{"id":7116,"date":"2024-11-20T12:07:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T18:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/?p=7116"},"modified":"2025-03-03T09:14:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:14:42","slug":"student-employee-spotlight-izabella-botto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/20\/student-employee-spotlight-izabella-botto\/","title":{"rendered":"Student employee spotlight: Izabella Botto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Izabella Botto is a second-year student in the University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) from Santa Rosa, California. Her role as an advanced student employee is funded by the <\/em>University Librarian\u2019s Student Employment Fund<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Headshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

A conversation with Izabella Botto makes one thing immediately clear: Botto is a true believer in the Libraries. In her work with the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Department, the SLIS student has taken on an admirable array of responsibilities, from helping students at the Just Ask desk on the Main Library\u2019s first floor to organizing book displays and working to increase the accessibility of library instruction. For Botto, libraries are a lifelong point of connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chose the SLIS program at Iowa because libraries have always been a big part of my life,\u201d says Botto. \u201cAnd as a history student during undergrad, I loved working and studying in the library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botto\u2019s dedication and adaptability have amazed her supervisor, Katie DeVries, a social sciences librarian and SLIS instructor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIzabella holds herself to lofty standards,\u201d says DeVries. \u201cShe never shies away from learning something new, whether it\u2019s a new research topic or a library work process. Our department can rely on [Botto\u2019s] efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botto received a BA from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and spent a year before graduate school studying visual arts in Florence, Italy. When she returned to Iowa to begin her graduate program, she applied the same adventurous spirit to her studies\u2014and her student employment with the Libraries. She\u2019s quickly become indispensable to DeVries and her colleagues in HSS, who prize her ability to take on tasks in areas previously unfamiliar to her. That has included stepping in to hold office hours for students in the Nonfiction Writing Program. Botto has applied herself enthusiastically to the role, viewing it as an exciting opportunity to learn on the job. As she takes on more advanced work, Botto has especially come to value the mentorship she\u2019s received from DeVries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved all my professors, but before this position, I\u2019d never really had a mentor,\u201d Botto says. \u201c[DeVries] has all these great ideas and experiences and has really helped guide my work. It\u2019s been very important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botto also was nominated and selected to serve on the Ada M. Stoflet Lectureship Committee, an internal body that works together to select the recipient of Ada M. Stoflet Lectureship. The event brings experts in the field of librarianship to campus to deliver a lecture on a topic of interest to Libraries staff and other professionals in the field. Botto, the only student employee on the committee, says she looks forward to bringing lecturers to campus to benefit the Hawkeye community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a really amazing opportunity to sit down and hear what the other people on the committee have to say,\u201d says Botto. \u201cWe can bring in lecturers with different areas of specialization who can speak on what\u2019s happening in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botto\u2019s inclusion on the committee will make all the difference, according to DeVries. \u201cIn small project teams she listens intentionally,\u201d she says. \u201cHer insights improve project outcomes. She is self-motivated and confident, willing to take risks and apply for new opportunities. We feel lucky to have a student employee like her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After she graduates in May 2025, Botto hopes to become a liaison librarian, connecting students and faculty with the world of resources academic libraries offer. Along the way, she says she also hopes to take part in initiatives to modernize and improve the field, including digital library exhibitions and the decolonization of archives. She believes her time at the Libraries has prepared her well to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>I\u2019m excited to be gaining experience working in an R1 institution and hope to continue fostering student research and sharing all the resources that the Libraries have to offer,\u201d says Botto. \u201cIowa has been a wonderful opportunity to explore my interests and prepare me for a future career in academic libraries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A conversation with Izabella Botto makes one thing immediately clear: Botto is a true believer in the Libraries. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"featured_media":7117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[92],"syndication":[46,33,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7116"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7285,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116\/revisions\/7285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7116"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=7116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}