access to high-quality information in a variety of ways to a variety of people. Like many other Round Table members have said, I believe libraries are and will continue to be essential in preserving democracy.
In what direction would you like the GLBTRT to move in the future?
I love the direction GLBTRT is going now, especially the opportunities to connect with and learn from other members. :)
If you could be transported into the fictional world of any book, where would you go?
I think it would have to be the world of Lila Bowen’s Shadow series, which is set in the Old West but includes shapeshifters and other supernatural types. I would love to be friends with Nettie/Rhett, the main character. J
What would be the title of your autobiography?
Oh God What’s Happening Right Now: A Life or I Think I Forgot My Lunch: A Memoir.
If you could only choose one song to play every time you entered a room for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Florence + The Machine’s Dog Days are Over. It always cheers me up.
If you could have a dinner party with 5 culturally or historically significant figures, living or dead, who would you invite?
Oh gosh, probably Roxane Gay, Marilyn Wann, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jack Halberstam and Rebecca Solnit.
What is the meaning of life?
Dude!! 42, obviously!
