We are happy to welcome Ursula Romero as our new outreach and instruction librarian in Special Collections and Archives.

Originally from New Jersey, Ursula spent the last five years working as an outreach librarian at the Lilly Library at Indiana University. She earned her BA in media studies and a minor in international cinema from William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. She went on to receive her MLIS at Pratt Institute in Manhattan, graduating in 2019.

Ursula says she’s looking forward to getting to know the collections here, as well as the people of Iowa City. “I’m also extremely excited to work with the Center for the Book and the other special collections on campus, and to just generally live in a place as bookish as Iowa City.”

As a librarian, Ursula loves meeting people and learning about their interests and finding ways to connect those interests to the collections.

“I feel very strongly that special collections are for absolutely everyone, and it is my mission to make everyone feel welcome here and be able to see themselves in our collections, especially groups who have been historically marginalized or overlooked,” she says, “I love teaching classes or hosting events where visitors are able to interact with the materials and feel a connection to the past and an ownership of our shared cultural heritage.”

When not working, Ursula loves to be watching movies, especially horror/cult/avant-garde/independent films. She hasn’t been here a full month and has already been to FilmScene six times! She also has a love of reading and science fiction, crochet and embroidery, hanging out with her two perfect cats (Zefram and Thisbe), and seeing live music.

Welcome Ursula!