Tim Krezman
Staff Writer
Rebecca Marion | The CollegianKarla Aleman was named Dean of the Library and eLearning in August.
Karla Aleman was named Dean of library and elearning at Lorain County Community College in August 2016. Aleman, who was previously the distance instruction librarian and webmaster at Morehead State University in Kentucky, was looking for an administrative position. The opening at LCCC was one of the first positions she saw.
“A lot of what I was doing [at Morehead State] was focused on building things around students and user experience design,” Aleman said. “This was one of the first jobs that I saw, and it seemed to kind of fit me really well.”
Aleman was excited for the opportunity, since she already had experience with joint-use libraries. It combined her areas of expertise; eLearning and the library. Joint-use libraries merge a public school library and a public library in a shared space. On the LCCC campus, the Bass Library/Community Resource Center contains both the college’s library for students and faculty, but also the north branch of the Elyria Public Library, along with other community resources.
Aleman graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004, majoring in Medieval Studies with a minor in History. She received her Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University in 2007.
“I have a really great team of people with me who have been patient as I continue to learn about this position,” Aleman said.
Aleman said she loves the community feel and hopes to get more involved. She said she loved the look of LCCC when she was gathering information about the area.
“I have also been able to meet with and talk to people around campus who have been really patient with me, and they are willing to talk to me about ideas and teach me a little bit how things work here. I have been very grateful for everyone really welcoming me in and giving me the help that I need.” she continued.
Aleman loves the challenges of her job. “I love libraries and I love teaching and learning and I love the online environment. As a librarian I study the impact of the web and technology on people and the way they think. I love that I get to do work in the field that I love,” Aleman said. She has been working in libraries since she was at UC Santa Barbara in 2001. “I’m grateful just to be the leader in that area,” Aleman stated. “It’s kind of a natural tendency of my personality to really want to make an impact and make a change and I’m in a position where I can do that and I want to do it right.”
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