Lynn Richardson is the DCL's archivist, or at least the closest thing to an archivist that the library has. She is the head of the North Carolina Collection, and Joanne tells me that she is the only archivist in the world to exclusively collect materials related to Durham. (I have to wonder why the collection is called the "North Carolina Collection" in that case, but some things will remain a mystery, I suppose.)
It seems unusual to me that a public library would have an archivist on staff. I tend to associate the profession with special collections and major universities, but not the local library. Many public libraries will offer rudimentary genealogy instruction, but again it hardly seems worth their while to keep a full-time archivist on staff. Most archival material is kept in university collections or, at a local level, in the city hall or the town records department. Were I trying to consult local primary sources, I would go to these places first, certainly not the library.
Lynn seems to be the exception to the above. A fiercely capable archivist, she fought for her collection when library administration seemed content to cut resources willy-nilly (see previous post). The collection seems to be well-used. Whenever I walk by en route to the copy machine or the break room, there is usually a handful of people, none of whom look particularly "scholarly," studying documents. I wonder if they are conducting family history or if they are searching for something different altogether. I'd be interested to learn how such a unique collection of historical records is used.
I hope to speak with Lynn more about her job later this summer. As I start to lean more toward public librarianship than archives, an archives position that works closely with the public library is probably the sort that I would find the most appealing.
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