Ray Pun: Interview with Linda Ueki Absher “Lipstick Librarian” from Portland State University
Linda Ueki Absher, MLIS
Linda Ueki Absher, also known as The Lipstick Librarian! is Professor, Librarian for the Humanities and Social Sciences at Portland State University, (PSU) Oregon. She is also currently the Research & Instruction Services Manager for PSU.
Ray: Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview, Linda!
Can you tell us about your work and how did you get into librarianship?
Linda:
I am currently a librarian with Portland State University in Portland, Ore., an urban university with approximately 25,000 students from the Portland metropolitan area.
I am the liaison for several departments, including Women/Gender Studies,Chicano-Latino Studies, Indigenous Studies, Film Studies, and Communication. I am also a fully-tenured faculty member and participate in the shared governance of the campus.
I wanted to apply for the University of California, Berkeley’s library program in my early twenties, but I let myself be intimidated by Berkeley’s reputation. I thought about it on and off for years, but life (and the eighties) got into the way. I didn’t work up the courage to apply until ten years later. To my surprise, they let me in. I will say that in my cohort (for lack of a better term), there was a smattering of POC students but several LBGTQ students, which pretty much reflects what we see in the profession today, but at the time and the fact it was Berkeley, it was surprising to me.
Ray: What do you enjoy most about your current position?
Linda:
That’s a very interesting question! I have to say, I am in the twilight of my career, so I appreciate the opportunity to look back and think about what I’ve done and how I arrived at my current position. What I enjoy is tackling complex issues and puzzling out solutions that make sense and are sustainable. I know that sounds simplistic, but after decades in the profession, I have learned that we as a profession are prone to overthinking potential issues, thus coming up with solutions that are understandable to us but make little sense to our patrons or to the public.
Ray: What do you like to do for fun? How do you center yourself and maintain work/life balance?
Linda:
What is this “fun” you speak of? Joking! I’m an expert in squeezing in as much downtime as possible, sadly enough. I do try to read, but I’m going to admit I spend waaay too much time on Facebook and other social media, though I haven’t been sucked into the black hole that is Instagram. Ironically, social media is the major factor in keeping me centered. As a librarian of color working in an environment where my colleagues are mostly white and younger, I am able to connect to other POC librarians via Facebook, et al. During the times when I’ve felt self-doubt and frustration with my work, I have found that reaching out has made me realize that I am not alone.
Ray: You have been such an amazing mentor to many librarians and library workers and students of color over the years. What motivates you to be such an advocate for us?
Linda:
LOL! Not so sure I’m much of an advocate. To be honest, my interactions with other librarians of color online have made me more of an advocate. It’s a complex story, but for years I had so many struggles in the profession, but because I’m mixed race and someone who looks mostly white, I didn’t realize until a few years ago that many of my difficulties have stemmed from working in environments that are overwhelmingly white. For this I am truly grateful to my POC colleagues.
Ray: Can you tell us what projects you are working on and what gets you excited about the profession?
Linda:
I am completing a project I began a few years back: Lumpia & Fried Chicken: Biracial/Bicultural Military Families in Solano County, Calif. I’ve collected a series of oral histories of military families who lived in the country from 1945-1980. The county was identified as being the most diverse county in the United States where no ethnic group dominates. Though many communities claim to be diverse, the neighborhoods in this county are divided by ethnic groups. In other words, there aren’t Asian or black neighborhoods—they’re intermixed. I’m hoping to post the oral histories and eventually publish a book based on them.
Photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels
As for what gets me excited: I am thrilled there is a concerted push to include more people of color in librarianship by librarians of color. When I began my career, I heard all the supposedly right things said by those who were leaders in the profession, but no one really got it. And as I said previously, I was disturbed by what was being said and done but was not aware enough to realize that it was white supremacy talking. Now I see people speaking up and pushing for change. I see hope, which makes me excited. And hopeful.
Written By: Ray Pun, MLIS
Ray Pun is an academic librarian in the Bay Area, California. Ray is an active member of all the ALA ethnic affiliates, and has presented and published on the values of diversity, equity and inclusion in the profession.