By Abigail Bowers
How did you end up at the University of Illinois Archives? Tell us about your background.
After earning a degree in English lit, I relocated from the West Coast to attend library school here and somehow never left! I knew my interest was in special collections, but I didn’t have a clear direction. Shortly after beginning grad school, I took a volunteer position at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music and realized that archival work was my thing. I became a grad hourly, then a graduate assistant, and after graduating, I stayed on as an academic hourly at both Sousa and the University Archives. In 2019, I began my current position as an Archives Program Officer at the Archives Research Center.
What are your responsibilities?
I serve as the reference archivist at ARC, so there is a lot of digging through boxes and answering random questions. I did not foresee hauling 30 lb. boxes around as part of my daily work life, but here we are. I also oversee daily operations, assist our onsite researchers, process incoming materials (physical and digital), supervise student workers, serve on library committees…a little bit of everything!
What excites you most about your role? What are some plans/ideas you have in mind?
It never gets boring! I’ve been doing this for twelve years now, and I still love it. The work is so varied, my colleagues are wonderful, and I love being able to help people in their academic or genealogical research process. Things at the Archives Research Center will look a bit different after the relocation into the special collections building, so right now I am looking ahead to that and making sure we are as prepared as possible for a move of this scope.
What are the most interesting/challenging/fun aspects of the job?
You really never know what you’re going to find. Each reference request feels like a little mystery that I want to solve. Being able to locate the particular piece of info that a researcher needs is so rewarding. Every time I process a series or dig into a reference inquiry, I feel like I’m getting to know the series creator in some small way. And it’s always fun to run across a letter from Einstein or a school paper written by Nick Offerman!
