Meet Lilian Gussel!

Please join us in (re)welcoming Lilian Gussel to the Library!  Lilian will be organizing requests for materials to be delivered to campus from our off-site location, as well as tending to some of our books that need repair and mending. Lilian worked for the library as a freshman organizing and shelving books, and we are thrilled to have Lilian back joining our team!  

Name: Lilian Gussel

Hometown: Wisconsin Rapids

Degree(s): major in Media Studies, minor in Spanish 

What are you most excited about in your position with the University Libraries? I'm excited to work with my coworkers again! They’re absolutely amazing people that are awesome to work with, and we get along really well as a team. I missed seeing them during the short time between my graduation and when I started working at the library again. I'm also looking forward to learning new things in the library world. I started learning how the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) process works, but there’s still so much more for me to learn! 

What is your previous library experience? I started working for UWSP Libraries as a college freshman in September 2017, and I worked until I graduated in December 2022. I worked in the stacks at Albertson Hall, meaning I shelved books, organized books already on the shelves, and cleaned the shelves. In March 2023, I got a job at the Portage County Public Library in Stevens Point, and a few months later I was offered this position. Now I'm working at both the public library AND the university library, and I do a bit of everything! 

What does your current position involve?  I work at the off-site location in Plover since Albertson Hall is being demolished. I do many things such as shelving books, weeding and books, mending books, organizing gift books, helping with the Interlibrary Loan process, and getting books to and from the CCC on campus for patrons.” 

What's your go-to comfort drink on a rainy day? Hot chocolate or apple juice! 

Who's your favorite Disney villain? Darth Vader. I know he's not a "Disney villain,” but he's part of the Disney franchise, so I think he counts.

What three songs were you obsessed with as a kid? This question was so hard because there were so many songs I was obsessed with. My three favorites were “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club, and “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles.

What's your favorite book/movie trope? One of my favorites is the redemption arc for characters if the character development is written well. I also like the reluctant hero trope.

What was the best class you took at UWSP and why? My favorite classes were any of the film history classes taught by Cary Elza. My favorite film history classes were the Disney history class and the Apocalypse history class! I loved them because the topics have really interesting histories that were a lot of fun to explore and discuss in class.

Any advice for people interested in working at a library? My advice for anyone interested is to go for it! If you don't know the Library of Congress Classification System, that's fine! The library will teach you how to read and organize within that system: that's what happened to me when I was first hired at the UWSP library! Everyone's gotta start somewhere, and if you see the chance, take it. Librarians are always happy to give you the resources you need to learn more (: