{"id":121753,"date":"2020-04-20T09:52:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T15:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=121753"},"modified":"2020-04-24T11:04:37","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T17:04:37","slug":"chris-martinez-reflects-on-43-years-at-the-kraemer-family-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=121753","title":{"rendered":"Chris Martinez reflects on 43 years at the Kraemer Family Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Christina<\/a>
After 43 years at UCCS, associate dean and senior instructor of library administration Christina Martinez reflects on UCCS’ past, her attendance at basketball games over the decades and her plans for the future. Photo credit: Lora Brekke.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After a career at UCCS that spanned 43 years, Christina Martinez is retiring from the Kraemer Family Library. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She leaves behind a legacy of better accessibility, better representation of multicultural and marginalized individuals through literature and attendance at many, many <\/em>UCCS basketball games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the past<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Martinez joined UCCS as a user services librarian in 1977, when the student enrollment at the university was just over 4,000 students. She made the move from Arizona \u2013 where she was a reference librarian at Arizona State University \u2013 to Colorado just before marrying her now-husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c1977 was a big year for me,\u201d she said. \u201cI got married, I\nstarted at UCCS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
In the years before Martinez joined UCCS, the library was housed in South Hall, previously the nurse’s dormitory for the Cragmor Sanatorium. Students reported that books were stored on staircases and back issues of newspapers were kept in leftover bathtubs. Photo credit: University Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Just a year before Martinez accepted her position at the university, UCCS staff moved the library\u2019s holdings from Dwire Hall to the new library building using a giant gravity conveyor belt system. More than 20,000 books and periodicals traveled down the hill from Dwire Hall \u2013 Centennial Hall was not yet built \u2013 across the Upper Plaza, and then up and into the third-floor windows of the new building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changes, of course, did not stop there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn most ways our library doesn\u2019t resemble the library that I\nstarted working at,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cWhen I started working at UCCS in 1977, we\nhad no electronic resources, period. Everything that we had was in print. And\nall of the research tools we had were print research tools. In many ways, it\nwas a much more labor-intensive, complex process to do library research than it\nis today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I could pinpoint a specific moment when it all changed. The most dramatic change that I can pinpoint would be once we expanded the library building in 2001. Once we did that, we had a major shift in our scope and our offerings \u2013 from total reliance on print sources, to a greater reliance on electronic resources, to the point that we\u2019re at today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Christina<\/a>
Martinez poses for a pre-retirement photo. Photo credit: Lora Brekke.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As for the physical changes Martinez has seen across campus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose were so dramatic,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard for anybody who wasn\u2019t here back then to picture what our campus was like. For one thing, there was no Austin Bluffs Parkway. That came long after the campus was established. I believe our address was on Cragmor Road back then. And,” she said, smiling wryly, “my recollection is that parking back in those days used to cost about $5 per semester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over her career, Martinez has held a number of roles in the library, from reference librarian to associate dean, as well as twice stepping in as interim dean of the library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is also famed for her dependable presence at UCCS basketball\ngames over the decades, often alongside chancellor emerita Pam Shockley-Zalabak.\nThe games are among her fondest memories of UCCS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPam and I encountered each other many, many times at basketball games,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cWe shared many games, both good and bad. Certainly we were among the most loyal spectators over the years. There\u2019s no question that she and I have together seen probably more basketball games than any faculty or staff who don\u2019t work for Athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why she stayed<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When asked what kept her at UCCS for so long, Martinez replied,\n\u201cIt\u2019s quite a simple answer. One of the things that I discovered when I started\nmy job at UCCS is that it gave me the opportunity to do a lot of different\nthings over the years. In contrast to a larger institution and a larger library\nwhere you are much more restricted in terms of your responsibilities, UCCS gave\nme the opportunity to do a lot of different jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued, \u201cI had opportunities to move into more of a managerial position: I started out as a reference librarian, and then I was head of a department, and then I became associate dean in my last years. I had a path of development. And I was also involved with a lot of different tasks over the years. When we first automated our library system, I had a significant role in that. In a larger institution, I never would have gotten close to a project like that, but when you\u2019re in a small place, everyone pitches in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing about being a librarian is that you are constantly learning new ways of doing things,\u201d Martinez concluded, \u201cand that has kept it interesting for me. I\u2019ve never gotten bored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making her mark<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After 43 years, Martinez has had the opportunity to make her mark on UCCS \u2013 “for better or for worse,” as she puts it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
In 2015, Martinez published an essay to \u201cWhy I Came, Why I Stayed\u201d, which features 20 first-person essays from some of the university\u2019s earliest and longest tenured faculty and staff members. Read Martinez’s essay.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the best parts of my position has been making decision about materials to be purchased,\u201d she said. \u201cFor good or bad, I can look at the literature collection in our library and say, ‘The bulk of that is on me.’ I am responsible for what that collection looks like. I couldn\u2019t say that if I had only been here for five years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he recalled Martinez\u2019s impact on UCCS, Dean of the\nKraemer Family Library Martin Garnar highlighted her work in multicultural\nrepresentation across campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion, Chris has been a longtime advocate,\u201d he said. \u201cShe has been very active in the faculty multicultural affairs committee, and also involved with system-wide initiatives. And within the library, one of her signature contributions has been book displays that feature materials about and by communities that haven\u2019t always gotten the attention they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Chris announced her retirement, we started coming up with plans of how we can keep that legacy alive,” Garnar said, “and make sure that we continue to have displays and exhibits where people who come into the library can see themselves, so they can feel like they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey aren\u2019t just book displays,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are tangible symbols of the inclusive community that we have at UCCS, and Chris was integral in creating that culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we’ll miss<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As Martinez takes her leave from UCCS, colleagues are already\nreflecting on what they will miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Christina<\/a>
Martinez is looking forward to some well-deserved rest and relaxation…but isn’t planning to stop attending UCCS basketball games anytime soon. Photo credit: Lora Brekke.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know I\u2019m going to miss having that voice of history when\nwe\u2019re having our meetings, both at a leadership level and in our larger staff\nmeetings,\u201d Garnar said. \u201cIt\u2019s really irreplaceable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued, \u201cI\u2019m going to miss having my living\nencyclopedia of both the Kraemer Family Library and UCCS. I\u2019m going to miss\nhaving someone with whom I could talk about anything, and from whom I could always\nget great perspective. And I\u2019m really going to miss the enchiladas she always\nbrought to our potlucks. They were vegetarian, and they had an absolutely\nlethal kick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Martinez, she knows what she\u2019ll miss most of all are\nthe people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been really lucky over the years to work with a lot of\ngood people,\u201d she said. \u201cMy favorite memories are all tied up with all of the different\npeople I\u2019ve worked with \u2013 all of my best memories are of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as for what\u2019s next, Martinez plans on taking it easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter working for 43 years, I want to take some time to just relax,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I will definitely be back at the basketball games next season.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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