Profile

Marcus Banks

Ehrman Medical Library
New York University School of Medicine

As an undergraduate student at Northwestern University, one of my favorite experiences was serving as a student representative on the University Library Advisory Committee. The committee was comprised of professors from throughout the university as well as the University Librarian. We met once a quarter to recommend policies for how to improve the library, which the University Librarian promoted to the Provost. I enjoyed the feeling of being able to make a difference as a student.

After graduating with an English degree, I found that I was still interested in libraries. Many years of strolling the stacks had gotten me hooked! So I completed an MLIS while working full-time.

My first library position was as an Associate Fellow of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). I had not planned to go into health sciences libraries, but have found it very easy to become professionally active with colleagues in the Medical Library Association. Since completing the 2 year fellowship at the NLM, I have worked at the New York University Medical Center. It's gratifying to help a medical student identify the perfect article for their research project, and especially gratifying to directly assist in improving the care of patients.

Although the stacks got me hooked, today I am more interested in online library services. How will libraries change in ten years? Will we still have physical libraries in the same way we currently do? What does "expert searching" mean in a world in which searching Google is infinitely easier, and often produces reasonable results? These are the questions that interest me today.

The best benefit of being a librarian is the very close network of colleagues you can develop. Librarians don't have as much of a competitive streak as people in other fields, and are happy to help each other succeed. If I ever choose to leave the field, I will take this trait with me.