This is the latest installment in a recurring series of posts introducing readers to the staff of Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Today’s profile features Jason W. Dean, who joined Spencer Research Library in June 2025 as a Rare Materials Cataloging Librarian.

Where are you from?

I was born in Lubbock, Texas, and raised in Midland – both in what I call far West Texas. I went to college in Abilene at a small liberal arts university there, where much of my family went to college. I then taught and lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a few years before starting my library career. My work has taken me several places: Arkansas, central Texas, Kansas City, and now Lawrence. I appreciate Lawrence and how it feels like it’s just in The West, which reminds me of the big skies of my youth.

How did you come to work at Spencer Research Library?

I’ve had the good fortune to know Spencer Director Beth Whitaker and Special Collections Curator Elspeth Healey for a while. Maybe I met them at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) conference in Las Vegas in 2014? I learned about Spencer through Beth and Elspeth, but really got to know Spencer when I visited several years ago on a day trip from the Linda Hall Library. Of course, the outstanding collection and staff were well-known to me. I wanted to return to focus on the material, and the faculty position here was the right fit at the right time with the right people.

What does your job at Spencer entail?

I am responsible (along with my colleagues in processing) for the description of printed items acquired by or added to the Spencer collections. In my time here already, I’ve cataloged a number of modern paperback science fiction books from the collection of William F. Wu, some bound manuscripts, and some new acquisitions. My bread and butter are early modern books that I catalog with Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books) – or DCRM(B) – but I am branching out (and dusting off my Resource Description and Access (RDA) cobwebs) with the help of my colleagues.

How did you come to work in libraries/archives/special collections?

I started my post-college working life teaching history to high school students in north Dallas, which I discovered was not for me. I really wanted a career that would allow me to learn and be curious as a part of my work, and librarianship really seemed the best fit. My introduction to rare books began at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and was cemented at Crystal Bridges, where I worked to catalog Bill Reese’s American color plate book collection. I came to bibliography later in my career, when my former colleague Jamie Cumby taught me the fundamentals of collation.

What part of your job do you like best?

Conceptually I like the professional norms we have around access, privacy, and our broad commitment to, well, sharing. Special collections libraries take things that are expensive and precious and make them accessible and (almost) free.

On the micro level, using bibliographical and other tools to help folks learn more about the physical aspects of the items in Spencer’s collections and either use those descriptions in their own work or decide to come and use the item in person.

I also really enjoy writing. There’s some great stuff in the works for publication, and I am so pleased that I can do that as a normal part of my job.

What do you have on your desk?

There are some things I keep at my desk I feel like are worthy of sharing here. First, this broadside printed at Firefly Press – an adaptation of Beatrice Warde’s famous lines about a printing office.

I also have this retablo of St. Jerome at my desk. A retablo is a two dimensional image of a saint painted by a santero, a maker of this uniquely New Mexican form of folk art. My friend Dr. Charles M. Carrillo made this image of Saint Jerome (a patron saint of librarians and archivists) to watch over me while I work, which he does!

I also keep a book snake on my desk that’s been with me for 15 years. One of my colleagues at the Carter, Maryjane Harbison, made this book snake for me. It’s here with mementos from other workplaces and such: a piece of the Kimbell’s travertine, the box “original staff” at Crystal Bridges were given at opening, and medallions from the Linda Hall Library and Southwestern University.

What is one of the most interesting items you’ve come across in Spencer’s collections?

Below is the title page of the Spencer copy of Newton’s Principia Mathematica, which was a focus of some of my scholarship a few years ago. When I look closely at the book, two things are interesting to me: it has the “two line” imprint statement on the title page, not mentioning a distributor, which is the first state of the title page, and uncancelled.

There’s another item which tells us more about this copy: the diagram on page 112 is printed upside down. Other copies of the book have this corrected with a cancel leaf. We can surmise that the Spencer copy is perhaps an early state of the S issue of the book, especially given the rarity of the uncancelled page 112, as noted by Henry Macomber in his census!

What are some of your favorite pastimes outside of work?

As I mentioned above, I collect art (and books, but isn’t that cliché?) – specifically the santero art I talked about, but also katsinas and photography. Photography is my hobby; my grandfather taught me photography as a teenager and it’s a passion we share with my youngest brother.

My reading interests are varied, but there are three mystery series I adore: Tony and Anne Hillerman’s Chee and Leaphorn novels, the Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri, and the Bernie Gunter books by Philip Kerr.

I adore classical music, specifically of Bach and Philip Glass. I also serve on the board of Summerfest, so classical music is one of my favorite things.

I also do some very informal bookish writing with my good friend Rhiannon Knol. We write a bibliography and books focused newsletter called Half Sheets to the Wind.

Jason W. Dean
Rare Materials Cataloging Librarian

This is the latest installment in a series of posts introducing readers to student employees who make important contributions to the work of Spencer Research Library. Today’s profile features Ceres Botkin, a Public Services student assistant.

Please provide some brief biographical information about yourself.

My name is Ceres Botkin (they/them) and I’ve been working in Public Services at Spencer since the spring of my freshman year in 2022. I am currently completing the fifth and final year of my undergraduate program, and I will graduate with degrees in mathematics, physics, and computer science. I hope after graduation to either go to graduate school in physics or library science.

What does your job at Spencer entail?

I work in the Public Services department, which entails helping library patrons find and access library materials germane to their research interests. This involves being familiar with the collections and the several strengths of our library. I’ve also worked with several curators on numerous projects from sorting and cataloging donations to helping with research for temporary exhibits.

In addition, I have also helped out in other departments as needed. For example, I have worked in Conservation Services with construction of glass plate housings along with making Mylar book jackets. I have also helped in the cataloging department by aiding the process of integrating newly cataloged material into the wider library collection.

Why did you want to work at Spencer Research Library?

My previous on-campus job involved staffing the front desk of a residence hall between the hours of 3am and 7am. I wanted a job that felt more fulfilling and had better hours. In addition, I had a friend who worked at Spencer who enjoyed the work.

When my friend recommended the position to me, I was reminded of my previous desire when I was a teenager to work at my local public library. The library held a special place in my heart, as I would frequent it over the summers as a third place to go that was separate from my home and school. I would meet up with friends and do research for upcoming debate tournaments there. I always thought it would be nice to give back to my community by also working at a library and supporting one of the few remaining institutions in the U.S. that provides free resources, education, and entertainment.

What has been most interesting to you about your work?

I would definitely say that sorting and cataloging donations is the most interesting part of my job. My first project working at the library, in fact, was sorting 20th-century Star Trek zines. Zine culture is very interesting, and it was wonderful to peek into another world. In addition, it was really cool to see all of the various pieces of art and read the stories that were contained inside.

In addition, I love exploring the different collections and talking with the curators about how we started some of them. For instance, the Literary Ephemera collection in Special Collections is always fascinating to browse because it is mostly comprised of outsider art and poetry. They’re not only interesting to read in a vacuum, but they also provide interesting commentaries on the times they were created in.

What are you studying, and what do you hope to do in your future career? Has your work at Spencer changed how you look at your studies or your future career plans in any way?

As mentioned previously, I am currently studying mathematics, physics, and computer science. Originally I planned on going into graduate school in order to pursue a Ph.D. in physics, but working at the library has made me consider going into library work as well. It would be interesting to get a master’s degree in library science and work at a library after graduation. In addition, I have also considered using my computer science degree and going into the field of digital archives – archiving material which is only digital. For example, I was considering working at the Internet Archive, which houses numerous websites, books, recordings, videos, and software.

What piece of advice would you offer other students thinking about working at Spencer Research Library?

Never assume that any resources available to you will always be available to you. First get familiar with what resources are provided by your local community, government, and university. Second, never stop fighting for those resources. In the context of the library, never stop fighting for the open access of information, funding, and a place to study and relax without having to pay first. Also please donate to your local library if you are in a position to do so.

Ceres Botkin
Public Services student assistant

This is the latest installment in a recurring series of posts introducing readers to the staff of Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Today’s profile features Grace Brazell, who joined Spencer Research Library in January 2025 as an Administrative Associate in the Public Services unit. 

Where are you from?

I was born in Roswell, New Mexico, during the 50th anniversary of the alleged alien crash, but we moved to Lawrence when I was just turning two. I’ve lived in and just outside of town for most of my life, aside from the years I spent in Chicago doing my undergraduate degree.

How did you come to work at Spencer Research Library?

I applied to library school in a fit of pique after a particularly frustrating week at the bakery I worked in while finishing my bachelor’s degree. I have always loved rare materials, but didn’t think I’d have an opportunity to work with or near them. I loved the public library and my team there, but when I spotted the job at the Spencer it checked several boxes for me. I’m excited to learn the collection and see what sparks my interest moving forward, and I love getting to talk with our different curators about the parts of the collection they find particularly special.

What does your job at Spencer entail?

I primarily work with our team of student employees to support our Public Services department. Our students are responsible for paging, shelving, and general maintenance around the building, and I work with them to make sure our patrons and reference staff have the support and materials they need to do their jobs. I also assist Operations Manager Meredith Phares with some building management tasks like facilities requests and room organization.

What part of your job do you like best?

In every job I’ve worked, I’ve loved the tasks themselves to a certain degree. I love being able to solve a problem or find the right tool for the job. My favorite thing in the world is being able to eliminate a small point of friction. That being said, my favorite thing about my job is and has always been the people I get to work with. I love getting to see someone’s eyes light up when you ask about their favorite part of the collection, and I’m always interested to hear what captures someone’s attention.

What is one of the most interesting items you’ve come across in Spencer’s collections?

I have a strange fascination with the modernists, and in particular I find Ezra Pound to be one of the most interesting. He’s such an influential figure in the creation of some of the most iconic modernist works, it seemed like he had a hand in pretty much everything produced during that time. Copies of some letters to Pound from James Joyce (Call Number: MS 134) are here at the Spencer as well as a copies of the BLAST! manifesto (Call Number: D138) and a scattering of The Cantos (Call Numbers: C6331, C6332, and C6341). BLAST! is probably my favorite, if I’m being honest.

What are some of your favorite pastimes outside of work?

I spend a lot of time working on my yard and house, both of which are true fixer uppers and require a lot of labor as well as, shall we say, creative problem solving. I run and play in a few Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, which are a source of never-ending entertainment. When not dealing with the baffling construction choices of my home’s previous owner or wrangling adults through a sea of kobolds, I spend a lot of time over-engineering costumes for my kindergartener and waffling over patterns in the Symington fashion collection.

Grace Grazell
Administrative Associate

This is the latest installment in a recurring series of posts introducing readers to the staff of Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Today’s profile features Warren Lambert, who joined Spencer Research Library in September 2024 as a Digitization Specialist.  

Where are you from? 

I am new to living in Lawrence. I grew up in Illinois around the Metro East area of greater St. Louis. I first went to college around the greater St. Louis area. I graduated from the Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2019.

How did you come to work at Spencer Research Library? 

I started digitizing archival and rare book collections as a graduate student in St. Louis. I worked as a Digital Imaging Technician at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for many years, and then at the Penn State University Libraries for fifteen months before returning to the Midwest at the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) in July 2023. I worked with genealogical records for the Choctaw Indian Nation at NARA; publications documenting the LGBTQ+ community in the Mid-Atlantic region during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s at the Penn State University Libraries; and civil rights collections at WHS. This position combines my passion for history alongside my desire to enhance access to historical materials for future generations to discover.  

What does your job at Spencer entail? 

Digitization is the creation of digital surrogates for physical collection items to be accessed remotely, included in publications, or placed in physical or digital exhibits. The main purpose is to create a digital photograph of the item that reproduces a lifelike image. I determine the best image quality properties for the items that I digitize, and those selections become part of the image in its technical metadata. All this is to expand awareness of archival and rare collections to visitors who want to learn more about the past. 

What part of your job do you like best? 

I enjoy learning about new techniques and applying them to digitizing collections. I am currently digitizing nitrate negatives from the Jellison Collection that documents the lives of Kansans in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. There are over five hundred images in the collection, and they reveal the social relationships people forged with each other in their communities. I am also digitizing Japanese falconry manuscripts from the Edo Period (1603-1868) that provide insights into how the Japanese understood the natural world through illustrations of birds, seals, and bunny rabbits among many other animals. I always have something new to discover which keeps me from ever getting bored.  

What is one of the most interesting items you’ve come across in Spencer’s collections?

Oh gosh, I have come across many fascinating items through my work since I started at Spencer. When I helped digitize John Gould’s A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains from 1831, I discovered his vivid and detailed illustrations of birds that lived in the Himalayas. Each plate allows the viewer to get a sense of what the bird would look like in its natural habitat. The male Lophophorus Impeyanus (Himalayan monal, Impeyan monal, or Impeyan pheasant) has an amazing crest and a multicolored plumage designed to attract a mate. They are the national bird of Nepal. What made this project challenging was the size of the bound volume, but I succeeded in reproducing a faithful digital image of this print and the rest of the edition.  

What are some of your favorite pastimes outside of work? 

I’ve been passionate about traveling for most of my life due to the fact that I grew up in a military family. I have visited Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City, where I explored many museums and historical sites. I love that I got to visit Galway, Derry, Belfast, Dublin, and the Ring of Kerry as part of a two-week tour of Ireland in 2011, learning more about its rich cultural and political history. I am always planning to travel to new places to explore historical sites and the wonders of natural landscapes. Not surprisingly as a library professional, I am passionate about reading and listening to books. My favorite genres are science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, and historical fiction. I love it when I discover a new author as it expands my literary horizons. 

Warren Lambert 
Digitization Specialist  

This is the latest installment in a series of posts introducing readers to student employees who make important contributions to the work of Spencer Research Library. Today’s profile features Oliver Grotegut, a Cataloging and Archival Processing student assistant and a G. Baley Price Fellow.

Please provide some brief biographical information about yourself.

I am a senior at KU majoring in linguistics with a minor in sociology. I started working at Spencer in March 2024.

What does your job at Spencer entail?

My job is to inventory University Archives materials so that ArchivesSpace, our online collection database, can be updated. We gained quite a lot of material in the years since the last update, so this long-term inventory project ensures that anyone can easily find materials we have available in the University Archives.

Why did you want to work at Spencer Research Library?

I wanted to work at Spencer, or really in archives in general, because I was interested in a job optimizing materials for public use and finding relevant patterns and throughlines in large groups of information. I knew that library or archival work was the ideal field to find such a job. I feel my time at Spencer has provided me with an invaluable amount of knowledge from hands-on learning about archival work, information organization, and document care and preservation that I look forward to bringing with me into a career in archives.

What has been most interesting to you about your work?

There has been a lot I have found enjoyable about my work. It has been especially interesting to sort through decades worth of accepted and denied grant applications and project proposals, and seeing what research was considered novel and worthwhile over the years. By far my favorite record group to inventory so far has been the student housing records. So many of the materials in that group – scrapbooks, incident reports, event planning forms – exemplify what life was like for KU students at any given time.

One I think of the most often is a document from the 1950s where all the residents of Miller Hall explain why they would or would not be alright with having a African American resident move into their scholarship hall the following year. The residents provided in-depth, incredibly honest descriptions about their perspectives on the matter. Rightfully, much of the education and discussion of the civil rights movement focuses on the actions and experiences of African Americans at the time. Seeing the privately held opinions of white Americans at the time, especially those occupying all-white spaces, provides a great deal of further context to the realities of the climate at that moment in history. I also find it interesting sociologically that the matter of potentially having an African American resident in Miller Hall was considered worthy of being discussed and voted on, and the existence of the document says a great deal not just about the opinions of the residents but of the student housing administrators. For those interested, the majority of the opinions were in favor of racial integration, and Miller Hall gained at least one African American resident the following year.

On a lighter note, I also like getting to put new labels on the boxes.

Oliver Grotegut
Cataloging and Archival Processing student assistant
G. Baley Price Fellow