Amy Bush Honored with Part-Time Faculty Award

Every day, Amy Bush works closely with students at Yuba College, helping them perform research and build confidence in their academic work.

As an adjunct librarian, Bush meets with students in person and online to support their assignments, leads library tours and information literacy sessions, and develops instructional modules through Canvas. She also helps maintain library resources and ensures students have access to the tools they need to succeed.

“My overall experience working at Yuba College has been incredibly rewarding, and I thoroughly enjoy the people I work with on a daily basis in the library,” Bush said.

Her connection with both students and colleagues is at the heart of what makes her work meaningful. She described the most rewarding part of her role as working one-on-one with students and helping them build skills that extend far beyond a single assignment.

“It’s extremely rewarding to teach students how to become effective researchers, because it not only helps them with the assignment they are currently working on, but it sets them up for success throughout their academic careers,” she said.

That dedication recently earned Bush recognition as Yuba College’s Part-Time Faculty Excellence Award recipient, an honor chosen by colleagues through a process of nomination and vote, one she said she never expected.

“I was shocked when I found out I had been nominated for the Yuba College Excellence Award, so you can imagine my surprise to be selected to receive the award,” Bush said. “It is a huge honor and I feel incredibly grateful.”

Like many roles that center on student support, the work can come with its challenges. During busy points in the semester, demand for research assistance can quickly outpace the hours available in the day. But for Bush, the key to navigating those moments is staying focused on the individual students she’s able to help.

“There are often times throughout the semester when everyone seems to need help, and it can feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day,” Bush said. “So, during our busiest times, I just push through and try to focus on the research support I am able to provide.”

Many students would often express how impactful those personal interactions can be, showing just how much of an impact Bush has made on her community.

“Students often tell me how much I’ve helped them with their assignments or that they wish they would have learned these skills earlier,” she said.

Bush said her dedication to her work is grounded in both her personal beliefs and the strong sense of community she feels within the library.

“My belief in God definitely drives my work ethic, and I also thoroughly enjoy the people I work with in the library,” she said. “We have such an amazing team that it makes it easy to be dedicated to my work and want to contribute wholeheartedly to the library team.”

In a time when students are faced with an overwhelming amount of both information and misinformation online, that work feels more important than ever.

“I find it incredibly rewarding to support students in developing the skills they need to critically evaluate and locate reliable information,” Bush said.

As a librarian, Bush gets to interact with many different students on a day-to-day basis. Her work continues to make a lasting difference on students throughout the campus, something she witnesses firsthand everyday.