Master Librarian Susan Klopper Stops by Emory Innovators


What image comes to mind when you hear the word "library"? A hotbed of innovation? A rapidly pivoting and nimble institution? No? Well, Susan Klopper's (Executive Director of Goizueta Business School Library Services) conversation with The Hatchery at Emory Innovators might change your mind drastically! Emory Innovators, brought to you by The Hatchery, Emory Center for Innovation, showcases conversations with Emory faculty, staff, and alumni who work in innovation and entrepreneurship, or have taken innovative approaches to design their careers and disrupting their industries.

Susan shared a great deal about how an innovation mindset has been crucial to her career as a librarian. From her perspective, innovation is not an optional, nice-to-have. Innovation is about survival. Throughout her career, she has been focused on gaining a deep understanding of the various users of library resources and how she can curate resources and provide experiences that generate value for these users. This mindset became incredibly important throughout the previous few months as the Library Services team had to think carefully about the learning journeys Emory students were on and choose the highest-leverage touchpoints on those journeys to ensure students had the resources they needed for their projects. Additionally, the team was served well by the mantra of, "what if? why not?"

Susan's approach has always been on rigorously testing and refining offerings to add value to stakeholders and her stories provided ample examples of this approach and its efficacy. You can view the recording here. To stay up-to-date on upcoming events from The Hatchery, subscribe to their newsletter.

To learn more about The Hatchery visit Hatchery.emory.edu or email The Hatchery staff at thehatchery@emory.edu. The Hatchery is a unit of Emory University Academic Innovation.