Q&A with new special collections librarian Maria Estorino

Maria Estorino became the new director for Wilson Library and an associate University librarian for special collections on Jan. 1. Staff writer Eva Ellenburg met with Estorino to discuss her new job and her plans for the library.

The Daily Tar Heel: Have you ever worked for a special collections library?

Maria Estorino: I’m from Miami and I was with the University of Miami for 14 years, primarily with the library there and its Cuban heritage collection … At the University of Miami, it’s a little different. There’s not a separate special collections library like Wilson. The special collections are integrated into the main library like what Davis is here. But yes, pretty much my entire career has been within academic university libraries in the realm of special collections.

DTH: What aspect of your new job are you the most excited about?

ME: You know I’m really excited about working ... to help magnify the work that’s being done here, basically the collections that we have, and the amazing team of librarians and staff that supports these collections. So, you know, our job obviously is to collect materials related to the areas that Wilson has historically focused on, which you could broadly define as the American South, but the reason we collect those is not just for preservation purposes, but it really is about use.

It’s about those materials working to the benefit of the students and the faculty at UNC, and in the larger scholarly network, so that’s exciting for me in general, but specifically here — these collections are so historical.

DTH: What interested you about this position here at Wilson Library?

ME: The collections are incredibly deep and strong, but I was really attracted to the passion of the people that work here. There’s a real commitment to the success of Wilson Library, of the University libraries and to the University community at large. The people really care about the work that they’re doing and the people that they’re serving through the work that they do.

And so, for me, obviously it’s a great opportunity professionally to grow into a different kind of position than I’ve had before. But this particular library, you know, the energy of people, the desire to do good work and to do meaningful work was really attractive to me.

DTH: What do you think will be your greatest challenge in this new position?

ME: There’s a lot to learn. I come from a private university, so I have to learn about public university systems and how things work … And what I think all of our challenge is to really think ... how do we continue to engage these materials in a relevant way — in ways that matter to what the University is supporting and doing, the kinds of students that they’re serving, the kind of faculty that are working here?

We’re constantly challenged to think about how we engage and how we deal with new technology challenges ... How do we provide access to all of this? We have so many amazing things, how do we let people know that we have them, how do we make them discoverable in ways that are easy so people can get what they need from us? … Really my challenge is for the field, they’re no different at Wilson.

I think also, you know just thinking a little bit about — and this is not unique to Wilson, I think it’s probably at UNC — how we think about how the South changes, and we are also trying to think through that. Like what is a South today and how do we think about that in our collecting?

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