As Public Services Librarian in the Lilly Library, Isabel Planton coordinates reference services for the Lilly Library, including email, in-person, and telephone reference, as well as supervising graduate students in the Reference Assistant position. In collaboration with other members of the Public Services Department, she provides high-quality instruction sessions using special collections materials to diverse audiences, principally undergraduate and graduate students.
Isabel’s research interests include literary archives, especially the Kurt Vonnegut manuscript collection at the Lilly Library, exhibitions, historical maps and atlases, and the current state of public services librarianship in the rare books and special collections field. In 2021, Isabel Planton and Amanda Ferrara published an article resulting from their study conducted in 2020-2021: “Overcoming Disruption in Special Collections Public Services” (Internet Reference Services Quarterly, Published online November 23, 2021; Vol. 26, No. 1, 2022). In 2020, Isabel was a co-author with Theresa Quill, Maureen Maryanski, Meg Meiman, Meggan Press, and Carrie Schwier on the article “Working across Borders: Building Collaborations for Primary Source Instruction” (Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, March 2, 2020).
From 2018-2021 Isabel served a Co-Convener of the Public Services Discussion Group, a committee of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). Isabel currently serves as Co-Chair of the RBMS Seminars Committee, helping to select seminar programming for the annual RBMS conference in 2022 and 2023.
Isabel earned her BA in English literature from Ohio University in 2006 and her MLS from Indiana University in 2008. Her first full-time library position was as a Document Delivery Assistant in Document Delivery Services at the Wells Library from 2008-2011. Isabel moved to the Lilly Library to become a Reference/Technical Associate from 2011-2016. She then held the position of Instructional Associate/Reading Room Coordinator from 2016-2017 and was hired as a Public Services Librarian in 2017.