Saying that Liv Ritz ’25 has found a home at the River Campus Libraries during her time at the University of Rochester would be an understatement. Over the past four years, she has held two distinct roles within the libraries, where her creative talents and business acumen have left a lasting impact on several library social media profiles.
Ritz has always been a creative person. With two self-employed parents, she grew up with a strong business-oriented mindset, making marketing a natural choice to combine her passions. This blend of creativity and business savvy ultimately brought her to the River Campus Libraries (RCL).
As a sophomore, Liv joined Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X as its newest Marketing Assistant, a role that evolved into Marketing Lead. Initially, she focused on graphic design and content creation, but her responsibilities expanded to include leadership tasks like organizing team meetings and shaping Studio X’s campaigns.
As her senior year began, Liv joined the User Engagement team at River Campus Libraries, led by User Experience and Social Media Manager, Claudia Pietrzak.
“I had seen the work that Liv had done at Studio X and knew I wanted to work with her,” said Pietrzak. “When the Digital Marketing Assistant role became available, she was a shoo-in!”
For Liv, the collaboration has been a highlight of her time at the libraries. “My favorite part of working here is the amount of creative freedom we have,” she said. “I have a lot of fun working with Claudia, bringing my age group’s perspective to the library, and seeing how that impacts student engagement.”
Working closely with Pietrzak, Liv gained practical marketing skills that she credits as essential to her growth.
“Claudia's helped me a lot to learn what it's like to use a posting platform, such as Later, and analyze data,” said Ritz. “Understanding engagement times and how to leverage them to our advantage has been so valuable, and it’s something I didn’t know before this role.”
During her time at the libraries, Liv has explored a variety of social media strategies, from carousel posts to short-form video content like Instagram Reels. One of her proudest achievements was creating an Instagram Reel that garnered over 40,000 views—her biggest post to date.
Looking ahead, Ritz hopes to secure a position as a social media manager or marketing director for a beauty or lifestyle company, citing her experiences at RCL as instrumental in discovering her career path.
“I’m very grateful to the library for giving me this space to explore my interests and gain insight into my future career while I’m still in school,” she said.
