Jennifer Wells Oral History Interview

In this interview, Jennifer Wells discusses her experience growing up in Hood River, Oregon and recalls frequent childhood trips to Corvallis, Oregon. She notes that because her grandparents lived in the area, Corvallis always felt like a special place to her. While in high school she enjoyed playing in the band among other activities. She dreamed of going far for college, but like most of her family, decided to stay close to home and attend Oregon State University. Entering college, she opted first to be a University Exploratory Studies major.

During her early college experience, Jennifer also had an opportunity to work with KBVR, the news media source on campus. That experience led her to declare a New Media Communications major. In this, she learned a lot about broadcasting and producing, including how to run a camera, produce television shows, and journalism tactics. She took these skills into her first career after college as a television producer for local stations starting in Eugene and working her way up to Sacramento. Wells explains that while she enjoyed her co-workers, she found the entire career to be stressful. Moreover, she worked the “grave-yard” shift for most of the time. Eventually, Wells made the choice to stop producing television and pursue a master's degree in Library Science at Emporia State University.

After completing the program, Wells was hired into a library position at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. Wells was there for a few years before moving to a different position at her alma mater, Oregon State University. At OSU Libraries, Wells has worked primarily on Ebook access to course reserves. This technology is extremely new to college libraries, so much of her position is focused on troubleshooting small details. Near the conclusion of the interview, Wells comments on how much she enjoys working with student-employees.