We love our student workers! Meet Emma.

This student employee feature was posted in February 2011, and some details of library services may have changed. Please contact a librarian or stop by any desk in the library if you have any questions!


The William H. Hannon Library is open 146 hours each week during the academic year. We collect, organize, manage, and provide access to a library collection with over 500,000 physical objects and millions of digital artifacts. Last year, over half a million people visited the library.

To provide these services for our community, we have a full time dedicated professional staff of 48… but did you know that we also have 100+ student workers whose daily efforts keep this place running smoothly?

For example, there’s Emma:

Emma-Kennedy

Name: Emma Kennedy

Year: Sophomore

Major: Biology

Hometown: Brea, CA

Where do you work in the library / what do you do here?

I work for circulation as a shelver. I sort and shelve books, search for books, retrieve books from the basement, help any patrons who ask for it, or do any other jobs Zarina or Rose have for me to do.

What do you like best about working in the library?

There are many things to like about working at the library. I like my supervisors, being surrounded by books, and the gorgeous views through all the windows. It’s a very calm environment. It’s also convenient; I can study and work in the same place (at different times, of course!).

Do you ever shush anyone?

No. there have been a couple cases with people on cell phones where I probably should have, but they weren’t on the “texting only” third floor so I kind of just glared and sent them mental “shh” messages.

Do you have any insider library info that our readers might not know about?

Sorry, classified information. Just kidding. No, I don’t really have any interesting information.

What is the last book that you enjoyed?

Water for Elephants

What is the strangest book that you’ve ever come across in your job?

Oh gosh, I’ve seen so many books that most don’t even strike me as strange anymore. There are some pretty strange art books. One had images of viruses, bacteria, and other microscopic organisms magnified thousands of times to produce images of them which the artist had added color too, which I thought was pretty cool but some of the organisms are very bizarre looking. I feel like I come across more books that strike me as interesting and that I wish I had enough time to read than that seem strange, though.

Favorite place to study in the library?

Anywhere really. Probably somewhere on the third floor because it’s really quiet.

Anything else to add?

If you need help finding a book, don’t be afraid to ask. 🙂