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Libraries can play a big role in getting students excited about careers in libraries and librarianship. One great way to do this is by offering internships that give students a chance to experience what librarians actually do day to day, including behind the scenes work of technical services. A positive internship experience can turn curiosity into genuine interest in pursuing a degree in library science and a career in libraries.

Every summer for the last four years, the Woodruff Library Resource Description team has hosted undergraduate and graduate interns. This summer we were fortunate to have two undergraduates from Agnes Scott College helping us with the evaluation of our new discovery layer and two PhD students cataloging a large collection of Russian books from retired Emory professor Mikhail Epstein.

We asked our interns and people who worked with them to share their experience.

From left to right: Xenia Leonteva, Nikolay Smirnov, J Thomas, and Claire Chilcoat

J Thomas, English literature and history major, Agnes Scott College
What have you learned and how do you think this experience will help you with your future career?
The experience I’ve gained with cataloging, Library of Congress authority records, Wikidata — really everything that goes into technical services work — will be invaluable when I start job hunting closer to my graduation in May. I find it so amazing how every item in a library has so much information stored in all of these different places, but users find it all in one place. This work is what makes the difference between an accessible library and a pile of books.

Claire Chilcoat, biology major, Agnes Scott College
What did you like most about your experience?
This was an awesome internship, and I would absolutely recommend that anyone interested in librarianship do an internship like this. Everyone involved in this experience was extremely patient and willing to answer any questions we had and guide us through new systems.

Tricia Clayton, Discovery Systems program manager, Emory Libraries
How did having Agnes Scott interns help Emory Libraries?
Our summer interns, J and Claire, made meaningful contributions to the Library Search Primo Implementation project by helping us evaluate new discovery features and improve the user experience for our community. They participated in the testing activities for the AI Research Assistant and Linked Data Entity Cards by providing very thorough feedback. Since they are also current college students, their insight was particularly valuable because it brought balance to the library staff perspectives held by our other testers.

Our interns also played a key role in our efforts to continue mitigating harmful language as we moved to a new catalog interface. The options to do this in the new system differed significantly from the more flexible options we were able to develop in our previous system. Our interns researched and tested potential approaches to implementing the DEI exclusion list in the new system. The report they produced helped guide our final implementation decision for this functionality. Once we selected our approach, J and Claire also did the behind-the-scenes work of implementing this for our approved list of terms.

It was great to have the opportunity to work with Claire and J this summer. They were enthusiastic and responsive with every task I asked them to do. Their work and insights helped ensure that our decisions for our implementation project were informed by both evidence and student perspectives.

Xenia Leonteva and Nikolay Smirnov with Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature Mikhail Epstein

Xenia Leonteva, PhD candidate at the School of Film, Media and Theatre, GSU
What drew you to select an internship at the library?
I was thrilled to learn about the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) grant-funded position at Emory University here in Atlanta and applied right away.

This is my first professional work experience in the United States, and it has been an incredible opportunity. I expected to enjoy working with Russian-speaking colleagues and familiar materials, but the experience has exceeded all my expectations!

The Woodruff Library offers a wonderfully supportive environment. Our program included department tours and meetings with staff across the library. A major highlight was meeting Mikhail Epstein—a prominent scholar in Russian literature and philosophy—whose donated collection we have been cataloging and processing.

Joining ASEEES this year and receiving this grant has truly expanded my career horizons. The skills I’ve gained have already enriched my work as a PhD student; understanding the inner workings of the library allows me to navigate research databases and archives much more effectively.

Nikolay Smirnov, PhD candidate in Slavic studies, Brown University, Emory graduate
What aspects of cataloging did you enjoy or find challenging?
Cataloging certainly isn’t a walk in the park. You need to familiarize yourself with the inner workings of a complex system that is responsible for ensuring all libraries on a national and global scale stay connected and share information efficiently with each other. The most enjoyable part is encountering a wide array of literature that an individual might never encounter again in their life, and the most challenging part is the crucial attention to the smallest detail that guarantees these materials will be available for the research community in the future.

Interns visiting Rose Library

Beth Welch, Woodruff Library cataloger
Why do you like working with interns every summer?
I always enjoy hosting interns in Resource Description. It gives us the chance to introduce them to what goes on behind the scenes in libraries. It’s very gratifying to see them make meaningful contributions to projects while gaining hands-on experience that supports their academic growth. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to mentor students and share my passion for the work we do in tech services. Seeing interns gain a deeper understanding of cataloging standards, metadata, and resource organization is incredibly rewarding, and I value the chance to help them build skills while also benefiting from the fresh insights they bring to our department.

These summer internships were made possible by the Agnes Scott College Advantage Award, which provides financial assistance during students’ unpaid or underpaid internship, and the ASEEES Internship Grant Program, which promotes the entry of young scholars with Russian studies expertise into sectors outside traditional academia.

The interns and the Resource Description team are very grateful to our colleagues in the Rose Library, Preservation Department, Research and Engagement, and Library Technology and Digital Strategy teams and many others for being so generous with their time and for their willingness to share their experience and expertise with our interns and make them feel welcome at the library.

—by Sofia Slutskaya, head of resource description and Russian studies librarian