Profile of Vielka Chang-Yau
Originally published in Smithsonian’s The Torch, March 2009
Vicky Chang-Yau defies the stereotype of the mousy librarian with her head always in booksher work as Chief Librarian for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) has brought her to 26 countries including Turkey, Argentina, and the Philippines, and requires her to be in constant communication with researchers and other SI Library (SIL) administrators. Based in Panama, STRI hosts 2,000 visiting scientists annually and it is Chang-Yau’s job to make sure that they have full access to the library’s myriad resources. On a given day, Chang-Yau might find herself leading library tours, planning an upcoming seminar, perusing potential acquisitions or dealing with a mold outbreak in the stacks. “Working at STRI is like living in a beehive,” she explains. “There is never a dull moment.”
Chang-Yau joined the STRI staff in 1989 after spending 13 years working at the Instituto de Investigación Agropecuaria de Panamá (IDIAP), where she was in charge of the department of technology transfer. After devoting over a decade of her career to developing technology to aid the agricultural industry in Panama, she discovered her true calling: library science. Though ample research had been done in fields such as animal husbandry and invertebrate biology, the information was not organized in a useful way. As Chang-Yau describes, there was at IDIAP “a disarray of books and a few journals, but no one with an English background to help find and acquire information.” Chang-Yau began focusing on filling in the gaps and overhauling their library system. This project led her to seek a full-time library position after leaving IDIAP, and after four years of interviewing for various positions, she was offered the position of Chief Librarian at STRI.
One of Chang-Yau’s responsibilities at STRI is to facilitate professional development events for librarians. In 2004, she co-organized a very successful seminar entitled “Conservation of Books in the Tropics: Fungi Infiltration,” which included a workshop on repairing damaged books. This year, she’s planning to offer a hands-on workshop for librarians on bulletin and journal-writing skills. Also in the works is an exciting project involving the digitization of STRI’s extensive map collection. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between Chang-Yau, Canadian volunteer Diane Hopkins and Steve Paton, head of the Bioinformatics division at STRI, and is currently in the testing stage. Chang-Yau also works to secure funding so that well-known Latin American librarians can visit STRI and hold panels or participate in conferences. Maintaining relationships within the SIL community and beyond is one of Chang-Yau’s top priorities, and one of the reasons she excels at her job.
Though half-Chinese, Chang-Yau has always called Latin America home. Both of her grandfathers emigrated from the Canton Province to Panama, and she is part of the second generation born and raised there. Her Chinese heritage, however, remains a core part of her identity; with the help of her uncle, Chang-Yau has traced her family line in China back 1,000 years. She has only visited China once, but hopes to return someday and continue her ancestral research. “Little is known about the paternal side of my family, except that my father’s father was in the military, owned a cane factory, landed in California, and went to New York before finally migrating to Panama where he raised cattle and owned a shop,” she explains.
Even when she’s not collecting family history, Chang-Yau loves to travel; she lists Thailand, Egypt, and South Africa among the countries she plans to visit eventually. She also loves raising dogs, is an avid gardener, and prides herself in her ability to stay in touch with friends and relatives over the years. “I have a very special interest in making sure that members of my family get to know each other better and learn to get along,” she says. “I have strived to keep very old friendships going for over 30 years and cherish watching how the relationships mature over time.”
With a new President in office, Chang-Yau has high hopes for the future of STRI. “I hope he will manage our tax dollars wisely and create strong programs that will expand educational and health opportunities,” she says. “If Obama keeps his basic campaign promises, it might invigorate Panamanians to go the extra mile for their country.”