BiblioBios: Special Collections Curator welcomes exploration at Spencer Library
As a Special Collections Curator at Spencer Research Library, Eve Wolynes spends her days jumping across centuries as she works with materials as varied as medieval manuscripts, the natural history of plants and animals, and the personal papers of acclaimed science fiction writers. Wolynes began her professional journey with KU Libraries this summer, a vocational path partly inspired by a story with a time-traveling heroine.
In middle school, Wolynes read “The Doomsday Book” by Connie Willis, a novel that follows the adventures of a history student who uses time travel to study the past. The student is sent back to the year 1348 where she witnesses the Black Death firsthand, a time and setting that gripped Wolynes.
“After reading that book I thought, I’m either going to be an epidemiologist or I’m going to be a medievalist,” Wolynes said.
Her interest in history, culture, and languages naturally drew her to the latter, propelling her through undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and on to a graduate program in medieval history at the University of Notre Dame. While she was a doctoral candidate at Notre Dame, her dog became ill and needed expensive care, so Wolynes took a part-time job at her institution’s library in order to pay the veterinary bills. Rather than a burden, the extra work turned out to be a joy, and Wolynes soon moved on to a student employee position in special collections.
“I found a sense of community at the library that I didn't realize I'd been missing,” she said.
Special collections work proved to be a great match for Wolynes’ interests and skills. She reads Italian, French, German, Latin, and some Japanese. She has a doctorate in Medieval History, studying 14th century Italian merchants closely as part of her dissertation. Earning an MLIS from Kent State University in May 2023, she was excited to join KU Libraries in June.
“It’s sort of like stepping into the big leagues which can be intimidating — Spencer is much, much bigger than previous libraries I’ve worked for,” Wolynes said. “We have six curators here, a full staff of reference and public services librarians, our own preservation team and cataloging and processing departments, and a reading room that’s expansive.”
Although Wolynes said she was “a little star struck” at first, her colleagues at Spencer have proved down to earth and have made her feel welcome. She’s enjoyed getting to know the library’s diverse and remarkable holdings, which include a collection of Italian family records that stretch from the 14th to 18th centuries, and medieval works such as an early veterinary guide written the year in 1256 by a farrier, a worker responsible for the shoeing and care of horses.
Wolynes brings with her experiences as a graduate student traveling to unfamiliar libraries, which helped instill the importance of a welcoming user experience. As part of work on her dissertation, she traveled to Italy to conduct research in various libraries, including the Marciana in Venice, a library on St. Mark’s Square that dates back to the 1400s.
“I was so nervous,” she said. “You have to first go into an interview, and then they let you into the rare books room.”
Wolynes had just had an unwelcoming experience as a visitor to another library where she hadn’t been granted access to the resources she needed, adding to her anxiety, but the Venetian librarian who assisted her at the Marciana immediately set her at ease.
“I was so nervous at being rejected but she said, ‘Calmati, calmati,’ which means calm yourself. She said, ’You’re going to be okay,’ and she was incredibly sweet,” Wolynes said.
Getting access to materials she needed directly influenced what Wolynes was able to study and write about for her dissertation.
“I think that’s one of the core responsibilities of librarians, to be friendly and welcoming,” said Wolynes. “It can fundamentally shape who feels comfortable walking into the library.”
Wolynes’ deep dives into history have also instilled in her a multifaceted sense of the significance of KU Libraries’ holdings, and an appreciation for learning from special collections beyond surface facts, with the materials promoting insights into the human experience across time.
“[In some historic materials] there are what feels like very human moments, when you can see yourself in the past and think about shared commonality and shared emotions, even in a world that is radically different than we are today,” Wolynes said.
In other words, a form of time travel is available at Spencer Research Library — and Wolynes is ready to guide fellow explorers on the journey.
Read more about Eve on the Kenneth Spencer Research Library Blog.
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