Who's That Duck?

Michael W. Brown
Manager, UO Portland Library, UO Libraries

Describe the work you do and how long you have been at UO.

I’ve been working at UO Portland Library since fall 2017. Until a change in 2020, I was also an IT manager for UO Portland doing both jobs. My work continues supporting a variety of technology, but my primary focus is managing all aspects of operating the academic branch library with the help of one assistant and a few student employees.

The last few years have been different and exciting with the purchase of the new UO campus in northeast Portland in July 2022. My primary role in this project was to coordinate evaluation of the former Concordia University Library collections and see to their donation, recycle or acquisition into our collection. It took about eight months and a team of a dozen student employees to help ship off over 100,000 items for donation and another 50,000 items (mostly textbooks and journals) for recycle. Keep in mind, we not only took care of the books and journals owned by the former university, but also books that came in from every office and classroom across the entire campus! Our team also won the Sustainable Campus Award in 2024 related to this project to evaluate the library materials, but also see to the donation and reuse of several floors of shelving that were removed at no cost to the university.

We retained a good 14,000 books in this project that more than doubled our current collection. Books were selected across education, psychology and sociology in support of our new programs, but also included a fair amount of general interest subject areas, classics in literature and popular reading topics. These books merged with our existing collection of 13,000 when the downtown library at the White Stag Block closed following spring term 2024. This entire process was a team effort involving subject specialist librarians and our Portland-based library assistants with ongoing help from student employees. Operating two branch libraries during the 2023-24 school year was both challenging and rewarding. We’re very happy to be moved and settled into our second floor location inside the Portland Library and Learning Center building where most of the classrooms are located and we are engaging with students throughout the day.

Our academic library now also includes a Family Study and Children’s Library space in a former classroom. We retained about 4,000 children’s books that have been very popular with the neighborhood community, and staff and students with children. This space and collection will support our students and programs that work with families and children, and we hope to provide more experiential learning opportunities for our students.

As our campus was introduced to the Concordia neighborhood, I saw a unique opportunity for UO Portland to host a pop-up branch for Multnomah County Library while their two nearest branch libraries were closed for renovation. This partnership lasted 15 months and brought in thousands of nearby residents to pick up requests, browse a small collection of materials, get computer help and free printing, among other services. The public library helped by supporting community visitors, which allowed us to focus on setting up our academic library services and get settled during the first year. This was a huge win for UO Portland as the public library hosted weekly story time events and other community activities. I worked at the public library for the first 20 years of my career, so it was very fulfilling to make this happen.

Helping to open this new campus has truly been a rewarding and motivating experience that took advantage of my years of experience working on similar projects at other academic and public libraries over the course of my career. I feel it is so important in recovering from the pandemic that we are getting back into physical spaces to engage with one another while having quality spaces for both individual and group study and research within our libraries.

Tell us about a professional success story that you’re proud of.

This project to renovate these spaces and open a new library allowed me to take advantage of my relationships with vendors and community partners that made a huge difference. This recent project with the new campus is a success story for which I am very proud, and I am looking forward to watching the new UO Portland campus, library and student services evolve and grow.

How do you help students or coworkers create a sense of belonging?

In 2019 we had some funds approved to renovate our downtown branch library location. This primarily included adding new furniture like study tables, diner booth-style seating, comfy lounge chairs and more. It's important to create spaces that work for all body types and modes of study, so I helped create these new spaces with reading nooks and lamps, adjustable electric tables, a quiet booth and a variety of seating types for individuals and groups. I was able to fit all of these improvements at the new library location. Furthermore, UO Portland has a strong equipment loan program that I support and maintain. This includes laptops, phone and laptop chargers, recording devices, pen tablets, VR headsets, light therapy lamps and even puzzles and games to borrow. These little things help support our students and, in some cases, levels the playing field for those who can't afford to purchase this equipment or for those who are just having a rough day and need a little extra help.

What is a favorite spot on your campus (for coffee or to relax)?

Walking in any direction through the Concordia neighborhood is enjoyable with so many trees. We were all so happy when KISS Coffee opened their KISS On Campus café here in the library building. They have been a great partner and are well positioned on the main floor near the stairs to the second floor library.

What are you reading/watching/listening to these days?

With my longer commute to the new campus, I've really gotten into listening to audiobooks. I've always enjoyed science fiction and some fantasy. “Project Hail Mary” by Andrew Weir is a recent favorite and I hope they end up making a movie from this book. Other recent books include “Aurora” by David Koepp, “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer and “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune. I am currently listening to books in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. 

Brown was a 2023 Outstanding Employee Award recipient.