I am thrilled to be working as an archives student assistant at the Burke Library. I find it auspicious to be starting a new job, at my new school, in my new city, on my 31st birthday. What will this year hold for me? I am excited to find out!
This begins my 9th year of working in libraries. I started as a student assistant in circulation while getting my undergraduate degree in Studio Art at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. To be honest, I thought it would be a great place to be able to work on my homework as I trudged through my three minors in Art History, Italian, and German. Yet at that circulation desk I found a sort of second home where work was never a chore and I enjoyed helping people. I liked working there enough that I came back as a part-time supervisor after I graduated, which lead to a full time staff position at NC State University. There I worked in first the Design and then the Natural Resources branch libraries. So here we are, 9 years and 3 libraries later. I have enjoyed getting to know all the different tasks that each position has entailed and look forward to honing my skills for archiving.
But I have to admit that my love for libraries started with my grandmother. Every afternoon together we would do something “special,” be that go for a swim, share an éclair from our favorite café, or walk in the park. My favorite days were when we would go to the library and she would let me pick out as many books as my little arms could carry. Then we would go to her house and I would spread them all out on the cool, tiled floor. I could look at the pictures for hours and would ask her to read to me when she could.
It is such memories that make me excited to be working in the archives section of the library. The materials here hold stories. Not only of what is on the page but of the journey it took to get here.