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Meet Mikayla Moe, ‘26 MLIS, ‘23 Psychology, a King Library superuser! Her first interactions with the library began in her childhood and continued during her time as an SJSU undergraduate, and now she is both working at the San José Public Library's Almaden Branch and pursuing a Master's in Library and Information Science at SJSU. Read her story!

If I had to describe the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in three words, I would use: exploration, access, and outreach.

The King Library has been a safe space for me throughout my life. As a kid, the library was a place of learning, exploration, and curiosity. The exhibits, programs, and large children’s area made visiting the library feel like an adventure.

As an undergraduate student at SJSU, the King Library was a quiet space to study. Whether studying alone or with classmates, the library always had spaces available that met my needs.

Now, as a graduate student in the MLIS program, the SJSU Library continues to support my research and education. The SJSU Library allows me to access textbooks, journals, and articles I could not access otherwise.

As an employee for the San José Public Library, I love that I can refer patrons to the King Library for unique programming that supports the community. I am grateful for the King Library and its employees for everything they do to support the community and SJSU.

In the SJSU King Library Experiential Virtual Reality (KLEVR) Lab, Dexter Allen, '25 Applied Math, creates a poetic symphony of motion. Using high-end motion capture equipment and sensors affixed to his arms and legs, he dances.

Allen is a recipient of a grant awarded by the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts with funding from the San Francisco Foundation Bay Area Creative Corps and the California Arts Council. He was one of five applicants to apply and was funded $15,000. The title of his grant project is, “The Gateway” and his goal is to create a staged dance performance with a projected animation component.

As you have dancers in the foreground, we will have a screen in the background with projected animation,” said Allen. “It will seek to explore the connection between movement and the mind to tell a story. The animation will project the thoughts of the dancers interacting in real time.

As a student assistant for the KLEVR Lab, he plans to use the cutting-edge motion capture equipment to convey the interrelation between motion, communication, and psychology. Aside from learning about the specialized motion capture equipment, he will flex his project management and organization skills by collaborating with animators, choreographers, and dancers to complete the project within a year.

I look forward to learning about motion caption equipment, interpreting data, and creating a product around that data.

A big element of the grant is to integrate concepts of community, and Allen has found connectedness and camaraderie in a local freestyle dance community. Now, Allen with the help of the grant and the KLEVR Lab gets to merge his community of dance and technology.

I think about movement as communication. As a dancer and someone who connects through movement, I very much talk through my body and I encourage everyone to go out there and move their body and learn how to speak the language of movement.

To give unrestricted support to allow innovation to flourish, give to the Dean's Fund, or contact Director of Development Virginia Wright at virginia.wright@sjsu.edu.

The Library e-newsletter went out on schedule in early October, with a story on the Library’s 20 Anniversary Celebrations. Shortly after it was sent, staff received an awe-inspiring response from long time supporter Sally Lucas, letting them know that she was sending a check “on this momentous occasion” of the Library’s Anniversary. It happens to be the largest single contribution the library has received from an individual in many years.

When asked what motivated her gift, she wrote, I was there at the King Library’s beginning. Don and I were blessed to be part of San José State University and be able to support its growth.

Sally and her late husband Donald were early supporters of the Library and both served as co-chairs of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Committee. A graduate of San José State University and a former teacher in the Campbell School District, Ms. Lucas has maintained a lifelong dedication to education and active participation in her community as a business leader and philanthropist. She and her husband founded the Lucas Dealership Group, and Ms. Lucas owned and operated SL Interior Designs. She is a longtime trustee for the nonprofit Montalvo Center for the Arts, and has had longstanding charitable involvement with arts, education and community organizations throughout the greater Bay Area and beyond.

In 2012, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and San José State University conferred upon Sally Lucas the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. The Library staff all agree that is an honor well deserved!

Carol Christensen, '63 Women’s Physical Education, remembers the day she fell in love with San José State's library. Her sorority required that she dedicate certain hours of every week to studying in what was then the library's reserved books room.

She recalls staring at a painting of a storm at sea, contemplating where her career in physical education would take her. Would she be a P.E. teacher, a scientist, an academic? Little did she know, she would become all three, once she had laid the foundation at San José State.

I started loving the library because if libraries can provide you with a quiet place to study and a gorgeous picture to look up at while you're thinking, they must be worth a lot.

Originally from Los Angeles, Christensen was attracted to San José State's women's physical education program, which was at the time one of the best in the state. Exercise science combined her passions of physical activity and the mechanics behind how bodies move. The first in her family to graduate from college, Christensen earned a master's degree in ergonomics from UC Santa Barbara and a doctorate in health, physical education from the University of Utah.

When it was time to find a faculty job, Christensen returned to her alma mater. She dedicated 25 years to SJSU, serving as a professor, assistant dean, and dean of the College of the Applied Sciences and Arts before retiring in 2000. In retirement, she earmarked a percentage of the residual of her estate that is in her trust, equivalent to $200,000, for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San José State.

The university gave me the basis of my career–and my career. It provided me with a very high quality of life in retirement. The library is used by all students, and because it's a city-university partnership, it benefits the public as well. I give to the university because it gave me so much. There's no reason not to give back.

You can join Christensen by leaving a legacy at San José State with a gift in your will or a gift that pays you income to support the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library that will benefit current and future Spartans. Learn how you can make a legacy gift at legacy.sjsu.edu.

Graduation is a joyous time but it’s also a turning point for many graduates as they face feelings of fear and anxiety of the unknown. What will be next for these students?

Harnit Dheri, ‘23 biomedical engineering, knows exactly what her next step is. She will be starting a new position at Steri-tek, a medical device company for E-beam irradiation services. Her journey does not end there! She plans to return for a master’s degree in biomedical engineering in a few years. She attributes this smooth transition to the work experience and professional development gained by working as the media services assistant at the SJSU King Library.

This job exposed me to many valuable skills that I will take with me to future endeavors in various aspects of my life.

Harnit served a pivotal role in ensuring the A/V setup in classroom and meeting rooms ran smoothly for each event or class. It might sound simple, but the position is very stressful and demands students keep their cool when technology is not functioning as expected.

From training other students, integrating livestream and hybrid modalities, to troubleshooting audio and visual issues, Harnit developed her organizational and multitasking skills to communicate effectively with campus members and ensured clients were satisfied – even high-profile ones like the SJSU President.

Working at SJSU King Library taught me the power of teamwork and the impact we can make when we work together towards a common goal.

Help other students like Harnit learn invaluable lessons like professionalism, confidence, and teamwork with the SJSU King Library and make a donation to the student assistant fund.