Zipporah Brown was most recently a Graduate Research Assistant for the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. She is pursuing a dual master's degree in library and information science and instructional design and technology, with a future graduation date in 2026. She has worked there since May 2023, starting as a Graduate Assistant at the William Allen White Library over the summer semester, helping with several large projects regarding the library's physical and digital collection due to recent moving and merging of departments. Since the fall semester of 2023, she has been a graduate research assistant for three professors in the School of Library and Information Management and Instructional Design and Technology programs. 

 

She graduated from Concordia University-Nebraska in the spring of 2023 with a Bachelor's degree in History; due to her minor in Communication, the combined programs brought her a further understanding of the importance of education and effective presentation. In addition, Zipporah was a part of the Concordia Forensics team specializing in Parliamentary Debate. A continued career in forensics from high school to the collegiate level nourished her to see multifaceted situations, many of which were political, and come up with new resolutions to benefit the whole community. 

 

Zipporah is from a small town in Nebraska known as Hastings. In this town, despite 25,000 people, the poverty rate is at 70%, making it a challenging situation for many families. During her undergraduate years, Zipporah worked at the Link Library as a student worker; she worked on collection development projects and provided reference assistance to students, faculty, and staff. In the summer, Zipporah worked at Hastings Public Library as the Summer Program Assistant and Circulation Assistant. The experiences brought further light to an already blossoming passion, accessibility, because of the patrons who became friends and whom she wanted to help further to support the library's continued safe space, providing knowledge to all who enter its doors.

 

She has volunteered to be the website and social media manager for Our Place After School Care Inc. This non-profit organization cares for teens with disabilities after school so their parents can still be at work. Zipporah first got involved because her sister, Zoe, has disabilities, and she was taking care of her after school. Zipporah's mom realized a new solution was needed with her oldest daughter about to go to college, so Our Place After School Care was born. She has been involved in Our Place After School Care from the beginning and the expansion of Freedom Factory, a storefront for teens to sell craft, cooking, or other items and run a store. Due to these experiences, Zipporah strongly supports universal accessibility, which will impact her further endeavors. 

 

Her next goal is to receive her Ph.D. in library science and instructional design to become an academic librarian. She wants to make a difference in her students, coworkers, and community's lives by listening to them and combining technology with library spaces to create more accessible community learning experiences.