Amy Bush, an adjunct librarian at Yuba College, has recently been honored with the Part-Time Faculty Excellence Award, a recognition bestowed by her colleagues through a process of nomination and vote. This distinction highlights her significant contributions to student success and the Yuba College community.
In her role, Bush works daily with students, guiding them through research processes and helping them build confidence in their academic pursuits. Her support is comprehensive, including in-person and online meetings to assist with assignments, leading library tours, and conducting information literacy sessions. She also develops instructional modules delivered through Canvas and helps maintain essential library resources, ensuring students have access to the tools necessary for their studies.
Bush described her experience working at Yuba College as highly rewarding, noting her enjoyment of her daily interactions with colleagues in the library. She considers her connections with both students and co-workers to be central to the meaning of her work. For Bush, the most fulfilling aspect of her role is the one-on-one engagement with students, where she helps them develop skills that extend beyond a single assignment. She finds teaching students to become effective researchers particularly rewarding, as it supports their current work and prepares them for success throughout their academic careers.
The award came as a surprise to Bush, who expressed shock at her nomination and subsequent selection, describing it as a huge honor and feeling incredibly grateful for the recognition.
While her work is deeply rewarding, it also comes with inherent challenges. During busy periods of the semester, the demand for research assistance can often outpace the hours available in the day. Bush navigates these moments by focusing on the individual research support she is able to provide to students. Students frequently articulate the impact of these personal interactions, often telling her that she had helped them significantly with their assignments or expressing a wish to have learned these skills earlier.
Bush's dedication to her work is rooted in both her personal beliefs and the strong sense of community she experiences within the Yuba College library team. She noted that her "belief in God definitely drives my work ethic," and she enjoys working with an amazing team that fosters her wholehearted contribution to the library. In an era marked by an overwhelming amount of information and misinformation online, Bush finds it particularly rewarding to support students in developing the skills to critically evaluate and locate reliable information. Her daily interactions continue to make a lasting difference for students across the campus, a positive impact she witnesses firsthand.
