At the Leatherby Libraries, we have an interview series highlighting the work our amazing librarians accomplish each day. These interviews help inform the community about all the different areas of the library and all the services we have! Ivan Portillo, our Health Sciences Librarian, was kind enough to answer some questions for us.

1. What is your name and title?

Ivan Portillo, Health Sciences Librarian

2. In what department of the Leatherby Libraries do you work?

Public Services, but I am located at the Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine.

3. How long have you been at Chapman University? 

I have been working at Chapman University for nearly 3 weeks!

4. What is your job in a nutshell?

I help the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences and the School of Pharmacy with anything library related. I’ll be purchasing items for the reading room, creating subject guides, teaching bibliographic instruction sessions, and helping students and faculty with their research.

5. Have you held any jobs at other universities or libraries?

I have worked at a variety of libraries for the past 11 years, including public libraries, law libraries, and academic libraries.

6. What are your passions/interests outside of work?

My biggest interests are sports, food, and music. I am often looking to discover new music and different restaurants.

7. Where did you get your degree?

I received my B.S. in Communication with an emphasis in Journalism from Cal Poly Pomona and my MLIS from San Jose State University.

8. Where is your hometown?

I moved around a few times during my childhood, but I consider Rancho Cucamonga, CA my hometown.

9. What is the last book you read, or the last book you loved?

People are often surprised that I am not an avid reader, considering I am a librarian, but I recently started reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I do have a passion for graphic novels and Saga is one of my favorites at the moment.

10. Any fun facts about yourself?

For the past 6 years I have been keeping a photo diary, where I take a photo a day. It’s an attempt to emulate the same thing done by an artist in the 70’s who took a Polaroid a day for nearly half his life.