Meet Your Librarian
Throughout the Spring 2019 semester, the Eugene McDermott Library will be highlighting some of our amazing library staff in an ongoing series designed to help students, faculty and staff get to know the many faces of the library who are here to help you discover relevant, authoritative and scholarly resources.
Matt Makowka, Research Services Librarian
Matt Makowka wasn’t sure what career path to take until a job at his university’s library sparked his true calling and pointed him in the right direction – the library.
While working on a double major in philosophy and English literature as an undergraduate student at Trinity University in San Antonio, Makowka worked as a page and student assistant in the government documents section of the university library. Although he’s always been an avid reader and library user, librarianship didn’t really occur to him as a profession until he graduated and fell in love with the job after working in various capacities for several different libraries.
“After I graduated, I bounced around from job to job, but the ones I kept going back to and genuinely enjoyed involved the library,” Makowka said. “I worked in the media department and then as a circulation associate as a paraprofessional before I decided that librarianship was what I wanted to do. I knew if I was to make a comfortable living at it, I had to go back to school and get that piece of paper.”
A few years after earning his bachelor’s degree, he went to UT Austin where he received his Master of Library and Information Science degree. The Dallas native also later earned a degree in Emerging Media and Communication from the University of Texas at Dallas School of Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication.
As a Research Services Librarian, Makowka, who joined the Eugene McDermott Library in 2001, helps students with research questions discover where and how to find their answers, teaching sessions on how to prepare for research projects or presentations using library resources and services. He is also the library liaison to the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication and purchases materials and conducts one-on-one consultations on library resources in his subject areas, which include engineering, computer science, arts, technology, emerging communication and philosophy. He also juggles a number of other duties, including providing reference assistance at the Services Desk on the second floor of the library and through the library’s online chat service, maintaining the library’s online research guides (LibGuides) and participating in pop-up workshops highlighting library resources and outreach activities to foster community engagement in the library.
Makowka is always willing to go the extra mile to help improve the user experience at the McDermott Library—whether it’s helping cover a shift, teaching a class or giving a tour, said his manager, Dr. Tiffany Norris, Associate Library Director.
“Matt is an excellent role model for the newer librarians and we’re fortunate to have him on staff,” Norris said. “He is extremely enjoyable to work with and he gets along well with his coworkers, faculty members and people across the library.”
Makowka loves higher education and enjoys tracking down information and resources for students and helping students become independent learners. Before joining the McDermott Library 17 years ago, he held a number of positions at other libraries. Even though as a child he recalls making numerous field trips to the local public library and checking out books from his school library, it wasn’t until college that he became an avid library user again and decided to pursue a career as a librarian. While studying librarianship, he worked at UT Austin’s graduate library. He has also worked at the Richardson Public Library and the Nicholson Memorial Library in the city of Garland.
Outside of the library, Makowka’s interests lie in human/digital technology interaction, identity and online privacy. A self-proclaimed “nerd,” Makowka is an aficionado of video games, has a passion for science fiction and fantasy literature and loves to listen to a colorful spectrum of music, from punk rock to electronica, in his office and at home. He is also an avid animal rescuer.
Learn more about Matt Makowka:
Title
Research Services Librarian; Liaison for the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication
Educational Background
BA in Philosophy and English (double major), Trinity University; MS in Library and Information Science, UT Austin; MA in Emerging Media and Communication from UT Dallas
My career at McDermott began in
2001
What has your experience been like working at the McDermott Library?
It has largely been a fruitful and rewarding experience. I was able to get a second master’s degree through the ATEC program in Emerging Media and Communication. I’d say the most remarkable phenomenon has been witnessing how rapidly and extensively the University has grown since I’ve worked here. It’s been exponential!
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you ever think you’d end up becoming a librarian?
I don’t think I ever gave much serious thought to what I wanted to be growing up other than it being the latest toys or movies I was into (e.g. Star Wars, G.I. Joe, He-Man). I recall making field trips to the local public library while in elementary school, and I remember checking out books from the school library. However, I didn’t become an avid library user again until college. Even then, it didn’t dawn on me that I’d go into librarianship until after I graduated.
Contact Makowka by email or phone: 972-883-6773.