As Benner Library’s Informatics and Curriculum Librarian, Professor Johnston supervises three staff members and an average of 25 students each academic year. In Informatics, she leads her team in supporting library technologies, including eResources, off-campus proxy access, library tutorials, integrated library software, open source software development, and library statistics. She also serves as the liaison to Olivet’s Department of Military Science and the School of Education. She and her staff maintain the library’s website and design programs to increase efficiency within the library. In the Curriculum Center, she helps maintain a collection specific to the needs of students as they prepare for careers in education.
Her teaching career began at the Limestone Grade School in the Herscher (Illinois) Community School District. She then moved to the Reed Custer School District where she taught first through fifth grade science classes for eight years. She also served as the technology mentor for the District and presented a variety of workshops on how to use technology in the classroom. During that time, she published an article in “Technology & Learning.” Next, she taught fifth grade for four years before joining the staff at Benner Library in 2006.
Professor Johnston loves spending time outdoors, especially kayaking. Photography is one of her favorite hobbies. She also volunteers as a water aerobics instructor at the Kankakee (Illinois) YMCA. Most of all, she and her husband, Scott, marvel at the grace God has provided in their lives.
