Welcome!

I'm Jessica Townsend

I am a recent MLIS graduate guided by a commitment to preserving stories, ensuring equitable access, and shaping more thoughtful information futures.

As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.

- Ursula K. LeGuin

About Me

A Story in Progress

I am a recent graduate student of the Library and Information Science (LIS) program at the University of Washington and a U.S. Army veteran with eight years of service.

I am especially passionate about preserving stories that shape community identity and expanding access to shared histories. I am interested in building relationships with local organizations, cultural keepers, and community members to develop collections that reflect lived experiences and amplify underrepresented voices. I see archives not only as spaces that safeguard materials, but as active sites of dialogue and intergenerational learning.

Latest Work

Digital Theological Library

From April to June of this year I worked as an intern with the Digital Theological Library (DTL). The DTL is an independent nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization that operates as a co-owned digital library specializing in religious, biblical, and theological studies. Its mission is to supply partner institutions with high-quality digital resources in these fields at minimal cost.

I created the following collections for the DTL: DTL OA University of Alabama Open Access Dissertations & Theses African American studies, DTL OA Stockholm University Open Access Dissertations & Theses Social Sciences, DTL OA Stockholm University Open Access Dissertations & Theses Languages and Literature, DTL OA Stockholm University Open Access Dissertations & Theses Political Science, DTL OA Stockholm University Open Access Dissertations & Theses Natural Sciences DTL OA Stockholm University Open Access Dissertations & Theses Humanities and the Arts DTL OA Stockholm University Open Access Dissertations & Theses Computer and Information Sciences