At the Leatherby Libraries, we have an interview series highlighting the work our amazing librarians accomplish each day. These interviews help inform the community about all the different areas of the library and all the services we have! Annie Tang, our Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, was kind enough to answer some questions for us!
1. What is your name and title?
My name is Annie Tang and I am the Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives.
2. In what department of the Leatherby Libraries do you work?
I work behind the double doors of the 4th floor Special Collections & Archives.
3. How long have you been at Chapman University?
My first day was in late August 2018, right before the semester started. It was a busy time at the start of the semester!
4. What is your job in a nutshell?
I manage the staff and units of Special Collections & Archives, the Center for American War Letters Archive, and the PBS host Huell Howser’s California’s Gold archive. I am an archivist by trade and am skilled in archiving historical records and papers. Now, that’s expanding to managing artifacts, objects, and rare books at Leatherby Libraries. Additionally, I am the Subject
Librarian for the departments of Art and Film, helping faculty and students with their research needs, and acquiring information resources for them.
5. Have you held any jobs at other universities or libraries?
Cultural heritage work has been my passion for a decade now, and I worked for a number of organizations for a short time (Getty, Smithsonian, Yosemite). Then I moved onto becoming an archivist at academic institutions, including, but not limited to: UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, and Johns Hopkins University.
6. What are your passions/interests outside of work?
Eating, traveling, hiking, backpacking, and brewery-hopping (get it… hops… hopping).
7. Where did you get your degree?
UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.
8. Where is your hometown?
El Monte, CA, east of LA and part of San Gabriel Valley, the most delicious of the SoCal valleys in my opinion.
9. What is the last book you read, or the last book you loved?
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. I’m a nut for English royal history, and this is a historical fiction novel about Elizabeth Woodville who became queen to Edward IV (older brother of Richard III) during the Wars of the Roses. There’s so much familial infighting, backstabbing,and violence! It’s like reading an English soap opera.
10. Any fun facts about yourself?
I hiked and rock scrambled up to one of the highest points in Sierra National Forest, adjacent Yosemite National Park. Not only is it one of the highest peaks (10,540 ft) in that region, Sing Peak is one the earliest, and likely one of the few, mountain peaks named after an Asian American. A pilgrimage like that honors the contributions Chinese Americans have made in Yosemite history.