We were delighted to have a new reference provider join us today! Wythe, son of Special Collections Librarian Jamie Nelson, took his very first turn at the reference desk today, sharing duties with Margi Rogal.
Reference assistance has never been more adorable!
This fall, Sarah Horowitz joins the Tredway Library as the Special Collections Librarian for rare books. Special Collections is located on the first floor of the library, and is open to anyone who is interested. Come down to visit, see the collections, and meet Sarah!
Sarah grew up in Olean, a small community in Western New York State. She completed her undergraduate education at Carleton College (Northfield, MN), where she majored in English, minored in Spanish, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Based on internships and summer work at the Smithsonian Institution and the Robert Lax Archives at St. Bonaventure University, she decided to pursue a career as a librarian, with a special interest in special collections.
Sarah graduated with a MLS and a specialization in rare books librarianship from Indiana University (IU) in May 2007. While at IU she received the Margaret I. Rufsvold Graduate Fellowship for “superior potential in the field.” Her research has focused mainly on virtual reference services and the Kelmscott Press. She has previously worked in the IU main library’s reference department, as well as at the Lilly Library, Indiana’s renowned special collections library.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Sarah is an active dancer with an interest in ballet, ballroom, and swing. She also enjoys cooking and baking, listening to public radio, traveling, and, of course, reading.
Wednesday evening, Owen and I filled ourselves with the sweetness of baby Wythe, born on May 9 to Jamie Nelson, Special Collections librarian extraordinaire, and Eric Anderson (class of ‘99). Wythe, whose Anglo-Saxon name means “from the willow tree”–appropriate for a baby whose dad is into the cultivation and preservation of trees–was born almost two months premature, but is healthily growing now at a steady rate and has lots of fine black hair. Owen and I can testify that Wythe likes to kick his legs, wave his arms, and look to the right. We tried to detect a prediliction for books or trees but he’s not revealing his proclivities just yet. Milk is good, holding is good, sleeping is good, and cooing/squeaking sounds are very good. In the pictures, you can see the baby blanket Jamie’s knitting friends presented to Wythe (you also get a good view of Dad’s knees). The knitters include library staffers Ruth Ann Hyser, who works with all things periodic (aka journals and magazines), Emily Hughes-Dominick, a whiz at processing archival collections in Special; Ellie Beach, floating professor of religion and esteemed wife of CVR leader Dr. Bob Haak (Ellie spins and weaves wool, too); Jen Smith, who leads the library at Kaplan University; and me. I wonder if Wythe is the first Tredway Special Collections baby ever. We’ll have to do some research.–Margi
