Irene Jazowick, Cataloging Assistant at 344 Winchester

Irene Jazowick left her library position in North Carolina to begin her career at Yale Library three years ago. She worked as a cataloging assistant at Marx Science and Social Science Library for two years. For the past eight months, she has been a cataloging assistant in the Monographic Processing Unit (aka the “Cool Cats,” she noted) at 344 Winchester Avenue. Irene primarily catalogs Spanish-language novellas from the early 20th century—books from the 1920s through 1940s. She also helps process books for the FastCat unit when necessary to avoid a backlog.

In addition to her work at Yale Library, Irene is pursuing a second master’s degree, this time in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from Johns Hopkins University. One of the courses she is taking this spring is “Drones in Geospatial Decision Making.” Irene recently passed the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Airman Knowledge exam and is now officially a (drone) pilot.  In spring 2024, she enrolled in the week-long GIS accelerator program hosted by Yale at Marx Science and Social Science Library. Her project focused on mapping flood zones in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. “I highly recommended the program to anyone who is interested in GIS,” she said.

Irene, who identifies as a Deaf person, is the child of Deaf parents and is the first person in her immediate family to earn a master’s degree. While working at Marx Library, Irene taught American Sign Language (ASL) to her colleagues there, with specific emphasis on the vocabulary in everyday use at the library.

As a member of the Yale Repertory Theatre’s Accessibility Advisory Board, Irene attends performances to evaluate the digital captions and ASL interpreters that the theater provides for Deaf audience members, offering suggestions for improvements as needed.

Irene has been a member of the library’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility (DEIA) Advisory Committee for two years. She is also on the Staff Wellness Room Project, part of the DEIA committee’s work. “I’m really excited about that project,” Irene said, communicating through her ASL interpreter. “I feel it’s important for library staff to have a space to decompress.”

In addition to her love of theater, Irene is a big sports fan, and closely follows men’s and women’s basketball, especially the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Unrivaled league. She also enjoys attending events around campus. She plans to check out the new exhibition “Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts” at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and is excited about attending the upcoming Yale Symposium on Disability and Accessibility scheduled for April 7–12.

—Deborah Cannarella