Title: Lilly Library Media & Reserves Coordinator
Library/Department: Research & Public Services
Location: Lilly Library
Years at Duke: I’ve been in my current position since October 4, 2021. This is my second stint as a Duke employee. I enjoyed three years (~2011-13) working at The Gothic Bookshop before pursuing a dream of working in the movie making business.
In a nutshell, what do you do at Duke University Libraries?
I work with Danette Pachtner here at Lilly on all things media and film related. Processing and fulfilling streaming video film reserve requests claims the bulk of my time along with class reserve book requests for Lilly use and requests for films which instructors want to show in class. I’m also responsible for readying new physical media (DVDs) to go to the shelves, shepherding film requests from our TRLN colleagues, and working the front desk at Lilly, along with acting sometimes as an early warning alert system for basement level water incursions as I’m the only Lilly staff with a basement office!
If you had to pick one thing, what’s the best part of your job so far?
Getting to come to Lilly Library on Duke’s lovely East campus every day and work with the fine folks here! (My maternal grandmother was a student worker in this very building during her undergraduate years at Duke, so I’ve got a soft spot for Lilly.)
What the best thing you’ve read/watched/listened to recently?
Book: Maggie O’Farrell’s memoir I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death (O’Farrell, 2017) – A heartstoppingly (Sorry!) beautiful series of essays chronicling a lifetime’s worth of close calls.
What do you like most about living in The Triangle?
I’m a native of the NC Piedmont region, having been born and raised in Winston-Salem. I have been in Durham since 1995. Although Durham has changed a lot, I appreciate how it retains elements of small-town charm while also having more cosmopolitan aspects.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I’ve recently started taking a carpentry class and I’m enjoying it greatly, even though it meets on the same night as my bowling league, which I am missing. I enjoy reading, watching films and tv. I play a little tennis, rather poorly, now and then. I hang out with my wife Carrie and our two cats Archie and Nina and I enjoy cooking but am still trying to develop my grocery shopping skills!
