Becca Gates is the Research and Instruction Librarian at Gottesman Libraries. Born and raised in California, she fell in love with books at a young age–beachside with sand between the pages. She channeled that love of reading into her undergraduate degree in English at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. There Becca found a community of learners passionate about the humanities and served as the co-editor of the literary journal, Byzantium. She then discovered the career path towards librarianship and earned her MLIS from UCLA. In her time in graduate school, she worked in library instruction at USC Special Collections and grew her knowledge in information literacy, primary source instruction, and research techniques. Her primary research in her degree focused on disability in special collections environments and archival silences. After graduating, she made the big move to New York City for an internship in the Thomas J. Watson Library at The Met, and then she decided to call the city her new home. Now, she is excited to serve the Teachers College community and continually learn more everyday as the Research and Instruction Librarian. In her free time, she enjoys hand making books, finding cheap tickets for broadway shows, and learning Spanish.