Starting her journey at UCA in 2004, librarian Danielle Kraus is no stranger to campus.
Kraus earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and theater in 2009. Shortly after, she began working at the library circulation desk in 2015 and has been there since.
“When I graduated, the first recession [had started],” Kraus said. “I went to work in retail with my brand new degree, and I eventually came back to UCA to work in the library. I really enjoy working with students, and I really work with books well.”
Kraus said that students are welcome to visit.
“I know I sound like I work at a library, but the library is so much more than just books now,” Kraus said. “We have resources, so I would love for more people to come and see what we have in the library.”
The new and incoming students are one of her favorite parts of the job.
“I really like being involved in that part of ‘hey, let me tell you where stuff is,’” Kraus said. “We either just know from a lot of us being alumni here, or we just know because somebody’s already asked us before.”
Kraus works alongside her husband, who works in IT and is also a UCA alum.
“We knew each other from before, so we’ve been married for 14 years,” Kraus said.
Kraus was born in Florida and came to Conway, where she has lived since.
“I was originally born way south like Fort Lauderdale, but we moved when I was in middle school, and I’ve been here since ’97,” Kraus said.
One of Kraus’s favorite genres to read is young adult.
“YA tends to have a lot more female leads,” Kraus said. “They have a lot more LGBT characters than your traditional classics. They tend to be a lot more hopeful than a lot of adult books. I really liked the ‘Discovery of Witches” series by Deborah Harkness; it’s one of the only adult books series that I really enjoyed.”
Kraus is also involved in her first year within the UCA Staff Senate.
“We have volunteer opportunities in football games, so if you ever see staff and faculty at those, they’re volunteering on behalf of probably their faculty or staff senate,” Kraus said.
In her free time alongside her husband, Kraus is an avid gamer and has racked up countless hours on multiple consoles and devices.
“I’m like a huge video game nerd,” Kraus said. “I’ve been playing since the original NES was out. My husband and I’ll play Destiny at least two or three times a week.”
Kraus said her favorite types of games are story-driven single-player games, such as “A Plague Tale: Innocence,” “Assassin’s Creed” and “God of War.” She also has special uses for some of the consoles she has with her husband.
“We both have a PS5, and we both have a television [where] we sit next to each other in the living room and play video games together,” Kraus said.
Kraus said that she hasn’t had it for long despite her extensive collection.
“The last home console I had was the GameCube, and then I was like ‘let’s get a switch,’” Kraus said. “I like that it’s like a portable and a home console.”
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” is next on Kraus’s list to play.
When she isn’t working at UCA or gaming, Kraus spends her time with her pet corgi and multiple pet cats.
Kraus works for the Cats Lives Are Worth Saving organization and will reach out if she finds a cat that needs a new home.
“I’m a sucker for a sad story about an animal,” Kraus said. “If I find a cat that’s clearly used to be a pet, I’m like ‘oh, no, take this. I had several people who work here [that] have taken home a cat I found.”
Kraus says that she has multiple favorite genres of music.
“I listened to a lot of eclectic stuff, but I kind of grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, so my tastes are still a lot of that,” Kraus said. “I do listen to Lady Gaga and Lizzo. Those are probably two of my favorite modern artists.”
Kraus’s most important advice for future and current students at UCA is to appreciate the moment.
“Enjoy where you are right now,” Kraus said. “Everyone learns through trial and error, and you don’t recognize it at a moment; everything seems really stressful. Take a moment to enjoy where you are.”
