Chuck is currently our longest serving volunteer. He began volunteering in December 2012 and has been a dedicated volunteer ever since, even volunteering remotely through the pandemic. Chuck has worked on many projects over his 10 years here, from collection inventories, to Mrs. look-ups (finding first names of women in photographs only identified by their husband’s name), to split photo matching. He’s currently searching through online newspapers and genealogy resources to obtain more information on unprocessed photos in our Newspaper Photograph Collection. This added information helps us determine if the photographs are local and can add valuable details to our metadata.
Once or twice a year, Chuck takes a big vacation from volunteering to take long walks across Spain and Italy—a hundred miles or more over weeks of time! Through these trips he’s taught himself Spanish and some Italian too! In December, Chuck welcomed a granddaughter, his first grandchild, whom he adores and spends as much time with as he can.
Q: Why do you keep volunteering in Special Collections?
A: I keep volunteering in Special Collections for two reasons: I like the people in the department, and I like the research that my projects entail. I’m always learning things!
Q: What’s one of the most memorable things you’ve encountered while working here?
A: Early in my career in SC, when I was doing an inventory in the vault, there were so many great books, some of which were hundreds of years old. I remember finding a book published in the early 1500’s, printed in Greek. I think that’s the oldest book I’ve actually got to touch!
Q: Favorite project you’ve worked on?
A: Probably the inventory in the vault. So many historic old books! But it was freezing in there! [Editor’s note: Special Collections has two climate-controlled vaults for rare book and A/V storage. The rooms are kept at about 65 degrees with 35% relative humidity—these spaces feel especially cold on a hot summer day!]
Q: Favorite place or building in Minneapolis or Hennepin County?
A: The Northern Pacific Bridge Number 9 over the Mississippi River is a favorite place. I like to take long walks with my partner along the river and this bridge is a good destination with beautiful views of the river gorge. It’s never crowded because it’s not very close to a parking lot!
Q: Book you’re currently reading?
A: Lately, I’ve been drawn to books with library themes. I’m in the middle of listening to an audiobook of “The Library Book” by Susan Orlean, a nonfiction book about a big library fire and libraries in general. And I just finished reading “La biblioteca de fuego” by Maria Zaragoza, an historical novel about heroic librarians saving Spanish culture in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (unfortunately not translated into English yet).
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