May/June 2007 issue

Bio: Valerie Bowen, Branch Librarian, St. Paul


I am very excited to be a part of the "federal family," working as the Branch Librarian in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Paris, France. My father, an American, moved to France for work and met my mother, who is French. As a child, I visited family in Illinois and Minnesota during the summer months and dreamed of going to college in the United States. After high school, I left France to attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where I majored in Political Science and German. During college, I worked summers at the college library. I loved the quiet library atmosphere and hanging out with the reference librarians.

After graduating from St. Olaf, I attended the University of Minnesota Law School. There, I became a student director for the Child Advocacy Clinic, representing clients in custody disputes and working on child protection and juvenile delinquency matters. Although I had thought a lot about practicing law, I discovered my true calling my last semester of law school, while taking an "Advanced Legal Research" class with George Jackson, a law school librarian.

After law school, I passed the Minnesota bar and began work on my MLS through the University of North Texas distance learning program. I loved library school and found that I really enjoy searching for information, using a variety of materials and resources, and developing research guides. During my first semester of library school, I was fortunate to find an internship with Ann Bateson, who was the director of the library at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. During my internship, I worked on research projects for Ms. Bateson, gave a colloquium on issues related to trust in the workplace, and worked shifts at the reference desk.

In my free time, I enjoy watching movies and traveling. I try to visit my family in France and take a small vacation to a new part of France with my husband every year. Last year we visited the beaches of Normandy and the Mont Saint Michel. I look forward to getting to know everyone and especially look forward to the move to our newly-remodeled courthouse in 2008!