Welcome back to our staff spotlight series! Over the next few weeks, we’ll catch up on featuring recent hires and new roles of staff in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library here at the University of Virginia. Let’s go!
Rosalind Calhoun, Processing Archivist at the Small Special Collections Library
As a Processing Archivist, Rosalind Calhoun works with the Patrick Oliphant Artwork and Papers, documents the history of enslavement at UVA for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded project On These Grounds, edits and revises the Inclusion and Reparative Action Plan for Special Collections Technical Services, and improves discovery of collections. Previously, she was the Librarian and Archivist of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. She has a MLIS from the University of Maryland and a MSc in Book History and Material Culture from the University of Edinburgh. Her interests include art, history, travel, and her Rottweiler, Gumbo (@gumbotherottie).
What was your first ever job with books or libraries?
Working in Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Maryland’s Hornbake Library as a graduate student. While I was there I was fortunate enough to work with several books from the Kelmscott Press, which inspired my love for all things William Morris.
What was the first thing you collected as a child? What do you collect now?
As a child of the late-90s and early-2000s: Beanie Babies. Now I collect antique wax seals, Japanese netsukes, stirrup cups, Hermès silk scarves, Christmas ornaments, taxidermy, oddities, and curiosities.
Hopefully you’ve been roaming Grounds and Charlottesville a bit since your arrival. What’s your favorite new discovery other than Special Collections?
I’ve lived in Charlottesville since 2020, and my husband and I love the North American Sake Brewery. We enjoy eating on their patio next to Ix Art Park with our Rottweiler, Gumbo. There are also so many fantastic places in the area to go antiquing!
Tell us what excites you about your job?
All the wonderful things in the collections I get to see and the histories I get to help make discoverable and accessible, so we can share that knowledge and wonder with the world.
Tell us something about Special Collections or UVA that is different from what you expected.
I am surprised that the atmosphere in Special Collections is so down-to-earth. It makes being here a lot less intimidating! Everyone has been kind and welcoming.
If you could be locked in any library or museum for a weekend, with the freedom to roam, enjoy, and study to your heart’s content, which one would you choose?
The Morgan Library and Museum in New York. I think the East Room is one of the most beautiful library spaces in the world, and their collections are amazing. I would love to see the Black Hours in person.