National Women's History Month: Yumi Ohira

The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries is celebrating National Women's History Month by highlighting some of the inspiring women who make this organization a model 21st century urban academic library.

Today's interviewee is Yumi Ohira, Digital Publishing & Repository Librarian. Ohira has worked for UTA for 11 months and has 18 years of libraries experience. 

Alexandra Pirkle (AP): What was your first library-related job? How did you come to that job?

Yumi Ohira (YO): My first library job was as a library student assistant in the conservation lab at the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries. This is also my first job in the U.S. I’m originally from Japan and in Japan, I worked as an engineer with my B.S. in Physics. In 2002, I made a big decision to come to the U.S. to further my education. I attended KU and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale for my M.F.A. in Studio Art. During my time there, I had the opportunity to work in the Conservation and Archives & Special Collection departments in their libraries as a student assistant. This experience led me to realize the conservation world, especially book or paper conservation, was my career goal. I completed my M.F.A. in 2008, but the year of 2008 was the worst economic crisis. I was offered a job at a small book conservation company, but they froze the job opening. I never got anywhere, so I had to make a decision. I decided to go back to school again. First, I was thinking of the conservation and preservation program at the University of Texas at Austin for my goal, but I found that the UT Austin closed the conservation program that year. There was another option which was close to my goal. It was “a librarian or archivist.” Fortunately, I won the Emporia State University (ESU) Diversity scholarship and I attended ESU, pursuing my M.L.S. and Archives Studies Certificate. I worked at the ESU Archives as a student assistant. I also worked at the KU Archives and the Kansas Historical Society – Digital Project Division as an intern and an ARL Diversity scholar. I remember it was total 500 mile commute per week to work each place for three years until I completed both my M.L.S. and Archives Studies Certificate.

As my first full-time library job, I was offered a library specialist position in the Digital unit at the University of Wyoming (UW) Libraries after completing my M.L.S. degree. Even though it was not a librarian position, I believed it was a great opportunity to see the actual academic library world and to gain library experience by working in the academic library. I could develop my skills and knowledge of the library work, especially the fields of scholarly communication and digitization. After a year and a half acquiring library experience at the UW Libraries, I worked at the Fort Hays State University Libraries as the Digital Curation Librarian for one year and at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Libraries as the Digital Initiatives Librarian for nearly three years. In April 2019, I joined the UTA Libraries as the Digital Publishing & Repository Librarian. So, I’m now here!

AP: What role have women played in your career and life?

YO: It’s a difficult question for me and also it’s a good question for me. I think I’ve not thought about “Men vs. Women” in my career and life because my immigrant status in the U.S. seems to be more often considered than my gender. I am in the minority and I’m not a native speaker of English. I’ve taken a big challenge to be successful in my career and life and accept who I am here.

AP: What is one of your favorite things about working at UTA Libraries?

YO: First, I love that UTA Libraries provides a diverse/inclusive environment, which is very important to me

Second, UTA Libraries is much bigger than previous libraries where I worked. For example, when I was working at the UNO Libraries, my responsibility was everything regarding “digital” and “scholarly communication,” including digitization, digital preservation, managing an institutional repository, scholarly works, data management, etc. It was a great opportunity to learn and gain my knowledge, but when I asked myself, “what am I an expert in?” I couldn’t answer it.

On the other hand, at UTA Libraries, each individual is responsible for a particular area within their expertise, and everyone focuses on their own area, collaborating each other and respecting each other’s responsibilities. I now can focus on the area of the Scholarly Communication – Digital Publishing as the Digital Publishing & Repository Librarian, working with others. My goal is becoming an expert in this area, expanding my role on this job, and UTA Libraries allows me to do that.

AP: Who is your favorite woman historical figure? Why?

YO: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, the scientists featured in the book and film Hidden Figures. These women were smart, strong, and brave. Also, my next life, I want to/will be an astronomer. This is my dream life.

AP: What is something about you that others would be surprised to know?

YO: I’m not sure…I think I’m very typical person, so if anyone wants to know me better, my door is open.

Thank you, Yumi, for all of your hard work and dedication to student success!