Instructor and Librarian Aisha Conner-Gaten does far more than organize databases and lead research workshops at Glendale Community College — she’s a teacher, mentor, committee leader, and advocate for student success across campus.
Originally from Chicago, Aisha Conner-Gaten attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her Bachelor’s degree, and later returned to earn her Master’s of Science in Library and Information Science. Libraries, museums, and archives tend to have combined programs, and Conner-Gaten initially was interested in working in archives. “I worked in museums a lot when I was an undergraduate, and things changed as I learned more about what education does for people and what it looks like to help people out with technology,” Conner-Gaten said, recounting to the beginning of her change of mind in what she wanted to truly do.
While an undergraduate student, Conner-Gaten was able to gain experience as a student collections worker as she worked in museums, being able to work with people who create the exhibits, choose the items, and manage the collections. And even though she enjoyed the learning experience, she realized it wasn’t for her. She missed people, and missed the component of talking and seeing people interact with objects and learning to use things. This led her to realize she was more interested in being an educator, causing her to shift her journey from working in archives to a path of librarianship.
After working at Loyola Marymount University, Conner-Gaten found herself drawn to community colleges. “I felt that the community college students were like me,” she said. “Many come from under-supported backgrounds and just need someone to tell them, ‘You can do it.’” She joined GCC during the pandemic and has served as instruction librarian ever since.
Conner-Gaten continues to apply her philosophy into action as her role as GCC’s instructional librarian. Conner-Gaten described her role as an instructional librarian, explaining that librarians in her position are faculty members who focus on teaching students how to locate, use, and understand information responsibly. She also identifies herself as the Distance Education Librarian since she is mainly concerned with managing the library’s workshop program. Students can attend sessions on campus, virtually via Zoom, or asynchronously in Canvas to improve their information competency skills.
The workshops teach students how to use the library to conduct research. Knowing that students generally have limited time, Conner-Gaten prepares her sessions to teach students in quick and effective research techniques. This allows students to make the most out of their limited study time. She also offers instruction that is applicable to the context. In this, librarians accompany certain classes to educate students in research skills relevant to a particular assignment. For instance, if one needs to locate five books for an essay, she teaches them what constitutes a book, how to locate it in the library’s database, and how to apply that immediately.
Her method is empowerment-oriented—she strives to equip students with the confidence and independence to carry out their own research effectively. By giving those basic skills, Conner-Gaten prepares students to graduate from GCC ready for academic success and able to handle information dilemmas long after college.
Conner-Gaten, aside from helping students in the workshops she has, she is also in charge of overseeing the other workshops faculty members like to create for the students. She likes to do research on the kinds of workshops the faculty proposes, and attends many of them. “When you get to what they call coordinate, you get to run it. So it really is what do you think is helpful? Obviously, I ask and I research and I talk to my colleagues a lot about what makes sense,” she said.
She also adds her praise for her team of librarians, who teach in the workshops that she oversees. “We have an amazing group of what we call part-time faculty or adjunct librarians who not only teach in the workshop program, but they also hang out in the library at the Research Help Desk. So when you walk up at like 8:30 at night on a Thursday, you might have a full-time librarian like me or you might have a part-time librarian who works at different colleges,” Conner-Gaten said.
Beyond her instructional work, Conner-Gaten is also involved in a range of professional and campus involvement activities on campus. There is an extracurricular activity that is for faculty. This committee is the Curriculum and Instruction Committee. They that accredits course outlines. “It’s the committee that reviews all the courses that happen here at Glendale. We literally read every single course and there’s kind of an outline that says like, this is what’s supposed to happen. Here’s the books they might use. And we give feedback as a part of the cycle. And this is a part of a big thing called accreditation that’s very official. But essentially it’s like, we just want to make sure you guys are teaching stuff. And so we review all these classes, right? Thousands of classes. And so that committee is great. It’s actually a lot of fun to be on it for someone who likes to kind of get into these very small details.”
Conner-Gaten thrives for collaboration and engagement. She likes being involved with the administration, the union, labor, and having conversations around what the campus is actually doing as a functioning system. So, she is part of many committees on campus. Currently, she co-advises the ‘Sexuality and Gender Alliance Club’ with Michael Davis from the Office of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives. She is also part of the Black History Committee and the Women’s History Committee.
Her peer, Robyn Fishman of the Social Sciences Division, has seen the way Conner-Gaten has contributed to the school community. She acknowledged all that she does, as well as the hard-working team she has as well. “Aisha as a librarian is teamed up with different departments across campus. Right now she’s teamed up with my department, but she actually is in sync with two other departments. And so when she functions as a librarian, what she does is she actually leads workshops, helps our students as they’re trying to sort of fumble through writing papers or trying to sort of find that one piece of information or that one article. So she’s very dynamic, right? Like for our classes. But she also brings speakers to campus. So she just helped bring a workshop on first aid to campus. She is a voice for the LGBTQAI+ community on campus. She is involved in the Black History Month planning. She is involved in Women’s History Month planning. She is involved in, I mean, if you really, in terms of Aisha, you should really ask what she’s not doing, right? Because she’s such a crucial component of the campus.” she said.
Conner-Gaten’s contribution to campus stretches beyond. She is part of the employee newsletter on campus, called “The Chaparral.” Conner-Gaten and Romy Griepp, faculty member of the Social Sciences division, are the co-editors of the paper. You can check out “The Chaparral” here.
For Conner-Gaten, students are her priority. She is always down-to-earth with helping students. There are many resources she helps them learn and use. For example, she encourages students to use their school emails to sign up for the New York Times as a way of getting information and news. Another, is the Zoom appointments students are able to have to discuss anything they need help with or just want to talk. Conner-Gaten always encourages students to come to the library and ask for anything they need, as she is always happy to be there for them.
Fishman added on to Conner-Gaten’s dedication to students, as well as her engagement with working with faculty. “I would say that she advocates for students — students are her priority. And when it comes to policies, her first question is always, how will this impact the students?” she said. Fishman added that Conner-Gaten is always thoughtful when it comes to listening and working with her peers. She added that she keeps staff informed with any changes in policies, or new information regarding school topics. Fishman described Conner-Gaten as patient, kind, and collaborative when it comes to working with staff.
Beyond her librarian and faculty duties, she holds several personal interests and passionate pursuits that allow her to recharge and connect with herself. When she isn’t hard at work, she likes to go see friends and explore all of what you can do living in LA. She said that she enjoys attending drag shows with friends, as she sees drag as an art and a form of expression. She said you can also find her reading a romance novel, or playing tennis.
As to who Conner-Gaten identifies herself today, she’s had many influences. “One of the things that I value most also about the college is this idea of mentorship. I come from peer mentorship, where I’ve met so many incredible people, and we’ve been kind of on the same level. We’re either both starting out in the same area, or we work technically at the same place, but they have a lot more experience. And so it’s not a formal mentor. It’s just that we work together and we teach each other, right? So just through collaborating, you learn from people,” she said. She mentioned that her peers from work, as well as colleagues from other colleges, have influenced her, as well as her mother, who she connects very well with.
Whether she’s running workshops, helping students with research, or attending campus events, Aisha Conner-Gaten plays an active role in student life at GCC. She’s focused on supporting learning and building community, and encourages students to visit the library. “Take a workshop, learn some stuff, you know, and come see us,” she said.
Sirey Rivas can be reached at [email protected].