Sarah Sheets Reaches 20 Year Anniversary with the UC Merced Library
Published December 4, 2023
Sarah Sheets has been with the UC Merced Library for 20 years! She started in technical services at Rollins College's Olin Library in Winter Park, Florida, and discovered that she really loved this work.
After moving cross-country to Merced for her spouse's work, her mother-in-law mentioned a new university opening; she suggested that Sarah send in her resume. Sarah's first call was with Donald Barclay, who offered her a part-time position soon after. Her first couple of years were spent working at UC Merced's Castle Air Force location since the campus was not yet open.
Initially, Sarah's portfolio as Technical Services Coordinator involved working with both print and electronic materials. She ensured that the Library's resources were cataloged in OCLC and discoverable. When the Library was able to add another position to the Collection Services team, Sarah became our Electronic Resources Coordinator, focusing solely on digital resources.
Sarah's position requires systemwide involvement, and her participation at this level has only increased with the implementation of a systemwide integrated library system (SILS). She was deeply involved in the SILS launch which required an enormous amount of work as data was extracted for the migration. She currently serves on a systemwide group to examine what statistics are most needed from the Library's software system and how they can be exported for reporting purposes and collection decisions.
On a typical day, she is connecting with her co-workers, trouble-shooting any e-resource access issues, contributing to systemwide projects, cataloging UC Merced theses and dissertations, and making sure that the rich electronic information resources available to our UC Merced students, faculty, and staff are findable in UC Library Search.
When recognized at our All-Staff meeting, Sarah's supervisor Jim Dooley spoke highly of her and with much appreciation. "Sarah is an important contributor to the Library's success in providing access to information resources. She is also a joy to work with."
Congrats Sarah!
