Meet Robin Goodfellow (Puck) Malamud, Cataloger and Classifier at the Boston Public Library! This post is part of our "Behind the Scenes at the BPL" blog series featuring just some of the humans that keep Boston Public Library running.
Where are you from?
I am originally from Kharkiv, Ukraine, but I grew up in New York City. I moved to the Greater Boston area in January 2017.
What do you do in your job day-to-day?
Most of what I do falls under the category of “catalog maintenance” — I create new records for items that don’t currently have any; I improve records that don’t have enough information; and I merge duplicate records. All of this helps library users find what they’re looking for more easily. If you ever wonder why a book is where it is on the shelf or where the added keywords/subject headings in the records come from, there’s a cataloger to thank somewhere in the world!
In addition to the day-to-day work, I participate in some less regular projects: writing reviews for the Queer Lit Review blog, selecting Russian books for our collection, and, as a member of several SACO/NACO funnels, improving Library of Congress Subject Headings and Name Authority Records.
Can you share with our readers some of your favorite books and authors?
Authors I would follow into hell any genre: Ursula K. Le Guin, Martha Wells, KJ Charles
Books I’ve recently fallen in love with: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, A Half-built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys, and The Mars House by Natasha Pulley.
What is your favorite resource at the Boston Public Library?
I’ll admit I haven’t made much use of it yet, but I’m really excited that the Boston Public Library gives free access to Mango Languages! I recently fell out of love with Duolingo, because I realized that I was only logging in to resentfully keep up my streak and I didn’t enjoy the “guilt trip” nature of the reminder notifications, so I’m excited to try a different language-learning app that will (hopefully) be more friendly. And possibly better pedagogically? I’ll keep you posted.
What are you passionate about outside the library?
I am immensely passionate about climate/ecology/sustainability. Boston is a coastal city and the effects of climate change will only become more apparent as the years go on. We’re already experiencing unseasonably warm weather and an increase in tick- and mosquito-borne illnesses. In addition to doing what I can in my own small way, I’m eager to see how we can collectively improve as a society — to shift our economy from one of “growth at all costs” to one that prioritizes well-being and the concept of “enough.” Ever since reading A Half-Built Garden (mentioned above, see also my November QLR review), I’ve also been really interested in how humans can organize ourselves in relationship to the natural world. The watershed networks in A Half-Built Garden led me to start researching watershed associations like the ones for the Charles River, the Mystic River, and the Neponset River. I also attended a talk at the New England Library Association conference about Learning Ecosystems Northeast (LENE), which seems like a promising endeavor.
My interest in community and sustainability has also led me down the intentional communities rabbit hole — I’ve been learning more about cohousing communities like the one in Jamaica Plain and about governance structures like Sociocracy.
I really think we can make the world a better place by working to improve things at the neighborhood level.
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