The Society of North Carolina Archivists has honored University Libraries employee Aaron Smithers for service to the profession.
University Libraries employee Aaron Smithers has received the 2018 Thornton W. Mitchell Service Award from the Society of North Carolina Archivists (SNCA). The award recognizes outstanding service to the archive profession in North Carolina.
Smithers is the assistant at the Southern Folklife Collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library.
The award recognizes Smithers’s broad and varied work with the Southern Folklife Collection, especially his outreach work through events and exhibitions.
For example, in curating the exhibition Sounds of ’68: Revolution in the Air (on view through April 22), Smithers worked with colleagues across the Library to tell the story of a pivotal year and to promote awareness of and appreciation for the cultural institutions that document history.
Smithers was also cited for the teaching and mentorship that he provides to student assistants and research fellows at the Southern Folklife Collection, and for his work preserving unique audio and visual materials, curating collections and providing reference services.
Sarah Carrier, North Carolina research and instructional librarian at Wilson Library, nominated Smithers for the award, calling him “a Renaissance archivist, offering expert support across all departments in the Library.”
SNCA presented Smithers with a certificate during its annual meeting on March 15. His name will be added to the Thornton W. Mitchell Service Award plaque at the State Library of North Carolina in Raleigh.
Congratulations, Aaron!
