Published: July 17, 2024 by Nicole Azof and Matsuko Friedland

Following in the footsteps of our inaugural EDI student assistant, Eori Tokunaga, we now welcome our new EDI student assistants: Nicole Azof and Matsuko Friedland.

Nicole Azof

Nicole Azof (she/her) is a first-year MLIS student who is interested in working in academic libraries, as well as writing articles and blog posts. She is Assyrian and was born and raised in California. 

She is an English Major who earned her B.A. at Stanislaus State, where she worked as a writing tutor, student reporter for the university’s website, and  an editor for their literary magazine. Her previous experience with researching for essays and tutoring students in finding the right information they need for their writing assignments is what drew her to the field of MLIS. 

In her spare time, Nicole likes to spend time reading or drawing.

She looks forward to working as one of the EDI writers and supporting the SJSU iSchool’s diverse community.

Matsuko Friedland

Matsuko Friedland (they/she) is a first-year MLIS student born and raised on Lekwungen land (Victoria, BC, Canada) and now living on Duwamish land (Seattle, Washington, USA) with their tortoise-shell cat, Kira (pictured above).

They are mixed-race Japanese and white.

They recently graduated from the University of Victoria (UVic) with an undergraduate degree in public health and disability studies.

They have previous experience in business, public health, information technology, and accessibility.

They are interested in researching how libraries support community health.

Other areas of interest include JEDI, disability justice, and critical librarianship.

They look forward to learning from and supporting the SJSU iSchool’s diverse community and EDI efforts.