Meet our Employee of the Month, Joshua Lambert!

What is your job title?

Head of Access Services

What originally got you interested in library work?

I was originally interested in library work because it seemed like it would be better to work in a university library than to work in the university cafeteria. I was correct. After college, I didn’t know what else to do so I applied for library jobs and got an interview. During an interview for an acquisitions position at Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, I told them if they hired me I would probably end up leaving in two years. I would either go to seminary or get a library degree. They hired me and two years later, I chose to get a library degree from Emporia State University.

Is there a library resource you’d like to highlight?  Something you think is underutilized?

I think the library book collections are underutilized and that today’s students have been conditioned to not accept long reading texts and the reflection needed to understand those texts.

What book, author, artist, show, music, movie, etc., are you into right now?

I am currently reading The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, translated and edited by Richard Price and Michael Gaddis. This three volume set contains the minutes of an ancient Christian church council from 451 AD. These days, few people know it even exists. These minutes are exact enough to contain who voted for which issues during the council and often why they voted that way. There is intrigue, mystery, betrayal, grandstanding, backbiting, exalting, anathematizing and many other things we see around us today in large representative bodies.