SPARC is pleased to welcome Lese Fandel to our team as our new Program and Operations Specialist. In her role, Lese will support SPARC programs, helping to grow engagement with members and the wider community. Lese will also coordinate key organizational functions, including managing memberships, the Steering Committee, and as well as providing general operational support.
Lese had been with the University of Richmond for three and a half years as a Resource Sharing Specialist at Boatwright Memorial Library. She worked with Interlibrary Loan Services and helped manage the university’s repository for faculty, student, and alumni publications.
In her position, Lese led the library’s efforts around professional development and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She also developed a new library newsletter, managed the library’s social media accounts, and helped plan and promote Open Access events on campus.
Lese came to embrace operating in Open when she was working as an adjunct faculty member at John Tyler Community College in Chesterfield, Virginia, where open educational materials were required. While using the U.S. History textbook from OpenStax in her class, Lese saw first hand the importance of having open materials to her students
That experience led to Lese to focus on scholarly communications and advocacy. She was part of the Association of Research Libraries’s Diversity Scholars Cohort in 2019-20.
Lese expects to complete the IUPUI online master’s degree in Library and Information Science in the Spring of 2021. She has a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in history from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Outside of work, Lese enjoys hiking, camping and baking. She lives in Richmond with her husband and their goldendoodle, Penny.
Lese can be reached by email at [email protected].
