Sebastien Marion
Librarian III
Office: Academic Affairs
Campus: Manhattan

Member of NYIT Since: 2001

From NYIT's Weekly Update:

“Poet, Librarian, and Information Sherpa”
Each day at the Manhattan campus, Sebastien Marion finds himself surrounded by his passion – information. During the past eight years, he’s tackled numerous areas in his role as librarian, including reference, the Web, and periodicals. As an undergrad at the University of Western Ontario, Sebastien dreamed of becoming a fiction writer. “I was bookish … I don’t want to say it [becoming a writer] was a romantic notion, but it probably was. Through your writing, you can either comment socially or effect social change of some sort,” says Sebastien of his decision to major in English Language and Literature. So how did he become a librarian and find NYIT? “If I was going to be a writer of fiction, what better way than to learn about conducting good, quality research?” he says. The Canadian native earned a master’s degree in library and information science at his alma mater, and then worked at the university’s library archive before joining NYIT. “Libraries are no longer about books, they’re about information. We see our job as teaching people how to negotiate the world of online information,” says Sebastien, who spearheaded the redesign of the library’s Web pages, which include a blog, RSS feeds, a Wiki, and YouTube. Sebastien attributes his creative streak to his parents. His father is a hairstylist and his mother is a relationship manager for a financial company, who moonlights by doing French voiceovers for commercials.

What are some things you enjoy most about being a librarian?
The relationships, first and foremost. Second—and not too far behind—the subject matter. Whether it’s locating schematic drawings to the latest SANAA structure, or trying to make sense of duende in the Lorca canon, there is always something to keep you fully engaged.

What would your colleagues and students be surprised to know about you?
I can play the entire Leonard Cohen songbook on classical guitar.

What are some of your favorite books?
Everyone deserves a good romping laugh. In the past, sometimes to the consternation of those around me, these books have had me laughing out loud: John Irving’s The World According to Garp; The Complete Prose of Woody Allen; and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. 

Are there any new books or special collections that NYIT has this year?
We are still marketing our Bloomberg financial market terminals as well as the JSTOR Language & Literature Collection. Based on discussions held with the NYIT community this fall, we started subscribing to Ebscohost Academic Search Complete, which includes more than 7,000 full-text periodicals, including nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed journals. 

What are you looking forward to in this new academic year?
I am very excited about LibGuides, a new Web teaching platform that the library is rolling out. We are also thinking about library webinars and online information sessions. Today’s students are digital natives. As such, much of what is learned can and often should be learned online. And meeting new people, of course. Because of my relationship with NYIT, I now have very close friends and colleagues on all seven continents. I met my spouse, Mayura, who is from Thailand, at NYIT and we now have a beautiful daughter, Hanah. NYIT does make the world a smaller place.