Jessica Anderson is a librarian at the Elisabeth C. Miller Library at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Most days you will see Jessica at the Reference desk, doing research or providing answers to gardening questions.
Jessica moved to Seattle from the Southwest to attend the University of Washington, earning her Masters in Library and Information Science in 2010. As an undergraduate, Jessica began working at the Natural Sciences Library inside of the Suzzallo-Allen Library on the main campus. Once graduated, she began volunteering at the Miller Library.
“I became fascinated by all the books on horticulture,” she notes, “and checked out dozens of books on growing edible plants. Then I began experimenting at home.”
Jessica is now a full-fledged urban farmer and maintains an edible garden of fruits and vegetables, complete with chickens in her small backyard.
At her work in the Miller library, Jessica performs varied tasks including managing the print and electronic serials collection (subscriptions, renewals, receipt records, claiming, and archiving), supervising volunteers, and tracking purchase orders and library supplies. Her favorite part of her job is learning new things from the research questions she is asked via the Plant Answer Line Service.
“I feel so lucky to work at a place where I spend my time with patrons answering questions about plants,” she glows.
She also feels fortunate to work next to the Union Bay Natural Area loop trail, where she often walks and, when it is clear, looks out toward the mountains across Lake Washington.
When the weather is not so nice and she is not working, Jessica joins a meet-up group to play board games. And her favorite plant? The Saucer Magnolia tree (Magnolia x soulangeana), with its large fragrant blossoms in spring.
“Especially after a long winter, it is a welcome sight to see a magnolia in full bloom!”