Collins Unbound

Collins Memorial Library Welcomes
new Archivist and Digital Collections Coordinator:  Katie Henningsen

What better way to start off an academic year in which the university will celebrate its 125^th anniversary than with the appointment of a university archivist!  Katie Henningsen will join the university on November 19^th as our new archivist and digital collections coordinator.  Katie received her M.S. in Library and Information Science with a specialization in rare books and special collections from the Palmer School, Long Island University.  She also has an M.Phil in Reformation and Enlightenment Studies from Trinity College Dublin and a B.A. in History from Westmont College.  Katie joins Puget Sound from the University of Kentucky where she was the Outreach and Access Archivist.  During her time at Kentucky, she expanded undergraduate research opportunities and programs as well as implemented many new processes and procedures associated with archival management.  In 2009 Katie was selected as a career enhancement program fellow by the Association  of Research Libraries. Katie is very active in professional associations and currently serves as a committee chair in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.  Most recently, she moderated a session at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Preconference on the topic of outreach and research.  Katie shares some of her thoughts about Puget Sound below.

1.  What attracts you to Puget Sound?
I was initially attracted to Puget Sound due to its emphasis on undergraduate education in the liberal arts.  My own experience at a liberal arts college instilled in me a lifelong love of learning, and I hope to provide a similar experience for the students at Puget Sound.  The warm and welcoming librarians, students, and staff that I met during my visit to Puget Sound made me fall in love with the University.

2. What are you looking forward to most?
I am really excited to work with the students and professors at Puget Sound.  From my initial research into the collections it is clear that the Archives hold some really wonderful material; I look forward to working with faculty to integrate primary sources into their classrooms and instill in their students a passion for primary source research.

3. Past accomplishments you would like to share?
Recently at the University of Kentucky, I have worked with a colleague to develop and implement an undergraduate research and training center in Special Collections.  This center pairs advanced undergraduates with unprocessed archival collections in their research area and allows them the opportunity to work with primary sources while producing a research or creative product.  I believe this center and the students working in it will clearly demonstrate the value of primary sources to undergraduate education.

4.      Anything that might be fun to know?
My grandfather and his three brothers grew up on North 33^rd Street in Tacoma and attended Stadium High School.  I enjoy hiking and traveling and look forward to exploring the Pacific Northwest.

Have you seen the latest “Woodcut” student art work in the Collins Library hallway? Stroll past the Learning Commons, and down the hall on the right – you will find these intriguing pieces done from Professor Janet Marcavage’s Beginning and Intermediate Printmaking classes.