2013-2018 Archival Assistant Annie Craycraft is pursuing an MLIS at the University of Iowa. Annie shares, "working in the CFS archives is the entire reason I chose to pursue a career in archives and by extension an MLIS. Taking collections and donated papers and materials and making them accessible for future researchers was an absolute joy! Working on the Student Ethnographic Papers collection was the first opportunity I'd ever had to see a long-term project take shape and progress, and it was immensely rewarding. The papers focused on community practices especially struck me, and I'm hoping to one day work in a community archives. Working at CFS shaped my entire perception of and interest in archives in such a wonderful way!

I'm on track to graduate from my program in spring 2021, currently taking courses focused on archival theory, community engagement, and academic libraries. The first two are hitting on my main interests in the field and giving me a better framework for explaining what archivists do - a question I get quite often! Alongside truly thrilling coursework, it's been exciting to learn about my classmates' backgrounds in libraries and special collections, work with them on projects, and engage in discussions both in and out of class. 

As for projects, I'm mainly involved through my position as the secretary of University of Iowa's Library & Information Science Student Organization (LISSO) chapter for the 2020 - 2021 academic year. Our executive board is planning social and professional events for the coming year, though we've had to get pretty creative with how to plan those events for because SLIS classes and events are all online for the fall semester." 

Photo: Annie Craycraft giving the thumbs-up to celebrate her graduation with CFS Folklore Archives founder, Francis Lee Utley.