Highline Library Newsletters

In the summer of ’76, I had just finished 5th grade. The country celebrated its bicentennial. And in August, President Gerald Ford held off a challenge from Ronald Reagan for the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. During the convention, something must have stirred in my mother. I clearly remember her promising, “If Ronald Reagan becomes president, we are moving to Canada.” Luckily, Ford accepted the nomination (and lost the presidency) …and we could remain in the United States…

Four years later, Ronald Reagan was elected president…we had just moved back to Washington State after my father’s retirement for the Coast Guard. So, maybe mom was tired of moving around so much…because after the election, we did not move to Canada…During Reagan’s presidency, I finished High School, started college, and ended up joining the Army…mom, however, did not survive the Reagan years. Towards the end of his second term, she lost a battle with breast cancer…she never made it to Canada…

Now, after this year’s election, I can’t help to think about my mother’s remark about Reagan and Canada…this was the only promise my mother did not keep…but, if she was still with us, I am sure she might be headed north at last…true to her word…

George Babcock

Library & Archives Paraprofessional 4

The Library is thrilled to announce a new digital collection of ESOL eBooks. The eBooks in this collection are selected especially for students learning English at Highline College. This collection was created at the request of some of our ELCAP faculty who teach online ESOL classes. 

The collection consists of ninety titles for beginning, intermediate, and advanced level students (we plan to keep adding to it) 

These eBooks are available for free with a Highline login and no checkout is required. Tell your students about the great eBooks now available.

If you or your students need help accessing the eBooks, please refer them to Ask a Librarian.

Browse the full ESOL eBooks Collection.

Selected ESOL eBook titles include: 

Cynthia Phillips is making moves. Her most recent – joining the Highline College Library staff as a work-study student employee.

Cynthia is no stranger to Highline College. She originally studied Administrative Management at Highline and earned her Associate of Arts degree in 2017. She returned in the last year to pursue a BAS in Business Management.

She has been interested in business since she started taking business classes when she was 13 and took her first job at a daycare when was 14. Later, she earned her first business certificate when she was 18. Since then, she has worked in a range of positions, and she sees the BAS in Business Management as a step on the path to the life she envisions for herself. She is exploring various avenues for her work, including starting a small business.

She loves traveling, having spent time in Jamaica and Las Vegas, and she has driven from Washington to California.

“I like that drive. I was able to go through Oregon and see all the cities and towns. I like all forms of travel.”

She wants to connect her personal passion for travel with her future job prospects.

“‘Where do I see myself in 5 years?’ That's a question I was asked a lot when I was younger. So, now, I live by that.  I definitely want to be in a good position, graduated and at a nice job, hopefully a good traveling job. Relaxing a little more and living stress free.”

Cynthia sees the library as a place to diversify her work experience and move away from phone-based desk jobs she’s worked in the past.

"I thought the library would be a nice place to work. I've done a lot of phone work, and I'm trying to get away from that. I don't want to be confined to a desk. I like working at a front desk, interacting with people and doing lots of different things," she said.

In her free time, Cynthia enjoys spending time with friends and family and learning more about ideas and strategies for self-love. She’s inspired by Karamo Brown’s talk show and books.

“He has a lot of books, shows, and ideas dedicated to self-help/self-love. This is a brand he has built for himself, so it has also inspired me to start working on building a positive brand for myself.”

by Ian Porter, Reference Librarian

Ollie Wood wanted a job. As a student at Highline College, she looked for opportunities on campus and discovered a work-study position in the Highline College Library. So she went for it.

“The big thing was that I've been in libraries. I know they're pretty peaceful, and it's, like, this place is really nice to be in. If I had to work somewhere and had to be there for four hours a day, like, three times a week, a library is a pretty nice place to do it. I said, ‘Oh, shelving. I enjoy shelving.’ That's my favorite part of the job. Ordering things, it's so fun!”

In her second year at Highline College, Ollie recently joined the Library staff as a work-study student employee. Make your way to the Library one day, and you may be greeted by her at the Circulation Desk, or you may find her doing her favorite part of the job, shelving books in the 3rd and 4th floor stacks (library-speak for bookshelves) in Building 25.

Beneath her serene exterior burns supernova-sized ambitions to study the cosmos.

Before coming to Highline, Ollie graduated from Raisbeck Aviation High School in the Highline School District, a high school located next to Boeing Field where students pursue their passion for aviation and aerospace while earning a high school diploma.

“There was a very unique culture there. Like, if a cool plane was launching off, the class would stop as everyone would go outside and watch,” she said. And the students “can name you the exact model of an exciting aircraft at Boeing Field.”

Now, at Highline College, she is taking classes in math, physics, and computer science that will position her well to pursue further studies in astronomy and astrophysics. She envisions transferring to a four-year college to earn a bachelor’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics and then pursue graduate school in the discipline. Ultimately, she hopes to become a researcher in a university or an astronomical observatory. 

In her free time, Ollie is a gamer and a comic book maker. She recently joined the S.W.O.R.D. Club, whose mission statement describes itself as “a club of students who occasionally roll dice, it is a space for people interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons.” She enjoys both tabletop role playing games (TTRPGs) like D&D and computer role playing games (CRPGs), including Pathfinder, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Disco Elysium. With her friends, she also makes the webcomic Multifarious Conundrum Comics.

by Ian Porter, Reference Librarian

Picture: Morgan and Ava Ramos (left to right)

Ava Ramos is in the spotlight — the Highline College Library’s Fall quarter Student Spotlight!

Ava joined the Highline College community this fall as a new student after graduating from Decatur High School in Federal Way this past June. Her and her twin sister, Morgan, chose to attend Highline College, because it is close to home, affordable, and is “a really good school,” she said. 

When classes started, she felt all the normal feelings of a new student. “At first, I was hesitant to ask for help or talk to teachers,” she said. Ava’s feelings at the beginning of her first quarter of college are very common among many first year college students.

But, Ava is obviously a quick learner. She started asking for help from librarians and talking with her teachers. “I just noticed that, when I started doing that, my experience got easier and was more fulfilling.”

“First, I came to the library for a space that was quiet and I could do my work, and to have the resources available to do my work,” she said. 

But it was when she had a research project for College 101, a required student success class for all new students, that she really saw the value of coming to the library.

“We're doing a project in College 101, and we have to find sources for our project,” she said. “My project is about sleep and how that relates to college. Basically how sleep is super important. To narrow it down, I asked the questions, ‘How do sleep habits impact sleep quality, and how does sleep quality impact your performance in school? What are things that students can do to get better sleep, so they can do better in school?”

So she sought help at the Ask desk on the 2nd floor of the library and talked with Reference Librarian Hara Brook. “I talked with Hara about my topic, and she’s been really helpful.”

Ava is taking College 101 and English 101, and she is tentatively planning to take classes in Graphic Design in Winter quarter, potentially pursuing a A.A. in Graphic Design.

She sees the field of graphic design as a career path that allows her to draw on her passion for art.  

“It’s really creative,” she says of the field of graphic design. “I’ve always loved art, since I was a kid. I was just trying to think of ways to have a job that I would love to go to every day. Graphic design is a good option, because you get to be creative, and there are a bunch of different things you can do.” 

As she moves forward to Winter and Spring quarters, she says she plans to continue to use the library as a study space and as a space to relax and read or to hang out with her sister.

“Everybody is really nice and helpful in the library,” she said. “If you just want a place to sit and read or even just hang out, it's really cool. I really like it. I like to read some of the magazines on the main floor. I also like to read classic literature. So, the other day I was reading Emma [by Jane Austen]. I like to read different genres in the library.” 

Clearly, Ava has found one of the keys to student success and used it to unlock an exciting academic and career pathway. 

Speaking to other new students, Ava offers wise words: “In general, I would say that you should use your resources, ask for help when you need it, and go to office hours.”

Editor’s Note: Ava was not paid to say such nice things about the library. Even if we had paid her, we wouldn’t have expected such powerful advocacy for the library. Ava is hereby designated as an unofficial student ambassador for the library. 🙂

by Ian Porter, Reference Librarian

The Rise of Winter
Dark clouds, storms approach
Stand fast against the tempest
Skies will clear again

Image generated by Microsoft Copilot Image generator using the prompt: "rainy foggy and gray pacific northwest winter day" on October 18, 2024.

@Highline College Library