Please welcome our new Librarian, Alex Aspiazu, and Library Assistant, Jade Darling!
Alex Aspiazu comes to research librarianship through her background in public service at libraries in Virginia and DC. She honed her research skills through her legal training and during her recent internship at the Center for Library Science serving the Government Accountability Office. For Alex, research librarianship allows her to combine her acumen for historical discovery with her love of helping others to find what they are looking for.
“I believe that libraries are all about connection. Great librarianship is all about connecting people to resources, making connections between resources, and connecting people to the other people, organizations, and collections that will enrich their lives.”
As Librarian, Alex manages the daily operations of the Kiplinger Research Library, leading research services work, fulfilling researcher reference queries and other researcher requests, performing rights assessments on requested materials, and creating resources and tools to make our collections more accessible to the public. In doing so, she builds on the past few years of incredible contributions made by former Research Services Librarian Kimmi Ramnine and former Research Services Coordinator Jessica Shainker, as well as the librarians, library assistants, and research volunteers who came before them.
Alex’s vision for librarianship is deeply community-forward: libraries are and always have been spaces where people congregate in the pursuit of knowledge, and creating more inclusive libraries involves not only opening the collections to anyone who would like to see them, but also creating opportunities for communities to become involved with the collections, as well as to see themselves within the collections.
Alex earned her master’s degree in Library and Information Science, thanks to the incredible generosity of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Alex also holds her BA in Ethics, History, and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a JD from Boston College Law School. Alex’s background in the arts and her Ecuadorian heritage make her a unique addition to our team.
Supporting Alex in the library is Jade Darling! Jade will be a familiar face to those who have explored the Kiplinger Research Library over the past few years. She first joined our team in 2019, as a freshman federal work study student at The George Washington University. Throughout her four collegiate years, both in-person and remotely during the worst of the pandemic, Jade supported all aspects of library services, including pulling and reshelving research materials, welcoming researchers to the library, updating catalog records, and inventorying library materials. A Boston transplant, Jade came to the DC History Center “with no roots grounded; however, I grew to love the genuine staff and patrons, beautiful exhibits and library, and the gratifying work of sharing the important unsung history of the District of Columbia.”
As Library Assistant, we’re thrilled that Jade continues to share that history with the public, including researchers and by supporting K-12 field trips and student experiences. She also works with Visitor Services, welcoming exhibit patrons and orienting visitors to the DC History Center.
Jade graduated from The George Washington University in May, with a major in International Affairs with a concentration in comparative politics, economics, and social systems.
Alex and Jade are joined by our research volunteers in supporting researchers of all backgrounds as they explore local DC history. If you’d like to learn more about the research services offered via the Kiplinger Research Library, please visit our Kiplinger Research Library LibGuide.