It may not be common for a voice performance major to end up in librarianship, yet for Krista Welty-Salgado, the shift from music to managing Taylor’s graduate research resources could not be more fitting.
Welty-Salgado completed her undergraduate degree from Cornerstone University in Music and Voice Performance. She then went on to IU Bloomington for her master's degree in Library Science.
She switched her field of study because she wanted to combine her love of music with her experience of working in the library during her undergraduate years.
“My library and mentor, he basically said, ‘Hey, you like working in libraries, you’re (a) music major, you could combine those.’ So initially, I kind of thought I would work in a music library,” Welty-Salgado said.
At one point in her career, she did get to work in a music library. Currently, she is the graduate and electronic resource management librarian at Taylor University. This means she works with graduate students, helps them with research and manages the databases.
She started working at Taylor this year, in June. Before Taylor, Welty-Salgado worked at Anderson University for nine years. She enjoys her current role at Taylor because she gets to work with students more.
Taylor is also part of the same library consortium that Anderson University was in, and she still has connections with that group. She had heard that Taylor was a strong Christian university and had a mission to be Christ-centric.
“So I just thought, it's time probably for a change and different opportunities here,” Welty-Salgado said.
As a freshman in college, Welty-Salgado took a part-time job in the campus library simply because it seemed convenient and quiet. But the longer she worked there, the more she realized how much happened behind the scenes.
She learned how materials were cataloged, processed and added into a collection in ways that made them accessible to students.
“There’s just a lot that goes into running a library,” she said. “I thought it was really interesting, and there was always so much to learn.”
Over time, she discovered that what she enjoyed most was not just the organization or the system, but it was also the people.
At Anderson University, students would often stop by her office not just for research help, but to talk about whatever was happening in their lives.
“It’s kind of low-pressure,” she said. “Students could just come in, sit down and talk, and I was there for whatever they needed, good or bad.”
Transitioning to Taylor, however, has not been without challenges. After nine years at Anderson, the shift to a new place and role took time.
Most of her community was still in Anderson, where she continues to live, and the daily commute was an adjustment.
“I used to walk to work in five minutes,” Welty-Salgado said. “Now it’s a 40-minute drive.”
She also had to learn the unique needs of graduate students, whose research expectations and academic backgrounds require different kinds of support.
Reflecting on her move from Anderson University to Taylor, Welty-Salgado said even moments that feel confusing or insignificant have purpose.
“God uses every aspect of our life, every success, every failure, even the things that seem small, and he brings them together in ways we don’t expect,” Welty-Salgado said.
She hopes students remember that challenges, mistakes and unexpected changes are not wasted. Each experience can prepare them for future opportunities, and, like a tapestry, all the threads of life are woven into something meaningful.
