The UWM Libraries are excited to announce that we have recently filled three permanent positions.
Steve Keltner has been hired as building manager of the Golda Meir Library. Previously, he was the library’s physical operations supervisor, beginning that job in 2011.
Steve’s varied post-secondary education includes a BS in ceramic engineering from the Missouri University of Science & Technology (he holds three patents related to the manufacturing of silicon wafers, a foundational material of electronics that gives solar panels their distinctive appearance); a Master of Divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, IN); and special training from UW-Madison in library and archives environmental controls.
About his new role at UWM, Steve says that he is excited to explore “new ways that the diverse areas inside the library might be used to enrich our campus community, and to improve the accessibility and utility of our more established spaces.”
Away from the library, Steve has a strong interest in regenerative farming and practices that promote local food resilience. He grows lettuce and herbs year-round in his broom closet, organic bell peppers in his living room, and will soon be raising organic tomatoes in a bedroom.
Georgia Brown has been hired as public services librarian in the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL), a job she has held on an interim basis since 2020.
Georgia holds a BA from the University of Tennessee at Martin and an MLIS and an MA in history from UWM. As a former graduate intern in AGSL, she was well-situated to research her master’s thesis, “Lost and Found in the Map Library: Ena L. Yonge and the History of Map Librarianship.”
Georgia says that her favorite part of her job in AGSL is leading instruction sessions. “Seeing students connect our materials to what they’ve been learning in the classroom always feels like a win,” she says. “Even when the sessions don’t go exactly as I planned, I know that the students have been introduced to a new place to find primary sources and how to think critically about them–which is an even bigger win!”
Among her hobbies are doing puzzles, playing PokemonGO, and reading.
Brianna Newcomb joins the UWM at Washington County Library as a library services assistant-advanced.
Brianna has a BA from McNeese State University (LA) and a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School. She is a first semester graduate student in the UWM School of Information Studies. Though this will be her first formal library education, she worked part-time in libraries during her undergraduate and law studies.
“In my position at the Washington County Library,” Brianna says, “I get to work with students who are new to academic research and just beginning to develop their professional goals, and it is a privilege to assist students as they work toward those goals.”
As a new resident of Milwaukee, Brianna is enjoying exploring the city and being on the lake. She loves “good tea, weird books, and dog parks.”
The Libraries recently said good-bye to the following employees. We wish them well as they begin new chapters in their lives.
Ashley Chapa, library services assistant-advanced in Access Services, resigned after seven years in the Golda Meir Library.
Kay Guildner retired as library services assistant-advanced in the American Geographical Society Library after 14 years of service.
Karen Kleist retired from her position as library services assistant-advanced at the UWM at Washington County Library.