Meet Emily Eng: Student Employee, Binghamton University Libraries; Graduating Binghamton Student (Double Majoring in History and Philosophy, Politics, and Law and Minoring in Business Management, School of Management Adjunct); President of the Binghamton Crew and former Political Intern in the New Jersey Governor’s Office.
Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections Supervisor Beth Kilmarx first met Emily in an undergraduate Latin class in the fall of 2013 and over time, supervised some of her friends. So last semester, when the opportunity arose, Beth was happy to add Emily to the Libraries’ Special Collections team as a student employee.
The fit seems to have been a good one with supervisor Beth noting that Emily is “an excellent student worker…who pays close attention to detail” and Emily reporting that “…the overall environment truly made me feel comfortable.”
Emily shares the nature of her work in the Libraries, which has “…mostly been cataloging and for lack of a better word rehousing the Double Oversized books and sorting through a collection that was donated by the [late] Professor Al Dekin.”
In addition to its value to the University, Emily’s work offered her guidance in an important life decision; helping her recognize that “…history is still an area where I might want to start a career in.” This is significant, she explains because “…coming into senior year, I was faced with two primary career paths… one was in law and the other was as a curator of a museum.” Her Special Collections experience provided her a realistic “…insight into what it would be like to pursue a career in history” and now she knows that this is “what I would definitely like to try to do…”
When asked for her view as a Libraries insider as to the most important service for students, Emily responds, “as cheesy as it sounds, the most important Libraries’ service for students lies within Special Collections.” Adding with some surprise that “many students don’t know the collections that lie within the department and how interesting they are!”
Visit the Libraries’ Special Collections soon and see the treasures within for yourself! 
Emily’s post-graduation world remains open she is happy with that. One can understand why, as her plan is to “… backpack through Europe for a month and then return and hopefully find a job!” Considering supervisor Beth’s wistful observation “… if I could, I would hire her full time,” finding employment is not likely to be a post-European obstacle for Emily.
Congratulations, Emily! The faculty and staff of the Libraries thank you for your hard work this semester and wish you all the best as you move into your future life.