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Character

Cougar Query: “The title of my autobiography would be 'Loud Librarian'"

Name: Rachel Wadham

BYU employee since: 1996

I’m currently working on… a multiyear qualitative study that is assessing how teacher professional development shapes a professional identity.

I’m currently reading… “The Woman They Could Not Silence” by Kate Moore, “Teaching Readers (Not Reading)” by Peter Afflerbach, “The Upside of Stress” by Kelly McGonigal, “The Pearl of Greatest Price” by Terryl Givens and Brian M. Hauglid, “The Captive Kingdom” by Jennifer A. Nielsen, “This Rebel Heart” by Katherine Locke and well, . . . a few others.

Rachel Wadham
Photo by Brooklynn Jarvis/BYU

I get most excited about my work when… I’m able to help find the perfect source for someone’s research or project.

Trips to the library as a child …sparked my interest in my field.

Educators Kelly Gallagher and Donalyn Miller …changed the way I view… teaching, reading and literacy because they are breaking down barriers we carry from the past.

When I tell people I work for BYU, they often say… “how cool” because they see the library as the coolest place on campus.

My favorite lecture to teach is… synthesis, where we cover strategies to take lots of sources and put them together with personal ideas to make something completely new.

When I have 30 minutes of free time, you can find me… sewing or playing the piano.

Rachel Wadham Photo
Photo by Brooklynn Jarvis/BYU

My advice to incoming freshmen is… the library is amazing; we’re ready and willing to help you make your school life easier.

My favorite BYU tradition is… University Conference because it reenergizes me for a new school year.

My favorite Cougar athlete is… all those amazing ladies on every team from soccer to gymnastics.

I chose to come to BYU because… there is great power in being able to embrace your spiritual understanding.

My most cherished memory at BYU is… coming on campus as a kid to visit my dad who was a professor and eating in the old cafeteria style Cougareat.

Three things that are always found in my refrigerator are… cheese, sourdough bread, flaxseed.

The title of my autobiography would be… “Loud Librarian.”

My favorite quote is… “It’s good to be curious about many things,” by Fred Rogers.

My most embarrassing moment was… when I had to give a lecture wearing two different shoes.

My favorite joke is… “What makes ‘Civil Disobedience’ such a great essay? Thoreau editing.”

The biggest challenge I’ve faced was… being a learning-disabled student who had to navigate educational environments not suited for my learning needs.

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