Theresa Jehlik (‘88) has always been a lover of books, though her journey in libraries didn’t begin until 1977 when she was hired to be a school librarian for Handel School in 1977 at the same time as being appointed Handel Village Representative to the Wheatland Regional Library in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Handel School library had been closed in the 1960s, but they’d newly found the funding that would open it again, being fondly described by Theresa to “opening a very dusty time capsule.”
When her husband found a job working as a professor at Creighton in 1980, the couple moved to Omaha and Theresa found a job at the Reinert/Alumni undergraduate library: “It was a split position as a half-time cataloger and half-time Interlibrary Loan manager. Filing Bible catalog cards with extremely long titles and subject headings was a test of both focus and stamina.” She did this for three years before finding a position at the Omaha Public Library, where she’s worked since, holding a variety of different positions before becoming their Strategy and Business Manager today. She loves that her current position is project based and allows her to distill “pertinent, compelling, or just interesting data points to a visual that speaks to the average person.” She was especially proud of the Omaha Public Library getting an increase in their budget for collection development, stating “Omaha Public Library succeeded in having a 6% increase added to our materials line budget for 2027. Our collection dollars have been inadequate for decades. It’s been a continuous, behind-the-scenes process for five years to build a case with data, community survey responses, projected growth trends, and presentations to various stakeholders. Through trial and error, the message was distilled”
She quipped that while “people haven’t changed so much in the intervening years,” technology changes have been drastic. Theresa began her career in libraries on paper systems, working with early ILS systems based on DOS and dot commands, then conquering using a mouse when Windows-based ILS systems rolled out, before navigating the Internet. Even just during her years at SLIS the change was dramatic:
“My first semester work was done on dumb computer terminals liberally spread across campus. Once done, it was a trek to the central computing center to pick up your prints. It worked best when you remembered to write down the print job number that flashed on the screen when you hit the Send button. My second semester work was done on PCs in the shiny, new computer lab that had been installed in the library school space. The new PC lab was littered with thick manuals and multiple discs for WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 programs.”
It was nice to hear that the SLIS of today isn’t too different from 1988, as she describes the way that SLIS was collaboratively focused, having students work in a variety of groups both to get to know each other and develop real time team-building skills: “I also appreciated that SLIS was very clear about their mission to graduate working librarians. Opportunities for real world experiences were threaded throughout the curriculum. Students were also encouraged to share their prior library working experiences during class discussions.”
When asked to give advice to current SLIS students, Theresa couldn’t pick just one. She talked about keeping an open mind when applying for roles, valuing flexibility, and joining professional organizations. She also advised that students be friendly, curious, and open to change; technologies develop, so does our field, but “Library Land is very small and people have long memories,” it is important to remember that we are in this together.
Theresa included a childhood photo of her, capturing her early love of books (she is the child standing beside her mother).
