Kelsa Bartley
Medical Library Association Scholarship
School of Information
Pursuing a Master’s degree at Florida State University is the next step on my path to continued learning, career and personal development. My ideal librarian career would blend my interests in health care, art & design, teaching and community service. I see a career in librarianship as the perfect way for me to merge the creative abilities I have developed from my undergraduate career with more intellectual pursuits, as well as facilitating my passion for helping others. It was not a career choice I saw in my future at all, but it has turned out way better than I could have imagined!
I am originally from the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. I moved to Miami to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Photography at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida. After graduating, I interviewed for a photography position at the Louis Calder Memorial Library at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine, but the library director at the time foresaw my future as a librarian. Thanks to her vision, I ended up working as a Manager in the Circulation Department, thus beginning my journey in the library sciences, a career move I have not regretted a day since! I currently work as a Manager of Library Services in the Reference and Education Department.
I could also see myself working in consumer health informatics, patient health education and outreach services. I love teaching and I enjoy working with charitable organizations. I currently volunteer with two health related ones. I have done teaching for the Pablove Foundation, a Los Angeles based non- profit. The organization raises money for childhood cancer research. They also create photography programs for children with cancer to express their creativity. I also donate photography services to Miami-Dade County chapter of the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides against Breast Cancer organization. In my junior year in college, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a time of great uncertainty and at the time, she did not have health insurance. Navigating the healthcare system was challenging for her and she is nurse! I can only imagine what it must be like for people who do not have as much information as my mom did to make informed decisions about their healthcare needs. That experience has been a great motivator for me. Since then I have felt it is important for me to give back to the community in some way. It is my hope that I can use my creativity and work in libraries to make a difference in someone’s health, either indirectly by helping researchers locate resources or by directing a patient to the information they need.
Receiving these scholarships for my graduate degree at FSU have been such a tremendous help to me financially, as well as personally. While I am working full time, managing our household on one salary would have made it extremely difficult to afford the MSI degree without financial assistance. Being free of the burden of paying for school has motivated me to continued success in my studies at FSU and daily work as a library para-professional. To further my career aspirations, I am currently completing course work on health informatics topics and plan to continue on the health informatics track at FSU. I am eager and excited about my future in health libraries; there are so many possibilities!