New faculty spotlight: Kiara Comfort

Kiara Comfort is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Kiara Comfort
• Hometown: Missouri Valley, Iowa
• Title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor, community outreach and health systems librarian, McGoogan Health Sciences Library

Research/professional interests:

• Community outreach
• Health information literacy
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Rural health

How I fell in love with librarianship: When I was younger, I enjoyed my weekly trips to the local public library. My fascination with libraries continued as I volunteered and worked in a variety of libraries. I was fortunate to be able to do my practicum at McGoogan Library, which solidified my love of health sciences librarianship. I enjoy being able to connect our diverse community to their information needs.

Degrees:

• Master of library and information science, University of Missouri, Columbia, 2019
• Bachelor of general studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2015. Emphasis: Geography and public administration

Memberships:

• Medical Library Association
• Midcontinental Chapter of the Medical Library Association
• ICON Library Consortium

Three things people may not know about me:

• I worked in the health care field for nine years prior to becoming a librarian.
• I was born in Omaha but have lived in a rural community my entire life.
• I studied abroad in Ireland and the United Kingdom, where I was able to tour a variety of libraries. The Wellcome Collection, a museum and library that focuses on different aspects of health, was one of my favorite places.