Ever wondered what goes on in the basements of the James White Library? Well, among other things, our campus library is home of the Center for Adventist Research (CAR). Student worker Maddi Vath (junior, English) tells us about the various ins and outs of working in the archives of the library and her experiences. For anyone looking for a job on campus, this might be the place to apply!
Please introduce yourself and your job title, please!
So my name is Maddi. I am a junior English Major and a student worker for the James White library for the Center of Adventist Research, which is in the basement. It's freezing down there by the way. I do a lot of cataloging, we basically take anything that's Adventist or remotely Adventist and just archive it and make sure we have it on record. We have a lot of Ellen White stuff, old Bibles, but my boss would be able to tell you a lot more.
How did you find out about the job?
So when I first got here to Andrews, I just went online on the Andrews website and went to job listings because I wanted to make money while I was here. I found one for the library but didn't really know what it was for, I just filled out the application. And then I got called for an interview with a few different people because it's both CAR and a couple other departments down there in the library basement, and I got put in CAR.
What do you like about it?
Mainly my boss slash work mom Camille Clayton; she makes the job super fun. Our personalities both complement each other in many different ways. She just keeps things lively which is so nice and entertaining because I'm sitting at a computer for hours a day. So it's nice to have that kind of banter with someone who's there.
You plan on pursuing archival work in the future as well right?
I don't even know what the official job title for that sort of thing is, but yes, in the archives or in academia in general.
Were you always interested in that or did the job make you more interested?
So I guess archival work was always kind of there, but I was toggling between that and being an English professor. Then I grew to really like the theory aspect of literature and old literature, especially old British literature. And then I went to the Newberry library for a field trip and kind of fell in love with what Jill Gage, the curator, brought out some different old artifacts and things in relation to what we were talking about in class and I was like, this is it. And to be real, the aesthetic and vibes are great. I thought that if I'm doing anything in English, working in a library, that's kind of going to fit anywhere on a resume for any English job.
What's the most interesting archival piece that you’ve found while working there?
I wouldn't label this interesting, but I find a lot of sexist stuff that comes through. There’s a lot of old stuff about how women should dress and whatnot and I was like, wow, yeah, this is why we're archiving it.
Would you recommend this job to other students?
Absolutely. I will tell anyone to come because you will not find a better work mom. It's a pretty chill job and I get to listen to music while I work. I'm more of an introvert so I like that I can just work in silence. It's not draining which is helpful. It's still nice to be able to listen to music and just kind of be in your own space, and it's money. And we live in a society.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.