The Julian Edison Department of Special Collections at Olin Library collects, preserves, promotes, and makes accessible rare, archival, and primary source materials that enrich teaching, learning, and research for the university community and beyond. Their collections are available to individual researchers in the reading room as well as remotely, and they host dozens of class instruction visits every semester in addition to public events. The Special Collections student employees (there are usually about 3 of them) make everything possible by pulling and shelving materials, processing newly-acquired books for the collections, and assisting in inventory and processing projects.
Name: Hope Hewett
Year: Class of 2026
Major: Communication Design and Art History
On-campus job title: Special Collections Reference Assistant
On-campus job department: Julian Edison Department of Special Collections, WashU Libraries
If you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, I didn’t know WashU Libraries have special collections, and I didn’t know students could work there! then you’re in the same place Hope Hewett was in three years ago when she first visited the Special Collections. “I visited Special Collections in my first-year college writing class and thought it was super cool!” explains Hewett. “I set up a meeting with their staff to talk about paths to jobs in libraries and was excited about the possibilities. So, when applications for student positions opened, I knew I wanted to apply.”
And the Special Collections staff are so glad she did! “Hope has exceptional attention to detail, a skill that make her a perfect fit,” says Special Collections Reference Supervisor and Hope’s supervisor Kate Goldkamp. “This is a job that involves paying very close attention to instructions and workflows to make sure materials are shelved correctly and fragile items are handled with care. Her hand skills as an art student serve her very well in processing fragile items and ensuring their preservation for generations to come. Her artistic abilities have also visually brightened up the office, with her fun labels for groupings of materials on the shelves. Hope has also been a real ambassador for the department, letting friends, classmates, and even professors know about what we have to offer in Special Collections.”
Now as she prepares to graduate in spring 2026, Hope has been working for the Special Collections for close to four years and has grown her skills, experiences, and even her own career goals, showing just how pivotal an on-campus job can be. “I have learned a lot about time management,” says Hope. “I have to balance a lot of short but equally critical tasks like shelving, pulling, and book processing. The time management I use at Special Collections has helped me get a lot better managing aspects of my academic work.”
Goldkamp expands, “Hope has been eager to learn new skills while she has worked for us, and over the years we have been able to give her increasingly complex projects to work on. For example, she spent over a year chipping away at a backlog project, working with the University Archivist to inventory a book collection, assess the items’ condition and availability elsewhere, and sort the materials into boxes to be routed to their final destination. She has honed her instincts so well for working in Special Collections that we are able to give her more independence in her work, which will be showcased in her own exhibition! It’s going to be a lovely culmination of her work at WashU both academically and professionally.
Hope’s exhibition, “Moral Tails,” will share stories of animals in children’s literature and how animals can exemplify different human characteristics. It will be on view May 1-August 28, 2026 in the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections Reading Room on Level 1 of Olin Library.
But Hope’s collections care story doesn’t end here. “I feel like I have grown so much as a person. Art and illustration have always been my passion, but I’ve come to realize that having to make a living off of my art takes the joy out of it and stresses me out way too much to be a feasible career option. I love books and volunteered at my high school library, but once I discovered Special Collections here at WashU, working with rare materials felt like home. This on-campus job helped me learn about the Masters in Library Science degree and career paths in rare books and art librarianship which I plan to pursue after graduation. I’m just really grateful for all the people I’ve been able to meet and the knowledge I’ve gained while working at Special Collections.”
Inspired by Hope’s story? Across all its locations and departments WashU Libraries, employs about 75 students every year in various roles. Student employment positions, when available, are posted on the WashU Libraries Student Employment page.
Written by Sarah Sims, March 3, 2026.
