History 21 The Podcast - 1.04 Erin McBrien ACHS Archivist
Erin McBrien became the new ACHS Archivist at the end of 2020. She talks about job searching during a pandemic after graduation, what brought her to pursuing a masters degree in library and information science and her thoughts about being a custodian and advocate for Anoka County stories and history.
Hosts Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director and Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator.
Erin’s cats, Oliver @ Fantasia, lazily sleeping on a blue couch together.
Erin McBrien
ACHS Start date December 21, 2020
Here is a little bit about me professionally:
I received my undergraduate education from the University of Iowa in English and Writing. While there I worked as a typesetter and editor for Ice Cube Press, an editor and designer for the 2018 Iowa Chapbook prize, and an Administrative Intern for the Iowa Youth Writing Project. I also volunteered with the Iowa Youth Writing Project, as well as at the Iowa City Public Library and the Iowa Review. After writing my capstone thesis, I graduated with overall honors as well as honors in my major and moved on to my graduate education at Syracuse University. Upon entering, I was fortunate enough to have been awarded the Wilhelm Library Leadership scholarship and worked as both a research assistant and faculty assistant at the university. I also worked as the adult services paraprofessional for Tully Free Library and as the youth services intern at Syracuse’s Central Library. Along with these positions, I also collaborated with other libraries around the Syracuse area on various events and projects. Finally, during my last semester at Syracuse I worked as an archival processing intern for the university’s Special Collections Research Center. I graduated with my MLIS in May of 2020, and I’m very grateful to be part of the amazing team at ACHS.
Fun Facts:
Cat’s names: Oliver is the white and grey tom while Fantasia is the entirely grey queen. It’s hard to tell from this picture, but Oliver is quite a bit bigger.
Loves: Gardening, kickboxing, Mystery Science Theater 3000, fantasy novels, unfortunately expensive coffee, well-used public services, eccentric socks, Dungeons and Dragons, and basically all food.
Hometown: Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Best ACHS discovery so far: An antique glass medicine bottle with only the word “Gargle” printed on the label.
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
Curators: Behind the Scenes of Natural History Museums by Lance Grande - 508 GRA
While this book focuses on natural history museums, it might shine some light on what the job of a museum curator entails. The author is a longtime curator who has done most of his work at the Chicago Field Museum. In the book, Grande discusses how natural history museums have evolved into educational centers as well as how they play an instrumental role in scientific work.
Yet another book about natural history, this book focuses on the British Museum of Natural History. It gives an overview of the museum’s history, as well as looking at important people and research involved in the museum, to give a broad picture of the life of the museum itself and the scientific discoveries it has inspired over the years.
Swinging the spotlight onto a macabre type of archived material, Megan Rosenbloom’s book focuses on the preservation and history of books bound in human skin. While the thought evokes images of Evil Dead today, this binding process was not all that rare for medical and anatomy texts a long time ago. Still, it’s strange and gruesome, and they do require special care…
Bibliotech: Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of Google by John Palfrey - 020.285 PAL
This book might be useful for those thinking of pursuing a career in museums or archives. With chapters on Cloud computing and digitization, this book addresses preservation as well as the general continued need for libraries. If you think a career as a librarian, archivist, or curator might be for you, this book will give you ideas of what choices are out there.
Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith - FIC HAC
Last but not least, I wanted to throw a fun fiction book on the list about a librarian/archivist. The protagonist, Claire, is the head librarian of the Unwritten Wing of Hell’s library, where all books unfinished by their creators are held. Claire spends most of her time organizing and repairing books, but on occasion these unruly titles gain a mind of their own, and walk right off their shelves… One of the best dark fantasies I read last year.