Since joining the Eccles Health Sciences Library in 2016, Donna Baluchi has consistently gone above and beyond in their work. They have led efforts to improve library services and programming, with a commitment to all patrons.
Donna began at EHSL as a Public Services Library Aide. Soon they moved into the role of Public Services Supervisor. In this role, they provided mentorship to part-time staff. One of their mentees and former reports assumed the role of Public Services Supervisor when Donna obtained a faculty position at EHSL – now a Access & Outreach Librarian.
Donna’s outreach and instructional excellence to undergraduate and pre-college students interested in health professions is compelling. Their efforts have resulted in numerous groups of students being introduced to the Eccles Health Sciences Library and biomedical literature searching. Donna provides guidance to these learners, which enables them to follow their inquiries regardless of their fields. Outreach includes an extensive history of successful exhibits, events, and gatherings at the library, such as with the Layers of Medicine courses. These events also connected people across distances, especially during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic in remote and hybrid work and learning environments. Donna led an effort to add free yoga in the library twice weekly, which is an extracurricular that is still available today to both students and employees.
Donna collaborates on research projects across several disciplines, which has resulted in many publications in various prestigious journals, and contributing to a positive organizational culture across the library and UHealth.
Join us in congratulating Donna for receiving the Leadership in Inclusive Excellence – Research Award!
Image courtesy of Miko Nielson.
