Cougar Queries is a series profiling BYU employees by asking them a few simple questions about their work, interests and life.
Name: Jennifer Paustenbaugh
BYU employee since: March 2013
My job at BYU is... University Librarian (or director of the Harold B. Lee Library)
I get most excited about my work when... I have the chance to talk to students about library services and spaces that are helping them be successful (or what we could do to help them even more).
Working as a student at the Indiana University Libraries- sparked my interest in my field. I found helping other people with their research was as interesting as what I was studying.
I'm currently reading... The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner. I'm a huge fan of the way he intertwines the natural world with plot. But my nightstand is like a small library. I'm usually reading 5-10 books at once. I'm also reading The Rise by Sarah Lewis. It's a fascinating book about the gift of failure. And I'm reading John Palfrey's book BiblioTech, which talks about why libraries matter even more in the Google Age.
Traveling to the Jerusalem Center last year- changed the way I viewed ... the reasons people have been fighting over this city for centuries.
My go-to BYU Creamery ice cream flavor is... Graham Canyon. Whoever came up with this flavor is an ice cream genius!
I've hiked Y Mountain one time. I did this on June 7 and my knees are still hurting from the hike down.
My favorite spot on campus is... the Reindeer Reading Room on level 2 of the HBLL. I love the fireplace and the comfy chairs as well as the natural light that infuses the space.
I dream about one day... serving a service mission at Temple Square working in the gardens, and retracing the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica.
My favorite sayings are... "Bloom where you are planted." And "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." (William Arthur Ward)
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Know of another Cougar we should feature? Email Emily Hellewell.
