For Patrick Williams, the library isn’t only a place to study or browse books, but a place that preserves rare material for future research.

“I think it’s very different to see the books themselves along with the title and the publisher’s name and the dedications to other people, and then see those people’s work in the room as well,” said Williams, a subject librarian at Syracuse University. “You understand it as a group of people that existed and no just a group of poems the ended up in a text book or an anthology.”

Williams, the subject librarian for English/textual studies, communications and rhetorical studies and linguistics, among other subjects, cites viewing a copy of The Kelmscott Chaucer in a special collection as one of the reasons he wanted to become a librarian.

On a day-to-day basis, Williams will do anything from working one-on-one with students to ordering books in his subject area for Bird library. He said he has a job that keeps him busy and doing what he’s interested in.

While working in classrooms, Williams assists with projects that utilize the resources the library has to offer. He is involved with courses such as WRT 200: “Do-It-Yourself Publishing,” where students produce items for the Syracuse Zine Fest. Williams hosts sessions in the Special Collections Resource Center to help inspire their publications.

The Special Collections Resource Center has a vast collection of original materials, ranging from poetry to illustrations to plastics. This is another area that Williams has gotten to work in.

Williams said he often tries to incorporate the Special Collections into his work classrooms.

“It’s pretty mixed up day-to-day. That’s part of the reason I like it so much because I don’t do the same thing every day,” said Williams. “I thrive on the fact that it’s different stuff everyday.”

Published on November 4, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Katie: kazilcos@syr.edu