By: Sarah Eubanks, University of North Texas
My name is Sarah Eubanks. I am a Feedback assistant in the Digital Projects Lab at the University of North Texas. I want to begin this blog post by expressing my gratitude for receiving this scholarship, which allowed me to attend the 2026 Texas Conference on Digital Libraries. I had a great time meeting new people, enjoying the company of my supervisors and fellow student assistants at UNT, and most importantly, engaging with the work being done across Texas digital libraries. I attended many sessions over three days, but I want to highlight two specifically.
Firstly, the “Day in the Life of” an Academic Librarian Panel on Wednesday was a great way to hear from individuals across the library in one session. It was interesting to hear about various library roles and how the librarians came to be in them. For some, it was not a straight line, and their current position was not where they had always been and may not be where they will remain. I was specifically interested in hearing from Ian Barba from Texas Tech University, who works as a subject librarian. Working as a feedback assistant, helping users navigate the Portal to Texas History, has sparked my interest in reference services and subject librarianship.
Additionally, it was fun to hear from Ana Krahmer, who works in the UNT Newspaper unit, who I communicate with occasionally, talk about her work. While we work on the same floor and email every once in a while, I did not know too much more about what she does beyond the fact that she works in the Newspaper unit. The session was well moderated, and all the panelists gave insightful answers about their education, their journey to their institutions, their role within their libraries, and the joy they derive from their jobs. My biggest takeaway from this session was all the various ways the panelists came to be in their positions. Everyone had different educational backgrounds, and many had bounced around the library before settling in their current positions. As a library science student who will begin looking for a library job (hopefully) this time next year, this served as a nice reminder that progression isn’t linear. Finally, I appreciated how the panel emphasized work-life balance and knowing when to say no.
Secondly, the Texas Digital Collections Showcase, also on Wednesday, consisted of three fun and engaging presentations. Starting with Betsy Evans Helesic’s Alpine Restaurant Mapping Project. I loved that this project uses library work and technology for a passion project. You could tell Helesic is invested in this project, and it made the presentation very fun to listen to. Also, I couldn’t help but think that something similar to this would be incredibly popular in Denton. The second presentation was from Cristina Kellum and Noah Garcia, titled “Digitization Methods, Techniques, and Exploration for a Large and Historical Bible.” Kellum and Garcia did a great job explaining the history of their 14th-century Bible and explaining the equipment they used and the adjustments they had to make to accommodate this unique item.
Finally, the last presentation, “Captured Lakes and Landscapes: A Collaborative Effort to Digitize Two Film Collections,” by Cristina Kellum, Marcia McIntosh, and Bree’ya Brown explained the process of providing access to the Victor Oppenheim Papers collection and the Bill Woodside Lake Whitney Views Collection. The presenters did a great job of breaking down their organizational process and how key communication was to the completion and success of these projects. The digitization of the Whitney Views Collection was done in the UNT Digital Projects lab and while I walked past this work almost every day, somehow, I did not know what my colleagues were working on until I found out during this presentation. And I, of course, loved seeing the special thanks to some of my other friends and colleagues at the end of the presentation.
I would once again like to reiterate my thanks for being able to attend TCDL. I highlighted some of the most memorable sessions for me, but I feel like I took something beneficial from every session I attended over the three days. As well as the interactions I had with fellow students and recent graduates who have already begun their careers and whose positions I hope to be in soon.