Today is my last day in the Special Collections & Archives at Loyola University New Orleans. Like all last days, it is a day of reflection. I am reflecting on my newly found love for the Library of Congress Classification System, a greater sense of gentleness and gratitude when I am privileged enough to handle rare books, the cool finds that I documented on a Twitter thread, and the joy of working for an institution that provides access to the online resources and literature to my community.
This summer taught me that an organization’s archives can be paramount because they are the narrative of an institution--whether that is a city, an organization, or a small liberal arts college in New Orleans. An institution’s archives tell about the history of an institution: when a piece of property was purchased, the triumphs of students and professors, and minute and monumental changes over the years. For example, a letter confirming a meeting date between professors and an administrator might seem a little unnecessary to preserve, but without the most basic letters between two people, the context of a later and more important letter can be skewed.
Archiving an organization's documents helps create coherent meaning, provide value, and expand a narrative into a flowing historiography of an institution. Working with an organization’s archives may not be for all who are interested in librarianship, but it is a fundamental part of illustrating an institution’s history. I am grateful for my time spent in the archives. I truly believe my time spent here will be central to my future career as a librarian.
