FACULTY PROFILE
"Being a faculty member in the Library at GSU allows me the opportunity to give back to the community that raised me. I grew up in Park Forest and still have family there. In fact, as a kid we used to walk around the Manilow Sculpture Park (loved the “french fries”) and later I used to visit the library with my high school English and journalism classes. After nearly 15 years away it’s a great honor for me to work with GSU’s constituents and even host groups of students from local high schools.
In college I studied history and writing. Later, in graduate school I worked as a writing tutor and writing instructor. After I earned my MA in English I went on to study in the American studies doctoral program at Saint Louis University. There my work focused on the music and literature of 20th-century America and I conducted research for a long-tenured and respected historian. I spent a lot of time searching for things in local libraries and archives and found I loved the work and that I had a knack for it. I left Saint Louis University to get my MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois and have been working as an academic or public librarian for the past 5 years. Here at GSU I am the liaison for the social sciences, psychology and counseling, criminal justice, political and justice studies, interdisciplinary studies, and English. Our library is a Federal and State Depository library and I am also the Government Documents coordinator.
This region is near and dear to me and I get a real thrill when I recognize people from the community working and/or taking classes at GSU. I think it’s great that I have friends in graduate programs here now and that professors here recognize my name because my older brother earned a master’s degree from GSU or because they know my parents. It’s these personal ties to the people and places at GSU that keep me working with an eye on the big picture but an emphasis on the individual. That’s the kind of librarian I am. I want to get to know you. Come in, or I’ll come to you. Let’s get to know each other and learn together for our mutual benefit."
- Josh Sopiarz, M.A., M.S